Akane was glaring at Nabiki.
"I don't care how much it's worth! We might
actually get Kuno off both of our backs for a little
while."
Nabiki swallowed a bite of her lunch. "Akane, I
don't think you realize how much income you and
Ranma supply via Kuno baby. We would be stretching
it thin under normal circumstances, and that's
without our three extra mouths to feed."
She turned to Lina, "You're only here
temporarily anyway, right? You wouldn't mind
playing interest in Kuno every now and again would
you?"
Lina turned and narrowed her gaze as she studied
the approaching kendoist. "How much interest?"
Nabiki studied the redhead briefly. If she was
reading the strange girl correctly, she was nearly
as greedy as Nabiki herself. She leaned over and
whispered in a conspirator's tone, "He's really
rich; and he thinks of you as a goddess. You could
easily convince him to pay for your room and board
at our place, even after he gives you all the
trinkets and baubles you want."
Lina grinned darkly as she pondered this new
development. "This could be . . . profitable."
Ranma stopped running at the gates just as Lina
was stepping out of the limousine that she'd asked
Kuno for. Nabiki and Akane climbed out after her,
and all three of them turned and smiled at him. He
was breathing a little hard, but it was barely
noticeable.
He glared at Lina. "Are you stupid, or just
lazy? All the things you could have asked him for,
and you get a car?"
Lina scoffed and flicked her hair over her
shoulder. "Lazy? Look, I walk all day, every day.
It comes with being a bandit killer. A horse is
expensive on long treks, and just slows you down in
the long run. It's nice to be able to ride around
for once."
Akane smiled and shrugged, "Besides, this isn't
just any old car, Ranma. It's a limousine! And a
really expensive one at that."
Ranma frowned and turned to the school as the
limo drove off. "So? Geez."
A figure suddenly appeared in front of him and
he jumped straight back, landing in a defensive
stance.
A small girl (small meaning barely three feet
tall and girl meaning female, not a child) stared at
Ranma for a moment silently. She barely reached his
waist. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail
that brushed the ground in the soft breeze. Her
eyes were a bright turquoise that scanned the group
behind Ranma. She wore strange robes that shimmered
like opals with sparks of color, belted at the waist
with an elaborate golden belt that was engraved with
a feather design.
She may have been the size of a child, but she
looked to be in her early twenties; and carried a
five-foot long bladed staff with an ease that spoke
of age. Oh, and she had brilliant blue wings. They
looked like the wings from a giant blue jay that had
a six-foot wingspan. She opened and closed them
slightly in agitation as she studied each member of
the group in turn.
She cleared her throat and asked, "Which of you
is the misplaced Changeling?"
The group of teenagers blinked as one. Ranma
cocked his head and answered with his usual
eloquence, "Huh? What's a Changeling?"
She sighed and wrung her hands. "Let me start
over. I am Iona, a Hand of Destiny. Milady sent me
here to set right the awful meshing of two worlds.
The Changelings of two worlds somehow managed to
make decisions that caused their worlds to collide.
The Changeling of one world was somehow sent to
another world. They cannot be returned, but they
cannot remain on a world that is not their own. If
they do, this world will be far too unstable, and
will likely die. So I have been sent to-remove, a
Changeling."
Nabiki calmly pulled out a camera and snapped a
picture. Akane glared at her sister before looking
back to Iona. "I'm afraid I have no idea what
you're talking about."
Lina had been staring at the ground before her.
Now she looked up at Zel, who nodded. She sighed
and turned to Iona. "I might. Tell me, what will
you do with the extra Changeling? How exactly will
you remove them?"
Iona smiled sadly, "I'm afraid they must die.
It is milady's wish."
Ranma scratched his head, "Who's your Lady, or
whatever?"
Iona's smile now turned proud. "Why, Destiny
herself! The controller of the destinies of all
worlds and people."
Lina nodded slowly. "Can you tell who the
Changeling is?"
Iona frowned. "Well, I normally can easily.
However, it would appear that both of the
Changelings are here in your little cluster, and
their energies are too confusing at such close
range. If you could tell me, which of you is not
from around here?"
Lina sighed in exasperation, "That would be Zel
and me." She pointed to her friend, who stared
coldly at the miniature person.
Iona nodded, "Could you two please follow me?"
She turned and walked a little away from the main
group and turned to study the pair. They exchanged
glances and followed after a pause.
Iona studied the two through slit eyes, first
one, then the other. After a moment, she nodded
decisively. "Very well. You, young lady, are the
Changeling. I'm afraid that you must die."
Akane gasped as Iona pulled her staff into a
ready position, blade pointed at Lina. The
sorceress reached to her hip, only then remembering
that she wasn't wearing her sword with the school
uniform. She glanced behind Iona quickly,
establishing that no innocents were behind the Hand
of Destiny.
"Elmekia Lance!"
Iona shrieked and jumped to the side. The hem
of her robe was singed, but she remained unharmed.
"What are you doing? For the fate of an entire
world, you must die!"
"I don't think so." Ranma and Lina had once
more spoken as one. Ranma smirked at Lina as he and
Zel moved to flank Iona. At some unseen signal,
they all attacked.
"Elmekia Lance!"
"Mouko Takabishi!"
"Elmekia Lance!"
Iona couldn't dodge all three. She took the
brunt of Ranma's ki attack as well as most of Zel's
spell.
She fell to the ground and pulled herself to her
knees. She stared in shock at the blood staining
her robes. She looked up, stunned, at Lina. With a
wave of her hand, she disappeared once more.
The three remaining combatants exchanged worried
glances. Ranma glanced at the crowd in the school's
windows. "I think we'd better go home and talk."
The entire household sat around the table.
Nabiki stared steadily at Lina and said in a calm,
cold voice, "I think you'd better explain."
Lina sighed and played with her sword. She,
Zel, and Gourry had all returned to their 'normal'
clothes. "Alright. In our world there is this
legend about the world having a Changeling.
Everything the Changeling says or does controls the
planet. He or She determines the fate of the world.
They can only die by the hand of Fate, and only when
they have ceased to be needed. When a new
Changeling is born, Fate seeks out the old one and
kills them, taking them back to her home where the
Changeling will live forever in perfect bliss."
Akane gave the distraught sorceress's hand a
pat. "If it's so perfect there, why didn't you go
along?"
Lina grimaced. "There's another part of the
legend. A few hundred years ago, a second
Changeling supposedly appeared on our world. This
second Changeling was slain in cold blood by Fate,
and reduced to the status of a normal mortal. Since
that mortal was not within reach of his own world's
afterlife, he has supposedly roamed our world ever
since as a tormented soul."
Ranma nodded, "And you definitely don't want
that."
Lina smiled coldly at the table. "Yeah. Not to
mention, I don't know what she'd do to Zel and
Gourry."
Nabiki frowned a moment in thought. "Wait a
moment. She said she was 'a Hand of Destiny;' and
that she served Destiny. She didn't say anything
about Fate, or that you would be forced to roam our
planet for eternity."
Akane nodded, "True, but she didn't say the
opposite either. She just said there was no way for
the Changeling to return home, and that it was
dangerous for two Changelings to be on one world."
Lina frowned at the group. "Look, you've been
real nice to us, but I'm not going to sit back and
let some pint-sized lancer chop me up."
Akane frowned angrily. "I didn't say that! Who
knows, maybe there's some way to get you home after
all. Or at least Gourry and Zelgadis."
Ranma looked up from the table. "I think we
need to see Cologne."
Cologne studied the redhead in front of her.
"Well, child, it seems fairly hopeless."
Ranma slapped his forehead, "That's not what we
wanted to hear."
"Quiet, son-in-law. There may be a way. We
simply need to remove your powers as a Changeling.
This would probably mean changing you somehow so
that you are, essentially, a new person."
Lina pursed her mouth in thought. "Would I lose
my magic?"
Cologne blinked, twice. "Magic? What Magic?"
Ranma smirked, he'd left that out on purpose.
"She's a sorceress back on her world, supposedly a
pretty good one."
Lina glared at him, "Not good, the best! I've
killed the Dark Lord Shabranigdo!"
Ranma simply shrugged and looked back to the
matriarch. "Well?"
