Yo! Welcome to chapter two! Not many questions are likely to be opened here so... I guess that means the story ain't done yet, ne?
Well, that's enough of my chattering, but just in case I didn't do it last time, here's the disclaimer.
Don't own it, never will, you understand that, so I don't need to repeat myself.
Well, time to get on with it.
~~~~~~*** HELLISH HEAVENLY ENCOUNTER ***~~~~~~
Ranma stepped into the shower, which was thankfully hot. As the water came in contact with her skin his eyes shot wide open. "AAAHHH!!! HOT!!!"
Akane heard the shouting from the other room and chuckled a bit.
Beating on the effected arm and shoulder, Ranma managed to turn the heat down just enough to be bearable. Calming down, he let the warmth soak into his muscles, especially his right wrist, which had cramped up the previous night (thanks to someone's head rolling over it).
Grabbing the shampoo, he started working the water into his hair. "Aww man! I may never get the smell of saltwater out of it!" Never pausing to undo his pigtail, he worked the shampoo into his hair the very best he could.
When he was finished he walked out into the main room smelling of flowers and saltwater. "Your turn."
Akane choked back the retort about the smell she had on the tip of her tongue and went into the bathroom.
Ranma sighed and started packing some of his things back into his pack. Once satisfied with that, he went outside for warmups.
~~ 1000 Years ago ~~
Hamill stared him down, a devil working under the flag of heaven.
This angel, who had been going through the world gaining the trust of men, only to prevent their entrance into Heaven.
Taking their reward from them, their SALVATION!
How could a leader of good do such a thing?
Hamill didn't know, but he did know one thing. This would most likely be his final deed for the people of his world. After this... well, he truly didn't want to think of it.
"Now, demon in disguise, I plan on taking you from this world!"
"You know what happens if you kill me?" The angel snickered, taunting the man.
Grunting angrily, he looked the robed figure in the eye. "Yes, I am aware of the punishment. But if I don't, then I also know what would happen then!" Angered now, he began drawing on his energy, creating an aura the likes of which no man should have been able to make. But then, before him, no one truly thought an aura COULD be made visible!
Horum watched the man with interest. It was true, he did those things of which he was accused. But what this man didn't know, what he couldn't know, was the reason why. 'Oh well. It's not my place.'
Bringing up his own aura, Horum prepared for the fight the best he knew how. With a flash of golden light, he created a staff, also golden, out of mid-air.
Hamill, however, was content with his sword.
All thoughts were lost to the two as they went to their fight.
~~
Ranma found his center and started concentrating. He began pulling enough energy from his well of strength that even Akane would be able to sense him!
He did this not to show off, but rather he did it for another reason. He had found that every time he did so, when he stretched his energy to the maximum, that its limits expanded just a little.
But even that little bit was enough, especially with him doing it every morning.
Akane shivered slightly, despite being submerged in the hot water. Such power sent shivers up her spine.
Lowering her head beneath the water, she began thinking. 'If this is his power, then what was Saffron like?'
Well, what could she do? Rather than thinking too hard about it, she resolved to learn everything Ranma had to teach her.
~~
CLANG!
Their respective auras fighting for superiority, the two power fought on as they parried and swung for each-other.
But the outcome was obvious to any who would observe them. The human, although mortal, was obviously gaining the upper hand.
After he showed that he would not be taken by attacks of the distanced variety, Horum found that he was forced into close combat, something that knights were especially proficient in.
And this one had trained all his life. He was stronger now than any other human of his time.
Hamill, however, was not having as good a time as he had hoped. Strong, he was, but this angel was not doing nearly as well as he had hoped.
Those from Heaven specialized in distanced combat, magic and holy energies. But holy energies would not work on one of pure heart as himself, and magic was something he had learned to resist.
Basically, the staff was the only thing left.
"AAHH!!" With a shout, he pushed the staff to the side as he ducked to his opponent's side and used the flat side of his sword to ram the angel's side.
