Survival Instincts
A Ranma 1/2 & Sailor Moon Crossover
By Seraphilim
Author's Notes: Just to clarify, while Happosai does have the Zodiac Crystals, he's not going to be the one to release them. That'd be too obvious.
Also, we'll be saying bye-bye to the Senshi for a little while. They're off to the future to stop them Black Moon Family dudes!
(Chances are that this fanfic will have inaccuracies, mostly concerning that of the Sailor Moon continuity, which I am somewhat less familiar with than that of Ranma. Please do not hesitate to point out any massive inaccuracies in reviews.)
Chapter Eight – The Truth Hurts
It was morning. Gira woke slowly, the morning sun's warm rays caressing her cheek. Yawning, she sat up, the sheets hanging off of her red-skinned body in such a way that barely hid her ample chest. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the calm of the morning; she seemed to be the only one awake. The other youma didn't really share her love for such mornings, and Gira was pretty sure she knew why.
Standing, she crossed the room to the small vanity on the other side and sat down. Staring into the mirror, she picked up the sole brush on the vanity and began combing the mess of white hair on her head. She'd prefer to simply use her power to fix it, but Kyanite had forbidden "unimportant use" of their energies. So, the brush it was.
Before she had even gotten her hair back to its usual look, she heard a furious scream. It took Gira a brief second to realize Kyanite was the screamer. But, Kyanite did not scream, ever. That meant it was something extremely dire, or perhaps worse. The sudden surge of energy and explosion that followed got Gira moving. Tossing the brush aside, she bolted for the door and leapt from the second floor walkway down to the first floor. She could feel his energy flaring wildly, and it was coming from the forbidden room.
"Gira Sol, what is going on?"
Looking up, Gira could see Crys and Gem, both looking tired, standing at the top of the staircase.
"It's Master Kyanite! I think something is wrong!"
Crys and Gem looked at each other in surprise before descending the stairs to join Gira. The three descended the staircase further, into the forbidden area, even though they understood the punishment for doing so. Kyanite's well-being was much more important. They found him at the bottom of the stairs; the forbidden room was, well, not really a room no longer. The room looked like someone had set off a C4 charge inside. At the sound of the three females coming down the stairs, Kyanite spun and surged forward, grabbing the nearest of the three, Crys, by the neck. The action took them all by shock, and the General lifted the blue-skinned youma off her feet.
"Where is it!?"
"Wha…?" choked out Crys. She was always calm and cool, but this was quickly breaking her ice facade.
"Do not play with me! You all know that I keep the Zodiac Crystals locked away here! One of you somehow broke through the barrier!"
Grasping as his iron grip with her smaller, lithe hands, Crys couldn't answer as he began to squeeze tighter. Gira stepped towards them.
"Master, you of all people know that we are not capable of breaking your barrier. Please, stop before you kill Crys! Think this through rationally, like you always have before."
At her words, Kyanite released the pressure her was applying to the neck-grip as he lowered Crys down. Letting go entirely, he watched mutely as Crys collapsed, gasping for air.
"…I'm sorry. You are correct, I should have realized that none of you could possibly have taken the Crystals. Are you alright, Crys?"
Crys nodded slowly, rubbing her sore neck as she breathed heavily, both from the lack of air and the shock of the situation. Gem came over and helped the older youma to her feet. Kyanite, his aura finally passive once again, turned his red eyes to Gira.
"Gather the others. We must search for and retrieve the Crystals."
---
Ten minutes later…
---
In the living room of the mansion, the General and his youma followers gathered. Kyanite, a look of frustration still on his face, stood at one end of the room. Gira sat in the chair nearest to him, her expression was more of worry. Crys sat on the couch, her features having returned to a look of passiveness, the near-strangling she had received still evident by the dull blue marks on her neck. Gem sat next to her; the violet-skinned youma eyed Kyanite warily, hoping her leader wasn't going to lash out once more.
The other youma had been quickly awakened, and were gathered in the room also. Jual, the only male youma present, sat on the end of the couch, his hairless obsidian head moved slightly to look around at the others in the room. Lapis, the older of Gira's half-sisters, leaned over the back of the second chair in the room, her white hair falling loosely over her green-skinned shoulder. The chair itself was occupied by the last member of their group, Gira and Lapis' younger sister, Lazuli. The young firebrand sat with her arms folded across her chest, her brilliant blue eyes focused on Kyanite. She and Lapis were identical in appearance except that Lapis had long, straight hair while Lazuli had short hair that stood straight up.
