Disclaimer: Oh for the love of it all....you still need one of these damn things? [Well, given your last disclaimer....] Shut up! That was quite clearly me exercising my world-dominating parody-of-self! Fine, fine. I don't own it. Except one thing. That one thing is something not owned by anyone else. Sue me not, lest ye receive ye share of nothing!
A/N: [The story so far: Big Shock; ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha; Banyai!; hyuu hyuu don don don don hyuu hyuu don don don don] 'That is not the story so far!' [Oh, so am I the idiot then?] 'Yes dammit!' [So shhooocckkkked] 'Shut up! Tell the readers useless information in-story, not in the Author's Notes!' [Hmm, shouldn't take your job from you, should I?] 'Exactly....Hey, wait a second here dammit!' [ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha] 'I am going to kill it....slowly.' Ahem. Anyway, a bit of background on the BalanceKeeper in this chapter.
" " - speech
' ' - thoughts
[ ] - BalanceKeeper's alternate mind's thoughts
* * - mental suggestion
~ ~ - flashback (~~ signifies the start/end of the entire flashback sequence)
Tales of the BalanceKeeper: Planetouched 1/2
Chapter 3 - the Past is the Foundation of the Future
"I guess you've figured out by now that I'm not human?" Both Akane and Ranma nodded. Chris continued, "Well, at least not completely human - there's still some left in me. Roughly half." The last two words sounded self-deprecating, and in a sense they were - Chris occassionally regretted giving up his human ability to focus on one side of the 'truth' or the other, the ability to choose a side for good, rather than being the eternal fencesitter. "In order for me to explain, I'll have to tell you about the concept of the Planes. This isn't an easy concept to grasp - but if you're up to it, I think you'll find it rather interesting. Think you're up to it?"
Akane looked at Ranma. Ranma looked at Akane. The waitress arrived at the table, then went off to get another Ginger Ale for Chris. If there had been trees inside the restaurant, the wind would've blown briefly. The waitress returned with the Ginger Ale.
Ranma and Akane seemed to reach a decision about then, turning their heads and stating in unison, "We're up to it."
"Good. It's refreshing to find people who are interested in the truth - most are just content to believe I'm some celestial being's avatar. But I digress....to the concept."
He took a long drink, settling himself for what would inevitably be a long session.
"This place where we exist right now is known as a Plane - a Material Plane. That is, it possess characteristics like gravity, relativity, temporal linearity, quantifiable electromagnetics - something that humans tend to arrogantly call 'normal'. There are many Planes - this one is just one of many. The Planes are divided typically into three categories: The Inner Planes; the Middle Planes {A/N: Maybe that's why Tolkien called it Middle Earth, eh?}; and the Outer Planes."
"This is one of the Middle Planes, and is the most common type of plane a plane-travellar is likely to come across. I'm from a Middle Plane, what is known as the Prime Material. Apparently, it's called that because it was the first Material plane that came into existance Balance-knows how long ago. Another Middle Plane is the Ethereal Plane."
Chris concentrated briefly, scanning for the faint outlines of the Ethereal occassionally visible to his balance-sense. He found none.
"The Ethereal Plane, as best I can tell, is almost exclusively accessible from the Prime Material - its landscape mirrors the Prime Material for the most part, but it lacks a few aspects of a Material, mostly relativity and temporal linearity. Something planeshifted to the Ethereal tends to look ghostlike, and I've heard some rumors about it being the source of ghosts and the like, but that's utter crap as best I've found."
"Another one of the Middle Planes is the Astral Plane. You might have heard some spirit mediums going on about astral selves and all that. The Astral Plane is like the planar hub - all planes are connected to each other via the Astral. At least, that's what I've been told - I've never actually used the Astral for planeshifting, but I'm one of the wierd cases...anyways."
He paused here, both to take a drink and to see if his listeners had kept up.
"You still with me so far?"
Ranma blinked a bit, digesting the information carefully, and Akane nodded eagerly - she was soaking all of this up like a sponge.