Horum had never known fear before, but when he was struck in the side like that, he realized something. As long as he was on Earth, he had a mortal body, and he could be killed.
And this man... knew the punishment, and yet he was okay with it.
He finally realized it when he was struck in the back and he heard a sickening crack resound through the area.
"AAAHHHHAAHAAAA!!!!" Suddenly finding his legs useless, he shouted in pain as he was moved to face upright.
Hamill looked down at the angel, it was now or never.
~~
"You coming Akane?"
"Yeah! I'm coming!" Akane ran after Ranma, the ends of a shirt still hanging out the end of her pack and her hair still slightly damp.
Smiling, Ranma turned to Akane, who was still slightly pink from her bath. "Heh, a little hot?"
"Huh?"
Ranma pointed to her arm, and when she looked at it, she began puzzling over the pinkish color. "Uhh, yeah, I guess so."
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it, cause it's likely to be the last hot water we'll see in a long time." Turning around, he faced the forest just beyond the edge of the coastal city. "Akane, it's time to start your training." Akane took a determined look at hearing this. "And to start off... you have to find me!" Running off at a speed that Akane had no hope of catching up with, he left Akane puzzled.
"Uhh?" Regaining her composure, she jumped after him. "RANMA!! YOU GET BACK HERE!!"
~~
"And now, you evil angel. It comes to this." Lifting his sword to stab downward, Hamill prepared for the final attack.
Horum closed his eyes calmly, waiting for the strike that would finish him. He pictured it in his mind, a single stab to his heart and his body would die.
But it never came.
Opening his eyes curiously, he looked at the hero, who sputtered weakly with a sword sticking out of his stomach. He had turned his sword on himself. "NO!"
"That's right, I know the punishment for killing an angel! But now you can't take my body!" The strength began draining from his satisfied eyes as his legs buckled beneath him. As the blood ran like a geyser from his large wound, he found himself without the strength to continue. "And now, let's go to hell... together." As he fell forward, he planted his sword directly into the angel's belly.
With this last act, his life was ended.
But Horum was not yet finished. Not yet.
Spotting a young man not far away, he shouted towards him. He would last longer than his companion, but the message was something that HAD to be given.
"You there! Come here!" Curious to hear a dying man's last words, the boy ran to the angel's side. "Take this. On it is everything you need to know. He is a hero, a hero to the last willing to give his soul for others." Fighting down a choking sensation, he continued. "But he is not yet finished. Take this to your elders, they will know what to do." He handed the boy a wooden plaque with odd markings all over it.
The Chinese was done very well, but the other markings written all over it made no sense to the boy.
Besides the Chinese, the only thing he understood was the pictures.
Nodding solemnly, he stood, varnished plank in hand. "I will do as asked. But what of yourself?"
The angel smiled knowingly. "I will leave this world. I have no fear, I knew this would happen, and this is the way it needs to be. There is no need for you to do anything for me." Looking the boy in the eye, his eyes held a pleading expression. "Also, with my death, those men held to me are released. But his, will take a little more to be redeemed. Do not forget him, or what you saw here."
A new pain shot from his stomach as his energy had finally been drained from him. "Go now, get your elders, they will know what to do." As the last of his strength drained away from him, his body disappeared in a white flash.
As the boy watched, he found himself confused.
But the sound of a sword falling to the ground brought him back to the task at hand.
Running back to his village, he went about his task of giving the instructions to his village elders.
~~
'Darnit! He's teasing me!' Akane ran through the forest. She had finally figured out the point of the exercise. This was an energy sensing exercise.
Ranma would stay in one place, powering up to his maximum until Akane came close to him. And then he would drop it and run to a different place.
It was beginning to get dark now, and she felt that she was getting better at following him.
But that didn't seem to help much. He was still teasing her.
Ranma watched her walk blindly past him. He had hidden his energy again and she was now going in the general direction he had last been to her.
Smiling, he jumped in another random direction. This was going to be the last time before they turned in for the night.