"I'm thinking." She hopped around on her staff
for a moment in thought. "We can only assume that
she'll be back soon. She might even be replaced by
Lady Destiny herself. That, of course, would be
bad. Lina should not stray far from Ranma; or she
could, if this Iona is telling the truth, be easily
found. If this Iona appears again, Lina can hide.
Her energy might be overlooked in Ranma's, and we
can claim that she simply vanished."
"A good plan, under limited knowledge."
Everyone spun as two figures appeared in the
café's doorway. One was Iona, though she'd changed
into a soft and baggy pair of pants and a tunic, but
the other was a male version of her. He had
black/brown hair that brushed his shoulders in a
straight line. A golden circlet held it in place,
an eagle feather and various small charms and beads
hung from it down the back of his head as he turned
to scan the room.
After a moment, he shrugged. "This is a strange
world. We've come for the Changeling."
Everyone blinked in unison, aside from Gourry,
who stared dumbly. He turned to Lina and muttered,
"I'm a little confused, Lina. What's going on
again?"
Lina growled and bopped him on the head.
"Quiet, you idiot!" She turned to the two miniature
people. "Now, who are you?"
He flicked a stray lock of hair over his
shoulder and smirked at the red haired girl. He
wore what appeared to be black leather armor with
golden studs. There was a scarlet sash tied around
his waist, the fringed ends brushing the floor. He
gave a brief chuckle, "Not that it matters, but I am
Reeve. I am the right hand and Seneschal of Milady
Destiny. Since Left Hand Iona has failed, her task
has fallen to my hands; which are hands more than
capable of handling you young whelps."
Cologne drew herself up to her full (if meager)
height, showing her insult, and hopped to the front
of the group on her cane. "I am no youngling to be
dismissed so easily, warrior."
He lazily blinked as he studied the woman.
After a pause he held his hand before him and a
small flash of light faded to reveal a leather-bound
book nearly as large as the miniature man. The
crimson leather reeked of age and magic, even to
those who knew next to nothing of either subject.
He gestured briefly and the book opened and turned
to a page by itself. He leaned forward and cleared
his throat as he read from the book.
"One Koh Lohn, Matriarch. You're impressive for
a mortal. You've lived rather long by most
standards, and learned a few tricks to boot. Not
bad. Oh, and you appear to have a long list of
decent students as well; including—" He broke off
and looked quickly up to scan the group. He paused
as his eyes fell on Mousse and Shampoo, but stopped
dead on Ranma. He turned to Iona with an angry
scowl. "He's the one that defeated you, is he not?"
She swallowed and wrung her hands, "Well, his
attack did the brunt of the damage . . ."
Lina cast an odd glance to the pigtailed boy,
but nobody noticed. Abruptly, Reeve reached out and
slapped the girl. She collapsed into a small bundle
of hair and wings.
He turned back to the book and cleared his
throat once more. "I've tried to teach you well,
but apparently have failed. I've told you always to
study your opponents before you even go to their
worlds. If you had, you would have known that the
Changeling had met up with the one of this world,
and that he is an 'honorable' fighter that easily
the equal of Ms. Inverse here." He cast her
another angry look. "Instead you blindly ran to her
energy source and attacked. Fool."
Akane sent an almost apologetic look to Iona
before remembering that the girl was trying to kill
her new friend. Reeve then turned back to Cologne
and waved a dismissive hand at the book, which
promptly vanished.
"Now, Ms. Koh Lohn, back to our discussion. You
are also wrong in how you hail me. I am no
warrior." He smirked again, "I am a sorcerer."
Lina grinned and stepped forward, "Alright!
Magic I can handle!"
Reeve stared at her coldly in annoyance and
flicked his hair out of his face once more.
"Careful, youngling, I did do my homework, and I
know every spell that you can perform. I also know
that you are no match for me without your giga
slave." He smiled, making everyone wary. "To be
honest, I don't stand a chance against that spell.
However, casting that on this world while it remains
so unstable would surely be the death of anyone who
can't shift to a different dimension. As it is,
Iona and I are the only ones here who can perform
such a feat."
Lina stepped back hesitantly to stand even with
Ranma. Gourry stepped up next to her and Zel stood
on the other side of Ranma. Shampoo and Akane stood
behind and to either side of Ranma, and they were
then flanked by Cologne and Mousse. Reeve chuckled
and Iona carefully pulled herself up with a hateful
look to her teacher.
Reeve shook his head and the smile on his lips
vanished. Face blank, he said, "Look. The fight is
between Iona, Lina, and I. The rest of you need not
die, or even be hurt. Stand aside and let me slay
the girl, it is for the good of the world."
"I think not." Everyone turned at the new
voice. A woman stepped into the café with a feral
smile. Her hair was silver with a red streak beside
her left eye. Her hair was pulled into a tight
ponytail with the tightly curled ends stopping just
below her chin; except for a thick lock behind her
right ear that was secured with some golden cylinder
decorated with rubies. This lock was longer than
the ponytail, and trailed a good two feet behind her
on the ground. She wore a simple white dress with
red chording along the hem and tank straps. She
wore crimson stilettos and her legs were bare up
until the hem of her skirt that was barely
concealing her at all.
She smiled and her green eyes sparkled with
amusement. "I can't let you do that, Reeve. You do
not have the authority or the ability to kill a
Changeling."
He snarled at her, "Maybe I didn't the first
time, but that was millennia ago, and I am
infinitely stronger than I was then."
She chuckled softly, and something about her
demeanor reminded all of Kasumi. "When will you
learn, Reeve? It isn't a matter of strength.
Changelings have a particular key in their energy
that must be countered before they can be killed. I
am the only one that can do that."
A look of dawning passed over Reeve's face. It
appeared that this thought had never occurred to
him. After a moment, he sent the newcomer a glare.
"Come, Iona, we must report." He winked out of
existence.
Iona looked blankly at the woman in the doorway.
She turned slowly and looked between Ranma and Lina.
With a slow nod, she disappeared as well.
Ranma stepped forward and studied the woman.
She was slightly taller than his female side, but
still shorter than him at the moment. "Who are you?
What do you want?"
She smiled softly, "For the moment, nothing. I
believe we should retire to your home for now
though, or my sister will come." She raised her
hands and formed some peculiar symbol with her
fingers. The next moment; Akane, Ranma, Lina,
Gourry, and Zelgadis were in the dining room of the
Tendo home. They were seated around the table, with
Lina and the strange woman at the ends. She smiled
and called softly, "Miss Kasumi?"
Kasumi's curious face poked into the doorway.
"Oh, we have another guest."
The woman smiled, "Yes, I can help with Miss.
Lina's problem, but would you be a dear and bring us
all a little tea please?"
Kasumi smiled cheerfully, "Of course! It's
wonderful of you to help!" She disappeared into the
kitchen, and the group heard the process of tea
making.
Ranma leaned against the table, "Now, who are
you?"
The woman smiled and played with the long silver
lock. "Why, I am Fate."
Lina blinked. "Fate. I thought you wanted me
dead, not to help us."
Fate giggled and shook her head, "No, Destiny,
my sister, believes you should be dead. Not I."
Gourry scratched his head and looked at the
beautiful woman. "But I thought you were Destiny?"
"No, I am Fate. Destiny is my sister."
Akane looked nearly as confused as Gourry.
"They aren't one and the same?"
She gave a playful shrug. "Nope. Sorry. I
shall explain. You see, Destiny and I are what your
people would probably call goddesses. My sister
makes sure that everyone fulfills their life's
purpose, in short, their destiny. She minds the
Strands of Light that represent each world to make
sure that they do not veer from their proper places
amongst the universe."
She waved at the table and the image of a
white void with many colored strands of light
interweaving in a web-like pattern. "In short, she
is the Mistress of the Web of Worlds. She's a
little angry that three very important people have
left their world and proper places. This will cause
endless and unpredictable changes in the web."
The image zoomed in on a pair of red strands
that ran parallel and around each other for a long
time before meshing. Where they met, the light
turned a soft bluish white with crackles of power
around it. "This makes her job very difficult.
With every decision, no matter how trivial, a
Changeling makes, their world's beam changes course.
With two of you here, and your worlds slightly
meshed, the decisions you two make are either adding
to each other in concert or fighting against each
other. Either way, your worlds are drastically
changing course almost constantly and endangering
the Web."