If a normal human were to enter the room, he'd probably wonder if he had wandered into a fantasy or sci-fi convention.
Kyanite, noting that everyone was more or less paying attention, began.
"Someone has stolen the Zodiac Crystals. The theft occurred sometime last night after I had checked on the Crystals and this morning. Did any of you notice anything at all?"
Everyone gave a negative response, except Crys. Slowly, she said, "There was someone who had broken in."
"Explain."
"Some really old midget human, called himself the neighborhood panty thief, and he was doing something odd to my body. He was grasping my breasts or some nonsense, so I threw the odd man out. He might have stolen the Crystals."
Gira almost bolted to her feet. "I know who that might be!"
Everyone turned their attention to her. Kyanite voiced the question, "Who?"
Gira cupped her chin with one of her hands as she spoke, "When I met one of your students, Kyanite, she mentioned that this panty thief lives at her house. He is supposedly a great fighter, nearly unparalleled in power in this city. His name is Happosai."
Jual nodded, his squinted eyes staring off into space. "I've heard of this man while repairing the local public bath house. He is one of the reasons the bath house has such need for repairs."
Slamming a fist into a palm, Lazuli said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to this pathetic human's place, kill 'em all, and take back the Crystals!"
Lapis smacked Lazuli in the head, his blue eyes glaring down at her sister. "Are you stupid, Lazuli? That would bring too much attention, and the Senshi might come."
"Then what do we do, huh!?"
Gira stood up. "I can get it back. I know the student who lives there, so I should be able to get in and find the Crystals."
Crys joined her in standing, "I'll help you. It is my fault the thief got away, and I must redeem my failure."
Kyanite nodded, "Very well. I'll leave this in your hands, Gira. I know that you won't fail in this."
As both Crys and Gira left the room, Gem walked up to Kyanite, who stared after the two. Placing a hand on her hip, she asked, "General, why Gira? I know she has had contact with the humans involved, but I'm better suited for infiltration and searching for such a thing."
Kyanite shook his head. "While that is true, you could be caught, especially since the man who managed to steal the item from us will be there. If Gira can talk her way into retrieving the Crystals, all the better."
Gem hmmphed and said, "Why do you put so much trust in her? I know she was your aide back at Point D, but she's no different from the rest of us!"
Kyanite shook his head. "You're wrong."
"What? Why?"
Sitting down in the chair Gira had occupied, Kyanite smiled. "She's a half-breed."
---
Gira and Crys, having reverted to human guises, were heading for the Tendo Dojo. Gira was wearing her usual white blouse and black slacks. Crys, who held a dislike for human clothing, wore little. She had a small piece of black cloth wrapped around her chest for decency, and she wore blue cut-off jeans that ended eight or so inches above her knees. At Gira's insistence that she needed to wear a little more than just that in public, Crys wore a simple white jacket over the black strip of cloth.
In human form, Crys obviously wasn't blue all over. Instead, she had quite pale skin, and her hair was a slightly darker shade of blue than in youma form, making it look like it was dyed.
The two women, walking the streets of Nerima like they were, drew some stares from morning joggers and those in the morning commute that drove cars. Luckily, most commuters went to work by train or other public transportation in Nerima, so the stares were few.
As the two walked, Gira asked why Crys had only thrown Happosai out, instead of anything worse. Somewhat confused, Crys answered, "Why would I need too? At the time I believed he was only stealing simple things like clothing or whatever, and we can make those ourselves. I don't exactly understand why he was rubbing himself on my chest when I awoke, but I found it bothersome, so I simply got rid of him."
Gira sweated a little. "Uh, Crys, do you know the definition of perversion?"
"Of course. Why?"
A few minutes later and some in-depth explanation on Gira's part, Crys nodded.
"I think I understand now. Very well, next time this deviant human does such a thing, he will die."
"Well, you don't have to go to that much of an extreme… Besides, Kyanite forbade killing humans."