~~
"Elder Har Thai! Elder Har Thai!! Please! Come quickly!"
Elder Har Thai came out of her house carrying her staff. "What is it boy?"
"That man! He's dead! I saw it." Suddenly remembering the other event he had been involved in, he pulled the plaque from his side-pocket. "And that angel man said to give this to you."
"The angel, huh?"
"Yeah, and he said something else too. He said that 'Those people bound to me are released now.' He said that just before he died."
Looking over the wooden plaque, Har Thai nodded. "Go get two of our warriors. Your sister and one of her choice. Then you will take us to this place." Quickly, the boy nodded.
'So, he did as promised... We are truly blessed.' Going back into her house, she gathered the materials the instructions said were required.
And so, they set out to fulfill the requirements of destiny.
~~
Ranma stopped in a clearing near a cliff. If it hadn't been such a sheer cliff, it might have been seen as a valley!
He wasn't sure what led him here, or why he had stopped. Something about this place seemed to put him in a somber mood.
As he walked toward the cliff, each step seemed to put him into a calmer mood.
He heard Akane land behind him as she walked behind him. "Are we done now?"
"For today. Let's set up camp." Placing his pack on the ground, he produced from it a large canvas tent and several ropes. He had to admit that Mousse's techniques were sure useful from time to time, especially during times like this.
~~ The Gates ~~
As Hamill approached the gates, he saw two. One set was a shining golden color, and the other set was dark obsidian. He was sure he knew where each of them led.
Smiling, he saw several people being ushered through the golden gates. Some of them were rather old, but mixed into them were a number of small children.
These were the people that Horum had bound to himself.
Passingly, Hamill wondered how many of those people would be reincarnated, and how many would simply enjoy peace.
But, that was not for him, and he knew it.
With a purposeful gait, he walked toward the station of elders. Four bearded men sat there, with their legs crossed. Each one of them held a staff similar in design to those used by the Amazon elders.
Looking him over, they began speaking to him. "One of pure heart, you are." The one at the farthest left spoke first.
Then the one on the far right spoke. "A strong man with a big heart."
Then the one in the middle left spoke. "Your destiny, however, is not yet finished."
The last one stood and walked to him. "Advance now, and meet with the catalyst of your destiny."
Hamill walked forward, in the direction the man pointed.
There, he saw a figure.
Upon getting close enough, he recognized the form immediately. "So, you are here?"
"Yes, and I have no regrets."
"So what do you have to say for yourself?" Hamill crossed his arms, waiting for an explanation.
"This was all necessary. And now I will tell you what I could not tell you in life." Horum then went into the explanation of what was destined to happen.
~~
Camp had been set up and they had eaten, Ranma doing his best to teach Akane what could and could not be used in cooking.
She still refused to believe that her cooking was terrible, but she was too tired to argue and just let Ranma show her what to do.
She didn't even have the energy to tell him what he was doing wrong. [A/N: Stubborn, ne?]
Akane ate the food, finding it acceptable after adding a bunch of salt.
Ranma sighed. He didn't even know that fish went well with salt! Well, if that's how she likes it, who was he to argue?
He missed the tears that she was fighting back. 'Too much salt...'
After dinner they had decided to calm down and put out the fire.
As Akane settled herself in her sleeping bag Ranma went outside, assuring her that he was just going out for a walk. She only nodded and wondered where he found room for those bags in that little pack of his.
Outside, Ranma turned on his flashlight and started toward the cliff. He wanted to know where that energy was coming from.
Upon arriving at the cliff-face he saw it.
It looked like a shrine of some sort, which would explain the energy signature. What he didn't recognize was the writing that surrounded three swords.
Taking a closer look at the swords embedded into the smoothed stone, he ran his fingers across the largest one. It was about a meter long, but had blades on both sides, unlike a Katana. It had a strange set of designs on it in cool blues and purples.
On either side of it were two other swords. These were definitely Japanese in styling. One was a katana, with a simple-yet-deadly blade going down the length of one side. The hilt had a strange design on it, but the blade seemed rather plain.