Ranma sat back with a frown. "What can we do?"
She smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"I'm getting there. The normal punishment for
someone who has left their life's purpose is for
their death. Now, who gets the unseemly deed
depends. It is rare for someone to go against their
destiny. If they do, that world's Changeling
usually kills them." She glanced between the trio
from the other world. "Recently, you killed one
Rezo for going against his calling."
Zelgadis looked up at her in clear confusion.
Kasumi bustled in and set down the tray with a
smile. When she left, Zel spoke up.
"We killed him because of Shabranigdo."
She sadly shook her head, "Yes and no. That is
what you thought you were doing, but did he not
summon the dark lord because he had changed from the
loving priest he had become famous for being? He
was meant to be a savior to thousands, but nearly
destroyed the planet."
Lina cocked her head, "Maybe, but what if we
hadn't killed him? I mean, we could all have been
killed!"
Fate shook her head once more and sipped at her
tea. "Zelgadis and Gourry maybe, but I am the only
one capable of killing you, Changeling. If, for
some strange reason, you had failed, the duty would
have fallen to the next in line."
Zel stared blankly at her. "And that would be?"
She chuckled, "Why, the Hands of Fate, of
course!"
Gourry put one hand on either side of his head
and shook it rapidly back and forth. "Arg! I
thought they were the Hands of Destiny! I'm so
confused!"
Lina hit him over the head with the hilt of her
sword. Resting her chin in her hand, she raised and
eyebrow and addressed the goddess. "I assume both
Fate and Destiny have a left and right Hand to serve
them?"
"Yup! Now, if my Hands had failed, I would have
gone after him and killed him."
Akane stared through slits of eyes and asked,
"If you're so high in command, why are you here
now?"
Fate sighed, "I've been so bored lately.
Normally I have plenty to do, but lately there's
been a lull. Besides, my job will be bringing me
here soon anyway. Well, to the area at least."
Ranma gulped, "Your job?"
She nodded, "Uh huh. Don't worry about it
though. Besides, it is also my job to protect
Changelings from unnecessary divine interference.
Iona and Reeve have no business here."
Lina sat up a little straighter with a curious
glint in her eyes. "I have a question. The legend
on my world about the second Changeling coming to
our planet and being slain by the Hand of Fate; how
much of that is real?"
"Oh all of it. You see, my Hands can kill a
Changeling if I grant them the power temporarily.
That's only necessary if two Changelings are due to
die at the same time. That was one of those
moments."
Lina looked resolved and nodded slowly. "So you
are here to kill me."
Fate's laughter rang through the dojo. "Oh, how
funny. That Changeling was not killed because there
were two Changelings on the same planet. His name
was Cerryl. He was supposed to die from wounds
received in a horrific battle he fought in order to
save his world. Somehow, he altered the plan
slightly. Instead of just falling over unconscious
until I could arrive to end his pain, he somehow
fell into another world like you three did. By the
time I found out from my sister which world Cerryl
was on, he'd been discovered and was healing. I was
still forced to kill the poor boy."
Ranma played with his empty cup, "So what about
Lina? Destiny sure seems bent on killing her, and
she's evidently convinced it's the right thing."
Fate scoffed, "My sister is a meddling fool who
should stick to destinies and ignore fates. So what
if you two being together makes her job a little
harder? Live with it! Does she ever help me when
more than three Changelings are due to be retired
close to the same time?"
Ranma blinked, "So Lina, Zel, and Gourry can
just stay here?"
"of course! I'm afraid they can't be taken home
though. Nobody can do that except for the Hands,
Destiny, or me. Just so you know, a new Changeling
was born on your world yesterday."
Lina blinked and muttered sarcastically, "Oh
yea, I've already been replaced. I'm soooooo
happy."
Ranma ignored her with a giant drop of sweat on
the back of his head. "Uh, so what do we do now?"
Fate shrugged. "We wait until my sister gets
annoyed enough to leave her void and come here so I
can explain things to her."
"Well, waitings over." The brown-eyed girl with
the long braid steps into view. "I'm here."
Fate gestured to the table. "Have a seat, sis."
Destiny sat carefully next to Ranma, who cringed
closer to Akane. She neatly arranged her braid and
primly settled her short sarong-style skirt. "Now,
I must say that I don't completely agree with
everything you said."
"You missed a little at the beginning. Anyway,
I'm afraid it is all written in the orders I
received all those millennia ago."
Destiny sighed. "Well, I suppose you won't do
me a favor then? It's very hectic up there right
now. I had to leave both Iona and Reeve in charge
of the Web, and still I cannot stay long."
Lina leaned into her palm again and
sarcastically retorted, "Oh, what a pity."
Destiny frowned slightly but chose to ignore the
young girl. "Truly, it isn't safe for them both to
be here. One of them must go."
Fate shook her head with a slight frown. "I'm
afraid I can't do that. I'm sure you'll manage. If
you want, I'll give in and agree to let you take a
third Hand."
Every mortal in the room blinked. How could you
have a THIRD hand?
Destiny mirrored her sister's expression. "I'm
afraid that isn't workable either. Iona has been
with me for nearly a century, and she is still
barely capable of managing the web."
Both sisters sighed. Fate sat up with a grin.
"I might have a suitable answer for you, but you
will have to wait for another day or two."
Fate sighed. "I have to anyway. Iona and Reeve
will be terribly worn after plane shifting and
minding the Web all in one day. We shall talk in a
couple of days then. Good bye."
Fate waved and Destiny disappeared as the rest
of the room's occupants blinked and exchanged
confused glances.
Akane sighed and watched Ranma doing push-ups in
the dojo the next morning. Rate had recommended
that they all remain home for now. "This is so
stupid. The fate of the world rests on our
shoulders and we're killing time in the dojo."
Ranma gave a funny half shrug and bent his left
arm behind his back, continuing with one-armed push-
ups. "I don't know, I don't mind missing a little
school. Besides, I appreciate the extra training
just in case this all boils down to a fight."
Akane watched his braid fall over his shoulder
as he stared determinedly at the floor. She sighed
again and continued to watch him.
Lina sat next to the koi pond. She'd taken off
the cape and shoulder guards, but she was wearing
her sword and own clothes. Fate had said she
needn't bothered before disappearing the night
before, but Lina wasn't too prone to trusting the
girl that would one day kill her. With a sigh, Lina
thought of the few spells she'd used during her
brief stay in this strange world.
The healing spell she'd cast in that first fight
with the Amazon had seemed normal. If anything, it
had been almost too easy; like casting a spell in an
area with a lot of loose magic that just jumps to
her bidding.
However, the attack spells she'd used against
Iona had felt funny. The first had a funny tug of
resistance. It wasn't major, and she'd just
concentrated a little harder to overcome it. After
that, every spell just seemed to resist a little
more. She'd experimented that morning by casting
minor light spells. By the third one she was sure.
She was loosing her ability to cast magic.
She frowned down at the little fish as they made
lazy circles through the pebbles and plants. There
was a thud from the 'dojo', as the locals called the
funny empty room separated from the rest of the
house. Lina heard Ranma's voice and stood, he
seemed to be hesitantly in charge.
She walked determinedly to the dojo and stepped
inside. Ranma was moving about doing some martial
arts moves, but not like anything Lina had ever seen
before. Could fighting techniques have evolved so
differently on the two worlds? Akane watched him
with a bored but strangely soft look. Lina smirked.
It was so obvious that the two of them liked each
other, no matter how much they fought.
She cleared her throat and waited for them to
look up at her. "I believe I'm losing my magic."
Akane blinked and Ranma looked vaguely worried
and, strangely, a little angry. He took a step
forward and made a jerky and upset gesture, "What do
you mean? How can you lose your magic?"
She sat next to Akane, and Ranma grudgingly did
likewise. She looked from one teenager to the other
and made the effort to appear calm. "Every spell
that I've cast since I came here has been
progressively harder to cast. It's like," she
flailed with her hands, trying to think of an
analogy, and finally said, "singing with a sore
throat. Every word puts a little more strain on
your throat. The more you sing, the worse your
throat hurts."
They both looked worried, but Akane's expression
was more sympathetic. The girl leaned forward
slightly, "Does it hurt you somehow?"
Lina shook her head, still thinking of
alternatives. "No, it's just hard. Like I'm
reaching for the spells, but they're getting farther
and farther away so that I have to work harder.