"Ok then, I guess I'll move onto the Inner Planes."
"The Inner Planes are the primal planes - they tend to contain primal energies and forces. They are damn dangerous for outsiders to visit. The two energy planes are Inner Planes - the Positive Energy Plane and the Negative Energy Plane. The Positive Energy Plane is typically associated with 'goodness', because it can be channelled through a gap to heal living creatures, and even ressurrect dead creatures. The Negative Energy Plane is effectively the opposite - it harms and kills living creatures, and is the source of death. Don't get me wrong - neither one is inherently good or evil, and positive energy can be used for evil purposes just like negative energy can be used for good purposes, but most creatures tend to think of positive energy as 'good' and negative energy as 'bad'."
"The Elemental Planes are also Inner Planes - the Planes of Air, Earth, Fire and Water respectively. Each plane is composed, entirely, of the element it's named for, and it's almost impossible for a non-elemental to survive a jaunt through an Elemental Plane. Still, their influence is felt and needed throughout the Planes. I know I'd sure be in a rough spot without them!"
"Other planes, like the Plane of Pandemodium, exist somewhere between the Inner Planes and the Middle Planes - they embody concepts, rather than primal forces and energies, though some argue that their influence is widely-enough felt to be considered a primal force."
He paused again - all this talking was making his throat dry. He drained the can before continuing.
"The Outer Planes....I trust you're both familiar with the concept of the soul? You should be, or at least in terms of ki, the physical manifestation of the soul."
Akane nodded, and Ranma - sensing a chance to demonstrate his own considerable ability - projected a ki-aura. Chris nodded.
"Ok. The Outer Planes are where the souls of the dead go - some religions call it heaven or paradise, and some call it hell. I don't know about the paradise part - as a living creature, it's not possible to venture into the 'afterlife' - something about the presence of life energy disrupts the balance, and if the source of the disruption is not ejected, the resonance created could conceivably destroy all of the Planes - but I _do_ know it's not hell. Two hellish Outer Planes exist though - the Abyss, home of demons, and the Nine Hells, home of devils. Whatever you do, don't confuse the two - Abyssal and Infernal creatures do not get on well, and have been having some sort of feud for as long as any can remember. The demons, or tan'aari, are fairly chaotic little buggers, and have to be bound if they're summoned - a summoned, unbound tan'aari will typically kill the summoner and anything else it comes across, but a bound one can be very useful. The devils, or baatezu, in contrast, are actually quite mindful of the laws they've set for themselves, and rarely attack when summoned, bound or not. Of course, they're more cunning little bastards, and a dealing with a baatezu who is not indebted to you is a very easy way to get your soul bought. They honour their debts though, and a carefully-worded agreement can shield you from their scheming, but I've found it best not to risk it."
He smiled as he recalled some of the 'deals' he'd made with a few baatezu....
~~The baatezu in front of him cackled, a thoroughly unpleasant sound. The BalanceKeeper's sensitive ears twitched - he had abandoned his human shape for the dealing, as the more he could intimidate the devil, the better - but he said nothing. His cloak - split down the middle to allow more mobility - swayed slightly in a non-existant breeze, his grey eyes glowing brightly, a non-subtle display of power. The baatezu began jabbering.~
~"Yes, yes, an infernal blade you wish? Do this I can, easy, but a cost there is, yes? Know this cost you do, yes?"~
~The BalanceKeeper nodded slowly, demonstrating that he was dictating the pace of the conversation. "Of course I know the price - this is hardly the first dealing I've had with your kind." He smirked here, showing contempt - the baatezu were an egotistical lot, proud of their rules that seperated them from the tan'aari, and reacted predictably to attacks on their pride. This one was no different.~
~"Gah! Show respect human! Grateful you should be, yes, that even _consider_ your request I did! Grateful, human! Show ..-"~
~The baatezu abruptly cut off as the BalanceKeeper merged light and darkness into a shadowy extension of his arm, and used it to grasp the devil's neck. A grin appeared on his face, revealling his sharp canines. "You should appreciate your situation better baatezu - the fact that you think me human despite my appearance shows how little you understand. Having you fulfil my request is simply a matter of convenience for me. You should be grateful I had the kind-heartedness to ask, rather than simply take. Don't push your luck though - that merciful inclination is fickle, and may dissappear altogether. So for your own benefit, cease your blabbering and fulfil my request!" He let a small measure of anger bleed into his voice, and released his shadowy grip. The baatezu struggled to regain its composure.~
~"Fine. Sword is yours, yes. Take, and be ready to pay price, yes." A small curved blade, black as the void yet somehow still reflective, appeared before the BalanceKeeper. He reached out for it....~
~The soul-tendrils rose up around his body as his hand closed on the handle. Without a second thought, he lashed out with the shadowy power of forces balanced, wiping the little devil from existance. The soul-tendrils evaporated.~
~"Fool. Not only did you fail to soul-bind me, but your attempt came after fulfilling my request...I ripped you off twice in that deal...."~~
Coming out of his memory-trance, he noticed the annoyed looks being directed his way. "Eh sorry, got a bit caught up. Anyways...yeah, there's one more set of Outer Planes."