Opposite the Katana was a smaller blade, only about half the length of the other two swords. It was a Kodachi, its hilt had a similar design and the blade had two edges, much like the largest sword.
He didn't really understand all of it, but he did know one thing. This was like a shrine, dedicated to a great man, and these were his swords.
Bowing in respect, he left.
What he didn't see was the way that the place where his fingers met metal glowed red for a moment, then faded into a blue outline, and then disappeared completely.
~~ Hell, current day ~~
Horum's final words echoed in his mind. 'The Demon Lord's power cannot reach you, so you are safe from his meddling. And because of it, you are destined to be his downfall. Gather allies, and instill in them hope, and go. Kill him. Only then can you, and everyone else, be freed.'
He opened his eyes. "It's time." Approaching the entrance, he heard a roar, the roar of an angry creature trying to intimidate.
But he was not intimidated, nor had he ever been. 'Satan, or whatever your name is. This is your last day.'
Staying just outside the cave, he shouted out. "Come out! I wish to see you! Satan!"
He didn't have to wait long as he heard the sound of pounding footsteps coming down the corridor.
Before him a gigantic creature erupted from the cave. It was some fifty meters tall and red skinned. It had curved horns that stopped just below his sharp smile. Each arm was like a sick tree that was reduced to only its strongest limbs and it's legs were like tree trunks leading up to its body. He was covered in sharp spikes and along his spine were several spines, each at least five meters in length.
Hamill stared the creature down. 'Well, at least we know what was making those roaring sounds.' "Now, Demon, I will kill you!"
Calling up an aura of deep purple, he faced the monster down. With an anger born of pain and determination he called on energies he should never have had. "And now, with the power of ALL OF HELL, I STRIKE YOU DOWN! MONSTER!!"
All of hell shuddered as he blasted the creature into the ground.
Every eye was turned to the epicenter of hell as that man, the only soul in hell that wasn't lost, came forth with power never before seen in hell by any other than Satan himself.
All Hell went silent as the screams of the creature echoed throughout the caverns and a purple light washed over all the souls in the land of the lost.
Once his attack was finished, he stood, unscathed and seemingly without having lost any strength at all. Even with his body so brittle, rotted and burned, he seemed to be the symbol of strength.
All of hell stayed silent, every eye turned to the man, expectant. Many expected him to tell them what they had hoped he would tell them, that Satan was dead and they were free.
But it was not finished yet, as the man yelled out again. "Come out Satan. I do not wish to fight your minions any longer, as my target is you, and only you."
As they heard this, some of the souls of hell remembered the sorrow they felt while others went back to their howling stemmed from torture.
But above all the noise, he could hear the quiet, calm footsteps of the evil overlord approaching the mouth of the cave.
From the mouth of the cave he came, and stepped into the gloomy light of the main area.
He had stringy green hair and calm blue eyes. He was wearing a blood-red shirt with matching pants that reached to his ankles.
One would not have thought that this man would belong in hell, were it not for the small black horns above each eye, or the large black wings that reached like the wings of the raven in flight.
Even the look in his eyes, one of calm calculation, betrayed his evil.
This was the king of demons, and the lord of Hell.
"So you show your true form. Shall we begin?"
The both of them set up for battle, a battle to decide the fate of so many.
~~
On Earth, the shrine of the fallen hero glowed a dull crimson. The runes surrounding each sword responded to their master as it came time for their purpose to be fulfilled.
Ready or not, the world was in for a shock.
~~~~~~*** End of Chapter 2 ***~~~~~~
And now you know. You know of the hero, and of his fall.
The dark angel of light guided him to hell. And now he is about to face the fallen angel of darkness.
But... as there always is one, not all the consequences are clear. And even the overlord himself has a message for our hero.
Never count a hero out.
Till next time!
Bringer of Hope and Creator of Worlds
Alex and Alex Ultra
LATER