It's been so long since I couldn't cast any spell I
wanted to easily; that straining so hard for simple
spells is a new experience."
Akane gave Lina's hand a pat. "Don't worry,
we'll figure it out."
Ranma frowned and leaned his elbow onto one knee
as he sat cross-legged on the floor. He cupped his
chin and looked thoughtful. "I'm worried. I was
really hoping for all these great spells she's
talking about to help us out a little. Now I'm
going to have to beat Destiny and protect Lina at
the same time!"
Akane blinked in response to Ranma's outburst.
He was worried. She slowly turned her head to look
at him. He was frowning but he didn't appear
frightened. His eyes narrowed and he chewed on his
lip a little in thought.
"Maybe we should ask the old ghoul. I hate how
we have to keep going back to the little prune, but
she's the only one that knows anything about magic
around here."
"Best you remember that, son-in-law, since I am
doing you a favor." Cologne and Shampoo stood in
the doorway. Kasumi was standing behind them with a
tray of.
The whole group came in and Kasumi set the tray
down in the middle of the larger group. Lina smiled
up at the older girl, "Kasumi, could you send Zel
and Gourry in here please?"
"Of course! I know just where they are." She
bustled off and Shampoo began to pour the tea.
Akane and Shampoo were seated to either side of
Ranma; Cologne and Lina to their sides respectively.
When they arrived, Zel sat next to Shampoo, and
Gourry next to Lina. Lina repeated her findings and
Zel nodded.
"I felt the same tug of reluctance the couple of
times I have cast spells. I haven't used as much
magic as you though."
Cologne looked between the two magic users.
"Why do you think this is happening?"
Lina put one finger to her chin, "Well, maybe
magic just works differently here. I keep feeling
like I just can't gather enough energy. Could it be
that there simply isn't any magical energy around
here? Or, more exactly, there wasn't very much and
we've been wasting it."
Akane frowned, "I don't think defending
yourselves should be considered wasting."
Lina shrugged, "Maybe, but now we need to find
other ways to be useful. I'm not gonna sit back and
let some demigod try to kill me."
They sat there silently, trying to decide how
the powerless sorcerers could be useful. Shampoo,
who didn't quite see the difficulty in the
situation, began to fidget slightly. Why didn't
they just wait until Destiny showed up and fight
her? She sighed mentally and waited. After several
minutes of endless silence, Cologne hopped out of
the dojo without a word. Shampoo smiled brightly at
Ranma before following.
Ranma barely looked up. He sighed in
frustration. "This isn't like our usual fights!
You can't take on Destiny in a head on fight!"
"Wise decision."
Everyone whipped around to face a battered
practice dummy with a yarn ponytail tacked onto it.
A man in fairly elaborate robes and chin length
purple hair was seated on the dummy's head, smiling
benignly down at the group.
Ranma leapt to his feet, "Who are you?"
The man chuckled and jumped gracefully to the
ground, walking to the group as they hurried to
their feet. "I am Xellos, the mysterious priest!
I've come to help the infamous Lina Inverse and her
friends return home."
"How did you know who I was? Nobody here knows
me." Lina was practically snarling.
The man chuckled and sat down next to the tea
paraphernalia and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Because I'm from your home planet as well, and
somebody has to get you back where you belong."
Lina's face grew blank and her voice level as
she said, "Assuming you can help us, why would you
want to?"
Xellos chuckled and sipped his tea, "Because you
three still have some important things to do on our
planet, things nobody else can do. In fact, I'll be
needing your help soon anyway, so I came to bring
you home."
Zelgadis sat down across from Xellos, "How did
you get here, and how do you plan on getting us
back."
Xellos smiled and sat back, still clutching his
tea. "There's a very simple spell that let me
follow your trails here. However, the trail is now
too dissipated to follow it home, so we'll have to
work together to cast a much more complicated spell
to return."
Lina scoffed, "Well, there's one small problem
with that. You see, there's a distinct lack of
magical energies around here. We won't be able to
cast much more than a light spell, let alone travel
home."
The room was silent aside from the click of
porcelain when Xellos set his cup on the tray. He
looked up and grinned knowingly at the assembled
young people, "Ah, but that is only because the
magical energies, or mana, of this world is mostly
concentrated in little nodes. Our world has more
mana, and what we have is spread evenly across the
world due to the constant use of magic. Since magic
is less reliable here due to a lower availability of
the proper energies, magic to any great degree is
rare. So, the mana has gone unused and settled into
the small nodes."
Everyone blinked as one while Xellos cocked his
head and smiled at them as a whole. After scanning
the entire group, he continued, "So we need to find
one of these nodes. Do any of you know of a place
with a high concentration of magic?"
They looked blankly at each other for a moment
before Ranma broke the silence in a soft voice, "I
know of a place. The first time I saw any magic at
all was when I got my curse. Jusenkyo is full of
magical springs. Nobody knows about them, and very
few people ever go there, so there should be plenty
of this mana stuff there, shouldn't there?"
Lina slammed a fist into her other palm, "That's
it! The fact that your curse is still active proves
that there is still magic there. Your very presence
has probably leeched mana from the area into
maintaining your curse this far from the pools."
Zel nodded slowly, "That would explain why
there's so very little magical energies here. Not
to mention, since the pools are rarely activated,
they may have given excess energy into the area
surrounding the pools. There should me more than
enough mana at this Jusenkyo place to power several
giga slaves!"
Xellos nodded sagely, "Then tomorrow we leave
for Jusenkyo!"
Ranma rose early the next day and stepped out
onto the roof to meditate. This wasn't one of his
usual activities, but some situations required a
clear head. He tuned out the biting morning wind
and the permeating cold from the roof he sat on. He
ignored the sounds of the waking city and the
chirping of the birds in the air above him. He sat
there completely motionless as the sun began to peek
over line of rooftops before him, and did not move
until it was fairly high in the sky.
His first movement in two hours was to suddenly
stand in a fluid movement that betrayed his current
state of perfect awareness with both himself and
everything around him. He started to walk over and
jump down into the yard, but paused and looked back
over his shoulder. Silently he made his way over to
a window that he'd often looked through.
He lay on his stomach and edged himself over the
edge of the roof and hung over it to peer inside a
particular bedroom.
Akane sighed and sat up in bed with a stretch
and a content smile. She threw back the covers and
yawned as she padded barefoot to the window to look
out at the fresh morning view. The yawn ended up
deeper than she'd anticipated, and she was making
her way blindly across the room with closed eyes.
The yawn ended and she dropped her arms as her
eyes opened. She gave a shriek as a face suddenly
came into view. Ranma smiled slightly at her and
cringed slightly with apparent meekness as his
pigtail swung back and forth. Akane frowned at her
upside down fiancé.
"What are you doing Ranma?" She sighed and
jerked the window open, stepping aside as he flipped
into the room.
"Morning Akane, how's it going?"
She sighed and turned to her closet to pick out
some clothes. Shrugging, she said, "Oh, it was
going pretty well until you scared me to death."
She began rifling through clothes as he flopped down
on her bed, crossing his arms beneath his head.
"Akane, what are we going to do?"
She pulled out a tank top and gave him a puzzled
glance, "Do? About what?"
He played with a crease in her blanket, "You
know, about Lina and everything."
Akane sighed and sat gingerly on the edge of her
bed, making sure to keep a safe distance between
Ranma and herself. "I don't know Ranma. We'll
manage, we always do."
She looked down at his face and he smiled softly
up at her. It was such a sweet, warm smile that she
couldn't help but smile back at him. She stood and
shooed him out the door.
"Go on, Ranma, get out. I have to get ready.
We'll be leaving pretty soon."
He smirked and disappeared, leaving Akane
shaking her head. She closed the door and changed
quickly into some durable traveling clothes. She
was running a brush through her hair when there was
a knock on the door.
"C'mon in, it's open!"
Lina poked her red head in as Akane was putting
the brush down. Her purplish eyes lit on the brush
and she grinned, "Hey, Akane, can I use your
hairbrush?"
Akane nodded and tossed said brush to the other
girl. "Come on in. I'm packing a few things."
Akane continued throwing necessities into her
backpack as Lina sat on the bed and began
contentedly pulling the brush through her long red
hair.