"The final lot of the Outer Planes are known as celestial planes, or planes where deities reside. Some religions refer to them as Planes of Brilliance. Unlike the two hellish, it's not possible for a mortal to enter a celestial plane without the acceptance of at least one of the deities that reside in it. Given that most deities don't give a damn about what happens outside of their plane, it's unlikely for a mortal to be granted enterance."
He sat back, a bit tired from his long-winded explanation. Looking up, he saw Ranma and Akane lean back in their seats.
"That's a pretty brief overview of the concept of the Planes, and there's probably some errors in it to boot - there's still a lot of stuff regarding the Planes that I'm not sure about. But you're both no doubt wondering what all this has to do with me, eh?"
Akane managed to find her voice, "Yeah, how does it relate to you?"
"Fair question. Being a BalanceKeeper revolves around the concept of neutrality, or balance - up and down, left and right, high and low, light and dark. Most previous BalanceKeepers defined their key duality - that is, the aspect of themselves that would define their concept of keeping the balance - to be the good/evil duality, and to this end, they typically bound their essence with aspects of both the Positive Energy and Negative Energy Planes."
Ranma spoke up, "But you didn't, right?"
Chris nodded, "Yeah, I thought that the good/evil thing was a bit restrictive, so I chose the morally-ambigious light/dark duality. There's a whole philosophy to it, but the basic flow of it is light and darkness merged yields shadow - you can't have a shadow without light, and a shadow is darkness, therefore, it is of both. And so, I bound my essence with an aspect of the Plane of Shadow, another Inner Plane. I draw most of my ability from my bond to the Plane of Shadow."
Ability? Now Ranma's curiousity was piqued. "What other abilities do you have?"
Chris smiled dryly - they always asked this one, "You mean, besides the ear and teeth thing, the incredible speed, co-ordination, strength and the mental projection?"
Ranma nodded eagerly, "Yeah, besides all that."
Chris laughed, "Not much more, actually. I can manipulate dualities of things that exist, the duality being real, theoretical, symbolic or even wholly unexistant - so long as I can find some aspect of duality to something, I can manipulate it. Of course, I have to keep both ends of said duality balanced - if one side is manipulated, the other side must also be. Failing to do that literally drains my life essence. Not permanently, thankfully, but enough that I need a good meal and a long sleep to restore myself. There are several techniques I know based on the manipulation of one's key duality - their use is very similar to ki-projection, and are an adequate substitute."
[Not going to tell them about the Split Image technique? Or the ShadowMeld?] 'Ah, no. First off, I think they've endured enough wierdness for one day {A/N: Bah, all in a day's work for Ranma! :D}. Two, they're secret techniques, third, I've done enough talking!' [You are such a damn wimp!] 'Says one who typically doesn't have a body!' [Well, maybe if you performed the Split Image more often, I'd know why you're complaining!] '....hmm, plus, the voices _would_ have a throat that can be strangled....' [Don't start that again...]