"Gira, why do you know so much about human things? Most of us have very little experience with these situations, and I am somewhat doubtful you know all of this simply from being with Kyanite."
Gira, taken off-guard by the abrupt change of topic, played with her hands as she dug for an answer. An answer other than the truth.
Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything that would sound believable. Gira could easily lie convincingly to someone she was mostly strangers with, but Crys was the closest to a friend she had. With a small voice, she said, "I'm… a half-breed."
"A half-breed??"
Crys found herself suddenly losing her ice facade for the second time that day, and she berated herself for such poor lack of control. A half-breed, the result of a rare occurrence of a human mating with another sentient race, be it god, alien, demon, or in this case, youma. And her companion was one. Crys was genuinely surprised that a half-breed, regardless of ability or power, had held such a high position like aide to a General. In the Dark Kingdom, half-breeds were thought of as a disease, a disease that could damage the power and greatness of the Kingdom. For Gira to have survived this long was incredible, especially since she was supposedly older than Crys. Coming to the only conclusion she could think of, Crys voiced it.
"General Kyanite knows, doesn't he? And he protected you. That's why you were never purged."
Silently, Gira nodded. Half-breeds that weren't protected or in hiding were purged (a nicer way of saying slaughtered) by Beryl or one of her personal servants. The only ones who could protect half-breeds from purging were the human Generals, but none of the others would do so. Kyanite seemed to be the exception. Why he would care to do so – for several thousand years, no less - was a mystery.
This explained much to Crys. Why Gira had adapted to human form and habits so easily. Why she knew so much about humans. Why she exhibited traits unknown to most youma. It all clicked together.
"Crys, do you hate me now, knowing I'm a disgusting half-breed?"
Crys shook her head as they continued walking. "No, there is no reason for me to hate you. Regardless of my knowing what you are, you are still the same to me. Besides, Kyanite seems to have no problem with you being a half-breed. In fact, he seems to trust you most. And if he has no problem with it, then neither do I."
Sighing in relief, Gira looked down at her feet. "Thank you. That means much to me."
In silence, they continued on to the Tendo home.
---
End Chapter Eight
A Ranma 1/2 & Sailor Moon Crossover
By Seraphilim
Author's Notes: Just to clarify, while Happosai does have the Zodiac Crystals, he's not going to be the one to release them. That'd be too obvious.
Also, we'll be saying bye-bye to the Senshi for a little while. They're off to the future to stop them Black Moon Family dudes!
(Chances are that this fanfic will have inaccuracies, mostly concerning that of the Sailor Moon continuity, which I am somewhat less familiar with than that of Ranma. Please do not hesitate to point out any massive inaccuracies in reviews.)
Chapter Eight – The Truth Hurts
It was morning. Gira woke slowly, the morning sun's warm rays caressing her cheek. Yawning, she sat up, the sheets hanging off of her red-skinned body in such a way that barely hid her ample chest. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the calm of the morning; she seemed to be the only one awake. The other youma didn't really share her love for such mornings, and Gira was pretty sure she knew why.
Standing, she crossed the room to the small vanity on the other side and sat down. Staring into the mirror, she picked up the sole brush on the vanity and began combing the mess of white hair on her head. She'd prefer to simply use her power to fix it, but Kyanite had forbidden "unimportant use" of their energies. So, the brush it was.
Before she had even gotten her hair back to its usual look, she heard a furious scream. It took Gira a brief second to realize Kyanite was the screamer. But, Kyanite did not scream, ever. That meant it was something extremely dire, or perhaps worse. The sudden surge of energy and explosion that followed got Gira moving. Tossing the brush aside, she bolted for the door and leapt from the second floor walkway down to the first floor. She could feel his energy flaring wildly, and it was coming from the forbidden room.
"Gira Sol, what is going on?"
Looking up, Gira could see Crys and Gem, both looking tired, standing at the top of the staircase.
"It's Master Kyanite! I think something is wrong!"
Crys and Gem looked at each other in surprise before descending the stairs to join Gira. The three descended the staircase further, into the forbidden area, even though they understood the punishment for doing so. Kyanite's well-being was much more important. They found him at the bottom of the stairs; the forbidden room was, well, not really a room no longer. The room looked like someone had set off a C4 charge inside. At the sound of the three females coming down the stairs, Kyanite spun and surged forward, grabbing the nearest of the three, Crys, by the neck. The action took them all by shock, and the General lifted the blue-skinned youma off her feet.