"I don't care how much it's worth! We might
actually get Kuno off both of our backs for a little
while."
Nabiki swallowed a bite of her lunch. "Akane, I
don't think you realize how much income you and
Ranma supply via Kuno baby. We would be stretching
it thin under normal circumstances, and that's
without our three extra mouths to feed."
She turned to Lina, "You're only here
temporarily anyway, right? You wouldn't mind
playing interest in Kuno every now and again would
you?"
Lina turned and narrowed her gaze as she studied
the approaching kendoist. "How much interest?"
Nabiki studied the redhead briefly. If she was
reading the strange girl correctly, she was nearly
as greedy as Nabiki herself. She leaned over and
whispered in a conspirator's tone, "He's really
rich; and he thinks of you as a goddess. You could
easily convince him to pay for your room and board
at our place, even after he gives you all the
trinkets and baubles you want."
Lina grinned darkly as she pondered this new
development. "This could be . . . profitable."
Ranma stopped running at the gates just as Lina
was stepping out of the limousine that she'd asked
Kuno for. Nabiki and Akane climbed out after her,
and all three of them turned and smiled at him. He
was breathing a little hard, but it was barely
noticeable.
He glared at Lina. "Are you stupid, or just
lazy? All the things you could have asked him for,
and you get a car?"
Lina scoffed and flicked her hair over her
shoulder. "Lazy? Look, I walk all day, every day.
It comes with being a bandit killer. A horse is
expensive on long treks, and just slows you down in
the long run. It's nice to be able to ride around
for once."
Akane smiled and shrugged, "Besides, this isn't
just any old car, Ranma. It's a limousine! And a
really expensive one at that."
Ranma frowned and turned to the school as the
limo drove off. "So? Geez."
A figure suddenly appeared in front of him and
he jumped straight back, landing in a defensive
stance.
A small girl (small meaning barely three feet
tall and girl meaning female, not a child) stared at
Ranma for a moment silently. She barely reached his
waist. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail
that brushed the ground in the soft breeze. Her
eyes were a bright turquoise that scanned the group
behind Ranma. She wore strange robes that shimmered
like opals with sparks of color, belted at the waist
with an elaborate golden belt that was engraved with
a feather design.
She may have been the size of a child, but she
looked to be in her early twenties; and carried a
five-foot long bladed staff with an ease that spoke
of age. Oh, and she had brilliant blue wings. They
looked like the wings from a giant blue jay that had
a six-foot wingspan. She opened and closed them
slightly in agitation as she studied each member of
the group in turn.
She cleared her throat and asked, "Which of you
is the misplaced Changeling?"
The group of teenagers blinked as one. Ranma
cocked his head and answered with his usual
eloquence, "Huh? What's a Changeling?"
She sighed and wrung her hands. "Let me start
over. I am Iona, a Hand of Destiny. Milady sent me
here to set right the awful meshing of two worlds.
The Changelings of two worlds somehow managed to
make decisions that caused their worlds to collide.
The Changeling of one world was somehow sent to
another world. They cannot be returned, but they
cannot remain on a world that is not their own. If
they do, this world will be far too unstable, and
will likely die. So I have been sent to-remove, a
Changeling."
Nabiki calmly pulled out a camera and snapped a
picture. Akane glared at her sister before looking
back to Iona. "I'm afraid I have no idea what
you're talking about."
Lina had been staring at the ground before her.
Now she looked up at Zel, who nodded. She sighed
and turned to Iona. "I might. Tell me, what will
you do with the extra Changeling? How exactly will
you remove them?"
Iona smiled sadly, "I'm afraid they must die.
It is milady's wish."
Ranma scratched his head, "Who's your Lady, or
whatever?"
Iona's smile now turned proud. "Why, Destiny
herself! The controller of the destinies of all
worlds and people."
Lina nodded slowly. "Can you tell who the
Changeling is?"
Iona frowned. "Well, I normally can easily.
However, it would appear that both of the
Changelings are here in your little cluster, and
their energies are too confusing at such close
range. If you could tell me, which of you is not
from around here?"
Lina sighed in exasperation, "That would be Zel
and me." She pointed to her friend, who stared
coldly at the miniature person.
Iona nodded, "Could you two please follow me?"
She turned and walked a little away from the main
group and turned to study the pair. They exchanged
glances and followed after a pause.
Iona studied the two through slit eyes, first
one, then the other. After a moment, she nodded
decisively. "Very well. You, young lady, are the
Changeling. I'm afraid that you must die."
Akane gasped as Iona pulled her staff into a
ready position, blade pointed at Lina. The
sorceress reached to her hip, only then remembering
that she wasn't wearing her sword with the school
uniform. She glanced behind Iona quickly,
establishing that no innocents were behind the Hand
of Destiny.
"Elmekia Lance!"
Iona shrieked and jumped to the side. The hem
of her robe was singed, but she remained unharmed.
"What are you doing? For the fate of an entire
world, you must die!"
"I don't think so." Ranma and Lina had once
more spoken as one. Ranma smirked at Lina as he and
Zel moved to flank Iona. At some unseen signal,
they all attacked.
"Elmekia Lance!"
"Mouko Takabishi!"
"Elmekia Lance!"
Iona couldn't dodge all three. She took the
brunt of Ranma's ki attack as well as most of Zel's
spell.
She fell to the ground and pulled herself to her
knees. She stared in shock at the blood staining
her robes. She looked up, stunned, at Lina. With a
wave of her hand, she disappeared once more.
The three remaining combatants exchanged worried
glances. Ranma glanced at the crowd in the school's
windows. "I think we'd better go home and talk."
The entire household sat around the table.
Nabiki stared steadily at Lina and said in a calm,
cold voice, "I think you'd better explain."
Lina sighed and played with her sword. She,
Zel, and Gourry had all returned to their 'normal'
clothes. "Alright. In our world there is this
legend about the world having a Changeling.
Everything the Changeling says or does controls the
planet. He or She determines the fate of the world.
They can only die by the hand of Fate, and only when
they have ceased to be needed. When a new
Changeling is born, Fate seeks out the old one and
kills them, taking them back to her home where the
Changeling will live forever in perfect bliss."
Akane gave the distraught sorceress's hand a
pat. "If it's so perfect there, why didn't you go
along?"
Lina grimaced. "There's another part of the
legend. A few hundred years ago, a second
Changeling supposedly appeared on our world. This
second Changeling was slain in cold blood by Fate,
and reduced to the status of a normal mortal. Since
that mortal was not within reach of his own world's
afterlife, he has supposedly roamed our world ever
since as a tormented soul."
Ranma nodded, "And you definitely don't want
that."
Lina smiled coldly at the table. "Yeah. Not to
mention, I don't know what she'd do to Zel and
Gourry."
Nabiki frowned a moment in thought. "Wait a
moment. She said she was 'a Hand of Destiny;' and
that she served Destiny. She didn't say anything
about Fate, or that you would be forced to roam our
planet for eternity."
Akane nodded, "True, but she didn't say the
opposite either. She just said there was no way for
the Changeling to return home, and that it was
dangerous for two Changelings to be on one world."
Lina frowned at the group. "Look, you've been
real nice to us, but I'm not going to sit back and
let some pint-sized lancer chop me up."
Akane frowned angrily. "I didn't say that! Who
knows, maybe there's some way to get you home after
all. Or at least Gourry and Zelgadis."
Ranma looked up from the table. "I think we
need to see Cologne."
Cologne studied the redhead in front of her.
"Well, child, it seems fairly hopeless."
Ranma slapped his forehead, "That's not what we
wanted to hear."
"Quiet, son-in-law. There may be a way. We
simply need to remove your powers as a Changeling.
This would probably mean changing you somehow so
that you are, essentially, a new person."
Lina pursed her mouth in thought. "Would I lose
my magic?"
Cologne blinked, twice. "Magic? What Magic?"
Ranma smirked, he'd left that out on purpose.
"She's a sorceress back on her world, supposedly a
pretty good one."
Lina glared at him, "Not good, the best! I've
killed the Dark Lord Shabranigdo!"
Ranma simply shrugged and looked back to the
matriarch. "Well?"