Ranma processed this information, mulling over the various possibilities. Akane seemed to grasp the implications immediately, "So, you can't actually project ki?"
Chris shook his head, "Nope. I can sense it, and at long distances too, but I have practically no ability to project it. The few times I tried was met with nothing - not a spark, not a glow, nothing. And, again, this seems to be something that all BalanceKeepers are affected by. My theory is, that in forcing ourselves to become Planetouched - creatures whose heritage can be traced to at least two different planes, which we achieve by binding ourselves to another plane, often very different to our native plane - a fundamental aspect of our soul is changed, and I think that aspect is the ability to feel that something is absolutely right or wrong. I mean, Ranma, there are some things you hold to be absolutely true, right? Something fundamentally true about how you do things, right?"
Ranma nodded vigorously, "Yeah, my Moko Takabisha is based on my confidence. If I don't have absolute confidence in myself, it just won't work, no matter how hard I try."
"That's what I mean - the nature of balancing is to see both sides. I can't have a one-sided view, like, I can't have absolute confidence in myself - I have to allow for the possibility of failure, however minute it might be. I can't be absolutely convinced that one side is right and the other is wrong. I think that's why I - and all the previous BalanceKeepers - aren't able to project their ki."
Chris paused, checking his watch out of habit. Of course, it didn't help him much - temporality was not maintained between Planes.
"Uh, just wondering...what sort of, timekeeping, system do you have here?"
Akane helpfully offered, "We use a 24-hour day system."
[24 hours...what do you know, same as the Prime.] 'Yeah, there are a _damn_ lot of similarities to the Prime. I wonder....' [What?] '...could the Prime have splintered?' [How?] 'No idea. But it would certainly explain the similarities....' [Kangaxx?] 'Maybe....but we should have picked up any increases in disturbances, particularly Negative Energy perversions....' [Task at hand, task at hand - reset watch to local time] 'Right, right.' [Worry about planar-disturbance possibility later, change the watch now.] 'Alright already!'
"24 hours? 1 hour is 60 minutes, 1 minute is 60 seconds?"
Akane nodded.
"Cool, my watch is not rendered useless for once. What's the time right now?"
Akane checked her watch, as Ranma had never bothered to invest in one, "It's 1825 right now."
Chris reset his watch, and looked outside, "Damn, dark already? Bugger it all...." [Yeah, we still don't know where we're going to stay, do we?] 'No, dammit....' "Well, I guess I have to get going - gotta find some place to stay."
Ranma's mind ticked over again, and he tapped Akane on the shoulder, "Hey, Akane. Could he stay with us? I mean, at your place, it's not ours yet...."
Chris held up his hands, "No no, I can't impose on you like that ..-"
Akane was firm, "It's OK, even if you don't stay, at least join us for dinner. Kasumi's cooking, and..." she suddenly remembered _why_ she and Ranma were out today, "Ranma! We forgot to get the shopping for Kasumi!"
"Huh? We did?"
"Yes dummy! We don't have any with us, do we?"
"Good point, I guess..." Ranma didn't look convinced.
"Anyway, please join us for dinner. We just have to make a short stop first."
Chris pondered - he wasn't actually that hungry. But it wouldn't do to be rude. "OK, I'll join you and your family for dinner."
"Great! We have to go now though. C'mon, c'mon!" Akane dropped some change on the table for the drinks, and practically dragged Ranma after her. Chris shrugged, and followed after them.
[And so the first adventure truly begins - shopping!] 'Did you have to phrase it that way?' [Yes.] 'Figures...' [Off to the shops we go, off to the shops we go!] 'My voices have no throat and I must, no, _WILL_ strangle them....'
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A/N: There - another chapter finished. Remember that first disclaimer or author's note I made, about how I do computer D&D, and I don't have a handbook? Well, this sort of chapter is what that's referring to! I guessed half the plane stuff and improvised the rest. Diehards, flame me if you must, but it would be better if you just gave constructive critisism. [Rambling, rambling again.] 'Shut up!'....voices without throats that I must strangle, oh yes. Review! I command it! ....please? I need reviews.