"Where is it!?"
"Wha…?" choked out Crys. She was always calm and cool, but this was quickly breaking her ice facade.
"Do not play with me! You all know that I keep the Zodiac Crystals locked away here! One of you somehow broke through the barrier!"
Grasping as his iron grip with her smaller, lithe hands, Crys couldn't answer as he began to squeeze tighter. Gira stepped towards them.
"Master, you of all people know that we are not capable of breaking your barrier. Please, stop before you kill Crys! Think this through rationally, like you always have before."
At her words, Kyanite released the pressure her was applying to the neck-grip as he lowered Crys down. Letting go entirely, he watched mutely as Crys collapsed, gasping for air.
"…I'm sorry. You are correct, I should have realized that none of you could possibly have taken the Crystals. Are you alright, Crys?"
Crys nodded slowly, rubbing her sore neck as she breathed heavily, both from the lack of air and the shock of the situation. Gem came over and helped the older youma to her feet. Kyanite, his aura finally passive once again, turned his red eyes to Gira.
"Gather the others. We must search for and retrieve the Crystals."
---
Ten minutes later…
---
In the living room of the mansion, the General and his youma followers gathered. Kyanite, a look of frustration still on his face, stood at one end of the room. Gira sat in the chair nearest to him, her expression was more of worry. Crys sat on the couch, her features having returned to a look of passiveness, the near-strangling she had received still evident by the dull blue marks on her neck. Gem sat next to her; the violet-skinned youma eyed Kyanite warily, hoping her leader wasn't going to lash out once more.
The other youma had been quickly awakened, and were gathered in the room also. Jual, the only male youma present, sat on the end of the couch, his hairless obsidian head moved slightly to look around at the others in the room. Lapis, the older of Gira's half-sisters, leaned over the back of the second chair in the room, her white hair falling loosely over her green-skinned shoulder. The chair itself was occupied by the last member of their group, Gira and Lapis' younger sister, Lazuli. The young firebrand sat with her arms folded across her chest, her brilliant blue eyes focused on Kyanite. She and Lapis were identical in appearance except that Lapis had long, straight hair while Lazuli had short hair that stood straight up.
If a normal human were to enter the room, he'd probably wonder if he had wandered into a fantasy or sci-fi convention.
Kyanite, noting that everyone was more or less paying attention, began.
"Someone has stolen the Zodiac Crystals. The theft occurred sometime last night after I had checked on the Crystals and this morning. Did any of you notice anything at all?"
Everyone gave a negative response, except Crys. Slowly, she said, "There was someone who had broken in."
"Explain."
"Some really old midget human, called himself the neighborhood panty thief, and he was doing something odd to my body. He was grasping my breasts or some nonsense, so I threw the odd man out. He might have stolen the Crystals."
Gira almost bolted to her feet. "I know who that might be!"
Everyone turned their attention to her. Kyanite voiced the question, "Who?"
Gira cupped her chin with one of her hands as she spoke, "When I met one of your students, Kyanite, she mentioned that this panty thief lives at her house. He is supposedly a great fighter, nearly unparalleled in power in this city. His name is Happosai."
Jual nodded, his squinted eyes staring off into space. "I've heard of this man while repairing the local public bath house. He is one of the reasons the bath house has such need for repairs."
Slamming a fist into a palm, Lazuli said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to this pathetic human's place, kill 'em all, and take back the Crystals!"
Lapis smacked Lazuli in the head, his blue eyes glaring down at her sister. "Are you stupid, Lazuli? That would bring too much attention, and the Senshi might come."
"Then what do we do, huh!?"
Gira stood up. "I can get it back. I know the student who lives there, so I should be able to get in and find the Crystals."
Crys joined her in standing, "I'll help you. It is my fault the thief got away, and I must redeem my failure."
Kyanite nodded, "Very well. I'll leave this in your hands, Gira. I know that you won't fail in this."