"I'm thinking." She hopped around on her staff
for a moment in thought. "We can only assume that
she'll be back soon. She might even be replaced by
Lady Destiny herself. That, of course, would be
bad. Lina should not stray far from Ranma; or she
could, if this Iona is telling the truth, be easily
found. If this Iona appears again, Lina can hide.
Her energy might be overlooked in Ranma's, and we
can claim that she simply vanished."
"A good plan, under limited knowledge."
Everyone spun as two figures appeared in the
café's doorway. One was Iona, though she'd changed
into a soft and baggy pair of pants and a tunic, but
the other was a male version of her. He had
black/brown hair that brushed his shoulders in a
straight line. A golden circlet held it in place,
an eagle feather and various small charms and beads
hung from it down the back of his head as he turned
to scan the room.
After a moment, he shrugged. "This is a strange
world. We've come for the Changeling."
Everyone blinked in unison, aside from Gourry,
who stared dumbly. He turned to Lina and muttered,
"I'm a little confused, Lina. What's going on
again?"
Lina growled and bopped him on the head.
"Quiet, you idiot!" She turned to the two miniature
people. "Now, who are you?"
He flicked a stray lock of hair over his
shoulder and smirked at the red haired girl. He
wore what appeared to be black leather armor with
golden studs. There was a scarlet sash tied around
his waist, the fringed ends brushing the floor. He
gave a brief chuckle, "Not that it matters, but I am
Reeve. I am the right hand and Seneschal of Milady
Destiny. Since Left Hand Iona has failed, her task
has fallen to my hands; which are hands more than
capable of handling you young whelps."
Cologne drew herself up to her full (if meager)
height, showing her insult, and hopped to the front
of the group on her cane. "I am no youngling to be
dismissed so easily, warrior."
He lazily blinked as he studied the woman.
After a pause he held his hand before him and a
small flash of light faded to reveal a leather-bound
book nearly as large as the miniature man. The
crimson leather reeked of age and magic, even to
those who knew next to nothing of either subject.
He gestured briefly and the book opened and turned
to a page by itself. He leaned forward and cleared
his throat as he read from the book.
"One Koh Lohn, Matriarch. You're impressive for
a mortal. You've lived rather long by most
standards, and learned a few tricks to boot. Not
bad. Oh, and you appear to have a long list of
decent students as well; including—" He broke off
and looked quickly up to scan the group. He paused
as his eyes fell on Mousse and Shampoo, but stopped
dead on Ranma. He turned to Iona with an angry
scowl. "He's the one that defeated you, is he not?"
She swallowed and wrung her hands, "Well, his
attack did the brunt of the damage . . ."
Lina cast an odd glance to the pigtailed boy,
but nobody noticed. Abruptly, Reeve reached out and
slapped the girl. She collapsed into a small bundle
of hair and wings.
He turned back to the book and cleared his
throat once more. "I've tried to teach you well,
but apparently have failed. I've told you always to
study your opponents before you even go to their
worlds. If you had, you would have known that the
Changeling had met up with the one of this world,
and that he is an 'honorable' fighter that easily
the equal of Ms. Inverse here." He cast her
another angry look. "Instead you blindly ran to her
energy source and attacked. Fool."
Akane sent an almost apologetic look to Iona
before remembering that the girl was trying to kill
her new friend. Reeve then turned back to Cologne
and waved a dismissive hand at the book, which
promptly vanished.
"Now, Ms. Koh Lohn, back to our discussion. You
are also wrong in how you hail me. I am no
warrior." He smirked again, "I am a sorcerer."
Lina grinned and stepped forward, "Alright!
Magic I can handle!"
Reeve stared at her coldly in annoyance and
flicked his hair out of his face once more.
"Careful, youngling, I did do my homework, and I
know every spell that you can perform. I also know
that you are no match for me without your giga
slave." He smiled, making everyone wary. "To be
honest, I don't stand a chance against that spell.
However, casting that on this world while it remains
so unstable would surely be the death of anyone who
can't shift to a different dimension. As it is,
Iona and I are the only ones here who can perform
such a feat."
Lina stepped back hesitantly to stand even with
Ranma. Gourry stepped up next to her and Zel stood
on the other side of Ranma. Shampoo and Akane stood
behind and to either side of Ranma, and they were
then flanked by Cologne and Mousse. Reeve chuckled
and Iona carefully pulled herself up with a hateful
look to her teacher.
Reeve shook his head and the smile on his lips
vanished. Face blank, he said, "Look. The fight is
between Iona, Lina, and I. The rest of you need not
die, or even be hurt. Stand aside and let me slay
the girl, it is for the good of the world."
"I think not." Everyone turned at the new
voice. A woman stepped into the café with a feral
smile. Her hair was silver with a red streak beside
her left eye. Her hair was pulled into a tight
ponytail with the tightly curled ends stopping just
below her chin; except for a thick lock behind her
right ear that was secured with some golden cylinder
decorated with rubies. This lock was longer than
the ponytail, and trailed a good two feet behind her
on the ground. She wore a simple white dress with
red chording along the hem and tank straps. She
wore crimson stilettos and her legs were bare up
until the hem of her skirt that was barely
concealing her at all.
She smiled and her green eyes sparkled with
amusement. "I can't let you do that, Reeve. You do
not have the authority or the ability to kill a
Changeling."
He snarled at her, "Maybe I didn't the first
time, but that was millennia ago, and I am
infinitely stronger than I was then."
She chuckled softly, and something about her
demeanor reminded all of Kasumi. "When will you
learn, Reeve? It isn't a matter of strength.
Changelings have a particular key in their energy
that must be countered before they can be killed. I
am the only one that can do that."
A look of dawning passed over Reeve's face. It
appeared that this thought had never occurred to
him. After a moment, he sent the newcomer a glare.
"Come, Iona, we must report." He winked out of
existence.
Iona looked blankly at the woman in the doorway.
She turned slowly and looked between Ranma and Lina.
With a slow nod, she disappeared as well.
Ranma stepped forward and studied the woman.
She was slightly taller than his female side, but
still shorter than him at the moment. "Who are you?
What do you want?"
She smiled softly, "For the moment, nothing. I
believe we should retire to your home for now
though, or my sister will come." She raised her
hands and formed some peculiar symbol with her
fingers. The next moment; Akane, Ranma, Lina,
Gourry, and Zelgadis were in the dining room of the
Tendo home. They were seated around the table, with
Lina and the strange woman at the ends. She smiled
and called softly, "Miss Kasumi?"
Kasumi's curious face poked into the doorway.
"Oh, we have another guest."
The woman smiled, "Yes, I can help with Miss.
Lina's problem, but would you be a dear and bring us
all a little tea please?"
Kasumi smiled cheerfully, "Of course! It's
wonderful of you to help!" She disappeared into the
kitchen, and the group heard the process of tea
making.
Ranma leaned against the table, "Now, who are
you?"
The woman smiled and played with the long silver
lock. "Why, I am Fate."
Lina blinked. "Fate. I thought you wanted me
dead, not to help us."
Fate giggled and shook her head, "No, Destiny,
my sister, believes you should be dead. Not I."
Gourry scratched his head and looked at the
beautiful woman. "But I thought you were Destiny?"
"No, I am Fate. Destiny is my sister."
Akane looked nearly as confused as Gourry.
"They aren't one and the same?"
She gave a playful shrug. "Nope. Sorry. I
shall explain. You see, Destiny and I are what your
people would probably call goddesses. My sister
makes sure that everyone fulfills their life's
purpose, in short, their destiny. She minds the
Strands of Light that represent each world to make
sure that they do not veer from their proper places
amongst the universe."
She waved at the table and the image of a
white void with many colored strands of light
interweaving in a web-like pattern. "In short, she
is the Mistress of the Web of Worlds. She's a
little angry that three very important people have
left their world and proper places. This will cause
endless and unpredictable changes in the web."
The image zoomed in on a pair of red strands
that ran parallel and around each other for a long
time before meshing. Where they met, the light
turned a soft bluish white with crackles of power
around it. "This makes her job very difficult.
With every decision, no matter how trivial, a
Changeling makes, their world's beam changes course.
With two of you here, and your worlds slightly
meshed, the decisions you two make are either adding
to each other in concert or fighting against each
other. Either way, your worlds are drastically
changing course almost constantly and endangering
the Web."
Ranma sat back with a frown. "What can we do?"
She smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"I'm getting there. The normal punishment for
someone who has left their life's purpose is for
their death. Now, who gets the unseemly deed
depends. It is rare for someone to go against their
destiny. If they do, that world's Changeling
usually kills them." She glanced between the trio
from the other world. "Recently, you killed one
Rezo for going against his calling."
Zelgadis looked up at her in clear confusion.
Kasumi bustled in and set down the tray with a
smile. When she left, Zel spoke up.
"We killed him because of Shabranigdo."
She sadly shook her head, "Yes and no. That is
what you thought you were doing, but did he not
summon the dark lord because he had changed from the
loving priest he had become famous for being? He
was meant to be a savior to thousands, but nearly
destroyed the planet."
Lina cocked her head, "Maybe, but what if we
hadn't killed him? I mean, we could all have been
killed!"
Fate shook her head once more and sipped at her
tea. "Zelgadis and Gourry maybe, but I am the only
one capable of killing you, Changeling. If, for
some strange reason, you had failed, the duty would
have fallen to the next in line."
Zel stared blankly at her. "And that would be?"
She chuckled, "Why, the Hands of Fate, of
course!"
Gourry put one hand on either side of his head
and shook it rapidly back and forth. "Arg! I
thought they were the Hands of Destiny! I'm so
confused!"
Lina hit him over the head with the hilt of her
sword. Resting her chin in her hand, she raised and
eyebrow and addressed the goddess. "I assume both
Fate and Destiny have a left and right Hand to serve
them?"
"Yup! Now, if my Hands had failed, I would have
gone after him and killed him."
Akane stared through slits of eyes and asked,
"If you're so high in command, why are you here
now?"
Fate sighed, "I've been so bored lately.
Normally I have plenty to do, but lately there's
been a lull. Besides, my job will be bringing me
here soon anyway. Well, to the area at least."
Ranma gulped, "Your job?"
She nodded, "Uh huh. Don't worry about it
though. Besides, it is also my job to protect
Changelings from unnecessary divine interference.
Iona and Reeve have no business here."
Lina sat up a little straighter with a curious
glint in her eyes. "I have a question. The legend
on my world about the second Changeling coming to
our planet and being slain by the Hand of Fate; how
much of that is real?"
"Oh all of it. You see, my Hands can kill a
Changeling if I grant them the power temporarily.
That's only necessary if two Changelings are due to
die at the same time. That was one of those
moments."
Lina looked resolved and nodded slowly. "So you
are here to kill me."
Fate's laughter rang through the dojo. "Oh, how
funny. That Changeling was not killed because there
were two Changelings on the same planet. His name
was Cerryl. He was supposed to die from wounds
received in a horrific battle he fought in order to
save his world. Somehow, he altered the plan
slightly. Instead of just falling over unconscious
until I could arrive to end his pain, he somehow
fell into another world like you three did. By the
time I found out from my sister which world Cerryl
was on, he'd been discovered and was healing. I was
still forced to kill the poor boy."
Ranma played with his empty cup, "So what about
Lina? Destiny sure seems bent on killing her, and
she's evidently convinced it's the right thing."
Fate scoffed, "My sister is a meddling fool who
should stick to destinies and ignore fates. So what
if you two being together makes her job a little
harder? Live with it! Does she ever help me when
more than three Changelings are due to be retired
close to the same time?"
Ranma blinked, "So Lina, Zel, and Gourry can
just stay here?"
"of course! I'm afraid they can't be taken home
though. Nobody can do that except for the Hands,
Destiny, or me. Just so you know, a new Changeling
was born on your world yesterday."
Lina blinked and muttered sarcastically, "Oh
yea, I've already been replaced. I'm soooooo
happy."
Ranma ignored her with a giant drop of sweat on
the back of his head. "Uh, so what do we do now?"
Fate shrugged. "We wait until my sister gets
annoyed enough to leave her void and come here so I
can explain things to her."
"Well, waitings over." The brown-eyed girl with
the long braid steps into view. "I'm here."
Fate gestured to the table. "Have a seat, sis."
Destiny sat carefully next to Ranma, who cringed
closer to Akane. She neatly arranged her braid and
primly settled her short sarong-style skirt. "Now,
I must say that I don't completely agree with
everything you said."
"You missed a little at the beginning. Anyway,
I'm afraid it is all written in the orders I
received all those millennia ago."
Destiny sighed. "Well, I suppose you won't do
me a favor then? It's very hectic up there right
now. I had to leave both Iona and Reeve in charge
of the Web, and still I cannot stay long."
Lina leaned into her palm again and
sarcastically retorted, "Oh, what a pity."
Destiny frowned slightly but chose to ignore the
young girl. "Truly, it isn't safe for them both to
be here. One of them must go."
Fate shook her head with a slight frown. "I'm
afraid I can't do that. I'm sure you'll manage. If
you want, I'll give in and agree to let you take a
third Hand."
Every mortal in the room blinked. How could you
have a THIRD hand?
Destiny mirrored her sister's expression. "I'm
afraid that isn't workable either. Iona has been
with me for nearly a century, and she is still
barely capable of managing the web."
Both sisters sighed. Fate sat up with a grin.
"I might have a suitable answer for you, but you
will have to wait for another day or two."
Fate sighed. "I have to anyway. Iona and Reeve
will be terribly worn after plane shifting and
minding the Web all in one day. We shall talk in a
couple of days then. Good bye."
Fate waved and Destiny disappeared as the rest
of the room's occupants blinked and exchanged
confused glances.
Akane sighed and watched Ranma doing push-ups in
the dojo the next morning. Rate had recommended
that they all remain home for now. "This is so
stupid. The fate of the world rests on our
shoulders and we're killing time in the dojo."
Ranma gave a funny half shrug and bent his left
arm behind his back, continuing with one-armed push-
ups. "I don't know, I don't mind missing a little
school. Besides, I appreciate the extra training
just in case this all boils down to a fight."
Akane watched his braid fall over his shoulder
as he stared determinedly at the floor. She sighed
again and continued to watch him.
Lina sat next to the koi pond. She'd taken off
the cape and shoulder guards, but she was wearing
her sword and own clothes. Fate had said she
needn't bothered before disappearing the night
before, but Lina wasn't too prone to trusting the
girl that would one day kill her. With a sigh, Lina
thought of the few spells she'd used during her
brief stay in this strange world.
The healing spell she'd cast in that first fight
with the Amazon had seemed normal. If anything, it
had been almost too easy; like casting a spell in an
area with a lot of loose magic that just jumps to
her bidding.
However, the attack spells she'd used against
Iona had felt funny. The first had a funny tug of
resistance. It wasn't major, and she'd just
concentrated a little harder to overcome it. After
that, every spell just seemed to resist a little
more. She'd experimented that morning by casting
minor light spells. By the third one she was sure.
She was loosing her ability to cast magic.
She frowned down at the little fish as they made
lazy circles through the pebbles and plants. There
was a thud from the 'dojo', as the locals called the
funny empty room separated from the rest of the
house. Lina heard Ranma's voice and stood, he
seemed to be hesitantly in charge.
She walked determinedly to the dojo and stepped
inside. Ranma was moving about doing some martial
arts moves, but not like anything Lina had ever seen
before. Could fighting techniques have evolved so
differently on the two worlds? Akane watched him
with a bored but strangely soft look. Lina smirked.
It was so obvious that the two of them liked each
other, no matter how much they fought.
She cleared her throat and waited for them to
look up at her. "I believe I'm losing my magic."
Akane blinked and Ranma looked vaguely worried
and, strangely, a little angry. He took a step
forward and made a jerky and upset gesture, "What do
you mean? How can you lose your magic?"
She sat next to Akane, and Ranma grudgingly did
likewise. She looked from one teenager to the other
and made the effort to appear calm. "Every spell
that I've cast since I came here has been
progressively harder to cast. It's like," she
flailed with her hands, trying to think of an
analogy, and finally said, "singing with a sore
throat. Every word puts a little more strain on
your throat. The more you sing, the worse your
throat hurts."
They both looked worried, but Akane's expression
was more sympathetic. The girl leaned forward
slightly, "Does it hurt you somehow?"
Lina shook her head, still thinking of
alternatives. "No, it's just hard. Like I'm
reaching for the spells, but they're getting farther
and farther away so that I have to work harder.