A/N: [The story so far: Big Shock; ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha; Banyai!; hyuu hyuu don don don don hyuu hyuu don don don don] 'That is not the story so far!' [Oh, so am I the idiot then?] 'Yes dammit!' [So shhooocckkkked] 'Shut up! Tell the readers useless information in-story, not in the Author's Notes!' [Hmm, shouldn't take your job from you, should I?] 'Exactly....Hey, wait a second here dammit!' [ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha] 'I am going to kill it....slowly.' Ahem. Anyway, a bit of background on the BalanceKeeper in this chapter.
" " - speech
' ' - thoughts
[ ] - BalanceKeeper's alternate mind's thoughts
* * - mental suggestion
~ ~ - flashback (~~ signifies the start/end of the entire flashback sequence)
Tales of the BalanceKeeper: Planetouched 1/2
Chapter 3 - the Past is the Foundation of the Future
"I guess you've figured out by now that I'm not human?" Both Akane and Ranma nodded. Chris continued, "Well, at least not completely human - there's still some left in me. Roughly half." The last two words sounded self-deprecating, and in a sense they were - Chris occassionally regretted giving up his human ability to focus on one side of the 'truth' or the other, the ability to choose a side for good, rather than being the eternal fencesitter. "In order for me to explain, I'll have to tell you about the concept of the Planes. This isn't an easy concept to grasp - but if you're up to it, I think you'll find it rather interesting. Think you're up to it?"
Akane looked at Ranma. Ranma looked at Akane. The waitress arrived at the table, then went off to get another Ginger Ale for Chris. If there had been trees inside the restaurant, the wind would've blown briefly. The waitress returned with the Ginger Ale.
Ranma and Akane seemed to reach a decision about then, turning their heads and stating in unison, "We're up to it."
"Good. It's refreshing to find people who are interested in the truth - most are just content to believe I'm some celestial being's avatar. But I digress....to the concept."
He took a long drink, settling himself for what would inevitably be a long session.
"This place where we exist right now is known as a Plane - a Material Plane. That is, it possess characteristics like gravity, relativity, temporal linearity, quantifiable electromagnetics - something that humans tend to arrogantly call 'normal'. There are many Planes - this one is just one of many. The Planes are divided typically into three categories: The Inner Planes; the Middle Planes {A/N: Maybe that's why Tolkien called it Middle Earth, eh?}; and the Outer Planes."
"This is one of the Middle Planes, and is the most common type of plane a plane-travellar is likely to come across. I'm from a Middle Plane, what is known as the Prime Material. Apparently, it's called that because it was the first Material plane that came into existance Balance-knows how long ago. Another Middle Plane is the Ethereal Plane."
Chris concentrated briefly, scanning for the faint outlines of the Ethereal occassionally visible to his balance-sense. He found none.
"The Ethereal Plane, as best I can tell, is almost exclusively accessible from the Prime Material - its landscape mirrors the Prime Material for the most part, but it lacks a few aspects of a Material, mostly relativity and temporal linearity. Something planeshifted to the Ethereal tends to look ghostlike, and I've heard some rumors about it being the source of ghosts and the like, but that's utter crap as best I've found."
"Another one of the Middle Planes is the Astral Plane. You might have heard some spirit mediums going on about astral selves and all that. The Astral Plane is like the planar hub - all planes are connected to each other via the Astral. At least, that's what I've been told - I've never actually used the Astral for planeshifting, but I'm one of the wierd cases...anyways."
He paused here, both to take a drink and to see if his listeners had kept up.
"You still with me so far?"
Ranma blinked a bit, digesting the information carefully, and Akane nodded eagerly - she was soaking all of this up like a sponge.
"Ok then, I guess I'll move onto the Inner Planes."