As both Crys and Gira left the room, Gem walked up to Kyanite, who stared after the two. Placing a hand on her hip, she asked, "General, why Gira? I know she has had contact with the humans involved, but I'm better suited for infiltration and searching for such a thing."
Kyanite shook his head. "While that is true, you could be caught, especially since the man who managed to steal the item from us will be there. If Gira can talk her way into retrieving the Crystals, all the better."
Gem hmmphed and said, "Why do you put so much trust in her? I know she was your aide back at Point D, but she's no different from the rest of us!"
Kyanite shook his head. "You're wrong."
"What? Why?"
Sitting down in the chair Gira had occupied, Kyanite smiled. "She's a half-breed."
---
Gira and Crys, having reverted to human guises, were heading for the Tendo Dojo. Gira was wearing her usual white blouse and black slacks. Crys, who held a dislike for human clothing, wore little. She had a small piece of black cloth wrapped around her chest for decency, and she wore blue cut-off jeans that ended eight or so inches above her knees. At Gira's insistence that she needed to wear a little more than just that in public, Crys wore a simple white jacket over the black strip of cloth.
In human form, Crys obviously wasn't blue all over. Instead, she had quite pale skin, and her hair was a slightly darker shade of blue than in youma form, making it look like it was dyed.
The two women, walking the streets of Nerima like they were, drew some stares from morning joggers and those in the morning commute that drove cars. Luckily, most commuters went to work by train or other public transportation in Nerima, so the stares were few.
As the two walked, Gira asked why Crys had only thrown Happosai out, instead of anything worse. Somewhat confused, Crys answered, "Why would I need too? At the time I believed he was only stealing simple things like clothing or whatever, and we can make those ourselves. I don't exactly understand why he was rubbing himself on my chest when I awoke, but I found it bothersome, so I simply got rid of him."
Gira sweated a little. "Uh, Crys, do you know the definition of perversion?"
"Of course. Why?"
A few minutes later and some in-depth explanation on Gira's part, Crys nodded.
"I think I understand now. Very well, next time this deviant human does such a thing, he will die."
"Well, you don't have to go to that much of an extreme… Besides, Kyanite forbade killing humans."
"Gira, why do you know so much about human things? Most of us have very little experience with these situations, and I am somewhat doubtful you know all of this simply from being with Kyanite."
Gira, taken off-guard by the abrupt change of topic, played with her hands as she dug for an answer. An answer other than the truth.
Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything that would sound believable. Gira could easily lie convincingly to someone she was mostly strangers with, but Crys was the closest to a friend she had. With a small voice, she said, "I'm… a half-breed."
"A half-breed??"
Crys found herself suddenly losing her ice facade for the second time that day, and she berated herself for such poor lack of control. A half-breed, the result of a rare occurrence of a human mating with another sentient race, be it god, alien, demon, or in this case, youma. And her companion was one. Crys was genuinely surprised that a half-breed, regardless of ability or power, had held such a high position like aide to a General. In the Dark Kingdom, half-breeds were thought of as a disease, a disease that could damage the power and greatness of the Kingdom. For Gira to have survived this long was incredible, especially since she was supposedly older than Crys. Coming to the only conclusion she could think of, Crys voiced it.
"General Kyanite knows, doesn't he? And he protected you. That's why you were never purged."
Silently, Gira nodded. Half-breeds that weren't protected or in hiding were purged (a nicer way of saying slaughtered) by Beryl or one of her personal servants. The only ones who could protect half-breeds from purging were the human Generals, but none of the others would do so. Kyanite seemed to be the exception. Why he would care to do so – for several thousand years, no less - was a mystery.
This explained much to Crys. Why Gira had adapted to human form and habits so easily. Why she knew so much about humans. Why she exhibited traits unknown to most youma. It all clicked together.
"Crys, do you hate me now, knowing I'm a disgusting half-breed?"
Crys shook her head as they continued walking. "No, there is no reason for me to hate you. Regardless of my knowing what you are, you are still the same to me. Besides, Kyanite seems to have no problem with you being a half-breed. In fact, he seems to trust you most. And if he has no problem with it, then neither do I."
Sighing in relief, Gira looked down at her feet. "Thank you. That means much to me."
In silence, they continued on to the Tendo home.
---
End Chapter Eight