It's been so long since I couldn't cast any spell I
wanted to easily; that straining so hard for simple
spells is a new experience."
Akane gave Lina's hand a pat. "Don't worry,
we'll figure it out."
Ranma frowned and leaned his elbow onto one knee
as he sat cross-legged on the floor. He cupped his
chin and looked thoughtful. "I'm worried. I was
really hoping for all these great spells she's
talking about to help us out a little. Now I'm
going to have to beat Destiny and protect Lina at
the same time!"
Akane blinked in response to Ranma's outburst.
He was worried. She slowly turned her head to look
at him. He was frowning but he didn't appear
frightened. His eyes narrowed and he chewed on his
lip a little in thought.
"Maybe we should ask the old ghoul. I hate how
we have to keep going back to the little prune, but
she's the only one that knows anything about magic
around here."
"Best you remember that, son-in-law, since I am
doing you a favor." Cologne and Shampoo stood in
the doorway. Kasumi was standing behind them with a
tray of.
The whole group came in and Kasumi set the tray
down in the middle of the larger group. Lina smiled
up at the older girl, "Kasumi, could you send Zel
and Gourry in here please?"
"Of course! I know just where they are." She
bustled off and Shampoo began to pour the tea.
Akane and Shampoo were seated to either side of
Ranma; Cologne and Lina to their sides respectively.
When they arrived, Zel sat next to Shampoo, and
Gourry next to Lina. Lina repeated her findings and
Zel nodded.
"I felt the same tug of reluctance the couple of
times I have cast spells. I haven't used as much
magic as you though."
Cologne looked between the two magic users.
"Why do you think this is happening?"
Lina put one finger to her chin, "Well, maybe
magic just works differently here. I keep feeling
like I just can't gather enough energy. Could it be
that there simply isn't any magical energy around
here? Or, more exactly, there wasn't very much and
we've been wasting it."
Akane frowned, "I don't think defending
yourselves should be considered wasting."
Lina shrugged, "Maybe, but now we need to find
other ways to be useful. I'm not gonna sit back and
let some demigod try to kill me."
They sat there silently, trying to decide how
the powerless sorcerers could be useful. Shampoo,
who didn't quite see the difficulty in the
situation, began to fidget slightly. Why didn't
they just wait until Destiny showed up and fight
her? She sighed mentally and waited. After several
minutes of endless silence, Cologne hopped out of
the dojo without a word. Shampoo smiled brightly at
Ranma before following.
Ranma barely looked up. He sighed in
frustration. "This isn't like our usual fights!
You can't take on Destiny in a head on fight!"
"Wise decision."
Everyone whipped around to face a battered
practice dummy with a yarn ponytail tacked onto it.
A man in fairly elaborate robes and chin length
purple hair was seated on the dummy's head, smiling
benignly down at the group.
Ranma leapt to his feet, "Who are you?"
The man chuckled and jumped gracefully to the
ground, walking to the group as they hurried to
their feet. "I am Xellos, the mysterious priest!
I've come to help the infamous Lina Inverse and her
friends return home."
"How did you know who I was? Nobody here knows
me." Lina was practically snarling.
The man chuckled and sat down next to the tea
paraphernalia and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Because I'm from your home planet as well, and
somebody has to get you back where you belong."
Lina's face grew blank and her voice level as
she said, "Assuming you can help us, why would you
want to?"
Xellos chuckled and sipped his tea, "Because you
three still have some important things to do on our
planet, things nobody else can do. In fact, I'll be
needing your help soon anyway, so I came to bring
you home."
Zelgadis sat down across from Xellos, "How did
you get here, and how do you plan on getting us
back."
Xellos smiled and sat back, still clutching his
tea. "There's a very simple spell that let me
follow your trails here. However, the trail is now
too dissipated to follow it home, so we'll have to
work together to cast a much more complicated spell
to return."
Lina scoffed, "Well, there's one small problem
with that. You see, there's a distinct lack of
magical energies around here. We won't be able to
cast much more than a light spell, let alone travel
home."
The room was silent aside from the click of
porcelain when Xellos set his cup on the tray. He
looked up and grinned knowingly at the assembled
young people, "Ah, but that is only because the
magical energies, or mana, of this world is mostly
concentrated in little nodes. Our world has more
mana, and what we have is spread evenly across the
world due to the constant use of magic. Since magic
is less reliable here due to a lower availability of
the proper energies, magic to any great degree is
rare. So, the mana has gone unused and settled into
the small nodes."
Everyone blinked as one while Xellos cocked his
head and smiled at them as a whole. After scanning
the entire group, he continued, "So we need to find
one of these nodes. Do any of you know of a place
with a high concentration of magic?"
They looked blankly at each other for a moment
before Ranma broke the silence in a soft voice, "I
know of a place. The first time I saw any magic at
all was when I got my curse. Jusenkyo is full of
magical springs. Nobody knows about them, and very
few people ever go there, so there should be plenty
of this mana stuff there, shouldn't there?"
Lina slammed a fist into her other palm, "That's
it! The fact that your curse is still active proves
that there is still magic there. Your very presence
has probably leeched mana from the area into
maintaining your curse this far from the pools."
Zel nodded slowly, "That would explain why
there's so very little magical energies here. Not
to mention, since the pools are rarely activated,
they may have given excess energy into the area
surrounding the pools. There should me more than
enough mana at this Jusenkyo place to power several
giga slaves!"
Xellos nodded sagely, "Then tomorrow we leave
for Jusenkyo!"
Ranma rose early the next day and stepped out
onto the roof to meditate. This wasn't one of his
usual activities, but some situations required a
clear head. He tuned out the biting morning wind
and the permeating cold from the roof he sat on. He
ignored the sounds of the waking city and the
chirping of the birds in the air above him. He sat
there completely motionless as the sun began to peek
over line of rooftops before him, and did not move
until it was fairly high in the sky.
His first movement in two hours was to suddenly
stand in a fluid movement that betrayed his current
state of perfect awareness with both himself and
everything around him. He started to walk over and
jump down into the yard, but paused and looked back
over his shoulder. Silently he made his way over to
a window that he'd often looked through.
He lay on his stomach and edged himself over the
edge of the roof and hung over it to peer inside a
particular bedroom.
Akane sighed and sat up in bed with a stretch
and a content smile. She threw back the covers and
yawned as she padded barefoot to the window to look
out at the fresh morning view. The yawn ended up
deeper than she'd anticipated, and she was making
her way blindly across the room with closed eyes.
The yawn ended and she dropped her arms as her
eyes opened. She gave a shriek as a face suddenly
came into view. Ranma smiled slightly at her and
cringed slightly with apparent meekness as his
pigtail swung back and forth. Akane frowned at her
upside down fiancé.
"What are you doing Ranma?" She sighed and
jerked the window open, stepping aside as he flipped
into the room.
"Morning Akane, how's it going?"
She sighed and turned to her closet to pick out
some clothes. Shrugging, she said, "Oh, it was
going pretty well until you scared me to death."
She began rifling through clothes as he flopped down
on her bed, crossing his arms beneath his head.
"Akane, what are we going to do?"
She pulled out a tank top and gave him a puzzled
glance, "Do? About what?"
He played with a crease in her blanket, "You
know, about Lina and everything."
Akane sighed and sat gingerly on the edge of her
bed, making sure to keep a safe distance between
Ranma and herself. "I don't know Ranma. We'll
manage, we always do."
She looked down at his face and he smiled softly
up at her. It was such a sweet, warm smile that she
couldn't help but smile back at him. She stood and
shooed him out the door.
"Go on, Ranma, get out. I have to get ready.
We'll be leaving pretty soon."
He smirked and disappeared, leaving Akane
shaking her head. She closed the door and changed
quickly into some durable traveling clothes. She
was running a brush through her hair when there was
a knock on the door.
"C'mon in, it's open!"
Lina poked her red head in as Akane was putting
the brush down. Her purplish eyes lit on the brush
and she grinned, "Hey, Akane, can I use your
hairbrush?"
Akane nodded and tossed said brush to the other
girl. "Come on in. I'm packing a few things."
Akane continued throwing necessities into her
backpack as Lina sat on the bed and began
contentedly pulling the brush through her long red
hair.