"The Inner Planes are the primal planes - they tend to contain primal energies and forces. They are damn dangerous for outsiders to visit. The two energy planes are Inner Planes - the Positive Energy Plane and the Negative Energy Plane. The Positive Energy Plane is typically associated with 'goodness', because it can be channelled through a gap to heal living creatures, and even ressurrect dead creatures. The Negative Energy Plane is effectively the opposite - it harms and kills living creatures, and is the source of death. Don't get me wrong - neither one is inherently good or evil, and positive energy can be used for evil purposes just like negative energy can be used for good purposes, but most creatures tend to think of positive energy as 'good' and negative energy as 'bad'."
"The Elemental Planes are also Inner Planes - the Planes of Air, Earth, Fire and Water respectively. Each plane is composed, entirely, of the element it's named for, and it's almost impossible for a non-elemental to survive a jaunt through an Elemental Plane. Still, their influence is felt and needed throughout the Planes. I know I'd sure be in a rough spot without them!"
"Other planes, like the Plane of Pandemodium, exist somewhere between the Inner Planes and the Middle Planes - they embody concepts, rather than primal forces and energies, though some argue that their influence is widely-enough felt to be considered a primal force."
He paused again - all this talking was making his throat dry. He drained the can before continuing.
"The Outer Planes....I trust you're both familiar with the concept of the soul? You should be, or at least in terms of ki, the physical manifestation of the soul."
Akane nodded, and Ranma - sensing a chance to demonstrate his own considerable ability - projected a ki-aura. Chris nodded.
"Ok. The Outer Planes are where the souls of the dead go - some religions call it heaven or paradise, and some call it hell. I don't know about the paradise part - as a living creature, it's not possible to venture into the 'afterlife' - something about the presence of life energy disrupts the balance, and if the source of the disruption is not ejected, the resonance created could conceivably destroy all of the Planes - but I _do_ know it's not hell. Two hellish Outer Planes exist though - the Abyss, home of demons, and the Nine Hells, home of devils. Whatever you do, don't confuse the two - Abyssal and Infernal creatures do not get on well, and have been having some sort of feud for as long as any can remember. The demons, or tan'aari, are fairly chaotic little buggers, and have to be bound if they're summoned - a summoned, unbound tan'aari will typically kill the summoner and anything else it comes across, but a bound one can be very useful. The devils, or baatezu, in contrast, are actually quite mindful of the laws they've set for themselves, and rarely attack when summoned, bound or not. Of course, they're more cunning little bastards, and a dealing with a baatezu who is not indebted to you is a very easy way to get your soul bought. They honour their debts though, and a carefully-worded agreement can shield you from their scheming, but I've found it best not to risk it."
He smiled as he recalled some of the 'deals' he'd made with a few baatezu....
~~The baatezu in front of him cackled, a thoroughly unpleasant sound. The BalanceKeeper's sensitive ears twitched - he had abandoned his human shape for the dealing, as the more he could intimidate the devil, the better - but he said nothing. His cloak - split down the middle to allow more mobility - swayed slightly in a non-existant breeze, his grey eyes glowing brightly, a non-subtle display of power. The baatezu began jabbering.~
~"Yes, yes, an infernal blade you wish? Do this I can, easy, but a cost there is, yes? Know this cost you do, yes?"~
~The BalanceKeeper nodded slowly, demonstrating that he was dictating the pace of the conversation. "Of course I know the price - this is hardly the first dealing I've had with your kind." He smirked here, showing contempt - the baatezu were an egotistical lot, proud of their rules that seperated them from the tan'aari, and reacted predictably to attacks on their pride. This one was no different.~
~"Gah! Show respect human! Grateful you should be, yes, that even _consider_ your request I did! Grateful, human! Show ..-"~
~The baatezu abruptly cut off as the BalanceKeeper merged light and darkness into a shadowy extension of his arm, and used it to grasp the devil's neck. A grin appeared on his face, revealling his sharp canines. "You should appreciate your situation better baatezu - the fact that you think me human despite my appearance shows how little you understand. Having you fulfil my request is simply a matter of convenience for me. You should be grateful I had the kind-heartedness to ask, rather than simply take. Don't push your luck though - that merciful inclination is fickle, and may dissappear altogether. So for your own benefit, cease your blabbering and fulfil my request!" He let a small measure of anger bleed into his voice, and released his shadowy grip. The baatezu struggled to regain its composure.~
~"Fine. Sword is yours, yes. Take, and be ready to pay price, yes." A small curved blade, black as the void yet somehow still reflective, appeared before the BalanceKeeper. He reached out for it....~
~The soul-tendrils rose up around his body as his hand closed on the handle. Without a second thought, he lashed out with the shadowy power of forces balanced, wiping the little devil from existance. The soul-tendrils evaporated.~
~"Fool. Not only did you fail to soul-bind me, but your attempt came after fulfilling my request...I ripped you off twice in that deal...."~~
Coming out of his memory-trance, he noticed the annoyed looks being directed his way. "Eh sorry, got a bit caught up. Anyways...yeah, there's one more set of Outer Planes."
"The final lot of the Outer Planes are known as celestial planes, or planes where deities reside. Some religions refer to them as Planes of Brilliance. Unlike the two hellish, it's not possible for a mortal to enter a celestial plane without the acceptance of at least one of the deities that reside in it. Given that most deities don't give a damn about what happens outside of their plane, it's unlikely for a mortal to be granted enterance."
He sat back, a bit tired from his long-winded explanation. Looking up, he saw Ranma and Akane lean back in their seats.
"That's a pretty brief overview of the concept of the Planes, and there's probably some errors in it to boot - there's still a lot of stuff regarding the Planes that I'm not sure about. But you're both no doubt wondering what all this has to do with me, eh?"
Akane managed to find her voice, "Yeah, how does it relate to you?"
"Fair question. Being a BalanceKeeper revolves around the concept of neutrality, or balance - up and down, left and right, high and low, light and dark. Most previous BalanceKeepers defined their key duality - that is, the aspect of themselves that would define their concept of keeping the balance - to be the good/evil duality, and to this end, they typically bound their essence with aspects of both the Positive Energy and Negative Energy Planes."
Ranma spoke up, "But you didn't, right?"
Chris nodded, "Yeah, I thought that the good/evil thing was a bit restrictive, so I chose the morally-ambigious light/dark duality. There's a whole philosophy to it, but the basic flow of it is light and darkness merged yields shadow - you can't have a shadow without light, and a shadow is darkness, therefore, it is of both. And so, I bound my essence with an aspect of the Plane of Shadow, another Inner Plane. I draw most of my ability from my bond to the Plane of Shadow."
Ability? Now Ranma's curiousity was piqued. "What other abilities do you have?"
Chris smiled dryly - they always asked this one, "You mean, besides the ear and teeth thing, the incredible speed, co-ordination, strength and the mental projection?"
Ranma nodded eagerly, "Yeah, besides all that."
Chris laughed, "Not much more, actually. I can manipulate dualities of things that exist, the duality being real, theoretical, symbolic or even wholly unexistant - so long as I can find some aspect of duality to something, I can manipulate it. Of course, I have to keep both ends of said duality balanced - if one side is manipulated, the other side must also be. Failing to do that literally drains my life essence. Not permanently, thankfully, but enough that I need a good meal and a long sleep to restore myself. There are several techniques I know based on the manipulation of one's key duality - their use is very similar to ki-projection, and are an adequate substitute."
[Not going to tell them about the Split Image technique? Or the ShadowMeld?] 'Ah, no. First off, I think they've endured enough wierdness for one day {A/N: Bah, all in a day's work for Ranma! :D}. Two, they're secret techniques, third, I've done enough talking!' [You are such a damn wimp!] 'Says one who typically doesn't have a body!' [Well, maybe if you performed the Split Image more often, I'd know why you're complaining!] '....hmm, plus, the voices _would_ have a throat that can be strangled....' [Don't start that again...]
Ranma processed this information, mulling over the various possibilities. Akane seemed to grasp the implications immediately, "So, you can't actually project ki?"
Chris shook his head, "Nope. I can sense it, and at long distances too, but I have practically no ability to project it. The few times I tried was met with nothing - not a spark, not a glow, nothing. And, again, this seems to be something that all BalanceKeepers are affected by. My theory is, that in forcing ourselves to become Planetouched - creatures whose heritage can be traced to at least two different planes, which we achieve by binding ourselves to another plane, often very different to our native plane - a fundamental aspect of our soul is changed, and I think that aspect is the ability to feel that something is absolutely right or wrong. I mean, Ranma, there are some things you hold to be absolutely true, right? Something fundamentally true about how you do things, right?"
Ranma nodded vigorously, "Yeah, my Moko Takabisha is based on my confidence. If I don't have absolute confidence in myself, it just won't work, no matter how hard I try."
"That's what I mean - the nature of balancing is to see both sides. I can't have a one-sided view, like, I can't have absolute confidence in myself - I have to allow for the possibility of failure, however minute it might be. I can't be absolutely convinced that one side is right and the other is wrong. I think that's why I - and all the previous BalanceKeepers - aren't able to project their ki."
Chris paused, checking his watch out of habit. Of course, it didn't help him much - temporality was not maintained between Planes.
"Uh, just wondering...what sort of, timekeeping, system do you have here?"
Akane helpfully offered, "We use a 24-hour day system."
[24 hours...what do you know, same as the Prime.] 'Yeah, there are a _damn_ lot of similarities to the Prime. I wonder....' [What?] '...could the Prime have splintered?' [How?] 'No idea. But it would certainly explain the similarities....' [Kangaxx?] 'Maybe....but we should have picked up any increases in disturbances, particularly Negative Energy perversions....' [Task at hand, task at hand - reset watch to local time] 'Right, right.' [Worry about planar-disturbance possibility later, change the watch now.] 'Alright already!'
"24 hours? 1 hour is 60 minutes, 1 minute is 60 seconds?"
Akane nodded.
"Cool, my watch is not rendered useless for once. What's the time right now?"
Akane checked her watch, as Ranma had never bothered to invest in one, "It's 1825 right now."
Chris reset his watch, and looked outside, "Damn, dark already? Bugger it all...." [Yeah, we still don't know where we're going to stay, do we?] 'No, dammit....' "Well, I guess I have to get going - gotta find some place to stay."
Ranma's mind ticked over again, and he tapped Akane on the shoulder, "Hey, Akane. Could he stay with us? I mean, at your place, it's not ours yet...."
Chris held up his hands, "No no, I can't impose on you like that ..-"
Akane was firm, "It's OK, even if you don't stay, at least join us for dinner. Kasumi's cooking, and..." she suddenly remembered _why_ she and Ranma were out today, "Ranma! We forgot to get the shopping for Kasumi!"
"Huh? We did?"
"Yes dummy! We don't have any with us, do we?"
"Good point, I guess..." Ranma didn't look convinced.
"Anyway, please join us for dinner. We just have to make a short stop first."
Chris pondered - he wasn't actually that hungry. But it wouldn't do to be rude. "OK, I'll join you and your family for dinner."
"Great! We have to go now though. C'mon, c'mon!" Akane dropped some change on the table for the drinks, and practically dragged Ranma after her. Chris shrugged, and followed after them.
[And so the first adventure truly begins - shopping!] 'Did you have to phrase it that way?' [Yes.] 'Figures...' [Off to the shops we go, off to the shops we go!] 'My voices have no throat and I must, no, _WILL_ strangle them....'
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A/N: There - another chapter finished. Remember that first disclaimer or author's note I made, about how I do computer D&D, and I don't have a handbook? Well, this sort of chapter is what that's referring to! I guessed half the plane stuff and improvised the rest. Diehards, flame me if you must, but it would be better if you just gave constructive critisism. [Rambling, rambling again.] 'Shut up!'....voices without throats that I must strangle, oh yes. Review! I command it! ....please? I need reviews.
