(REPOSTED BECAUSE THE OLD ONE GOT KILLED BY THE NEW FORMATTING)
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Trilogy:
"The True Meaning of Love"
By: s16thunderjet
Story 1
"The Search for Atlantis"
Epilogue
"Lo Shin has returned."
"Let her enter!"
The warriors guarding the council area parted to let a young woman in. She had vibrant pink hair that's tied up in a ponytail. She wore a black ensemble, with her katana at her side.
Lo Shin walked into the conclave, eliciting murmurs from those gathered. The council members watched her as she knelt in the middle of the council area.
"My Queen." she said, bowing so that the rest of her upper body almost touched the ground.
Ahead of her and into the darkness, a hand shot out that signaled for her to sit up. The queen was hidden from the other people in the conclave by several layers of thin curtains.
"What do you have for me, Lo Shin?"
The young warrior trembled slightly as the queen said her name. It was a known fact among the tribe that the queen rarely spoke to those outside of the council, and especially not in a casual manner.
"I've news about your daughter." Lo Shin said, her voice wavering slightly in nervousness.
"Ah, yes. How is my wayward daughter?" the queen asked, bemused.
"She... your daughter has returned to Japan. She has been cured of her curse." Lo Shin stated.
The people in the conclave erupted in murmurs and whispers at her words. There was no known cure for a Jusenkyo curse, and her statement raised eyebrows among the elders.
"What of her husband?" the queen inquired, effectively silencing the crowd.
All eyes turned to Lo Shin once again, and the young warrior hesitated to answer. The queen sensed this, and her servants parted the curtains slightly.
"Lo Shin?" the queen asked yet again.
Lo Shin's head snapped up, and her eyes widened as she gazed upon the beauty that was her queen. She swallowed past the lump that had formed in her throat as she prepared to answer.
"Your daughter has apparently chosen someone else." she said at last, then lowered her head to evade her queen's penetrating gaze.
The entire conclave was silent as they waited for their queen's response. Her daughter, the heir to the throne, had just been accused of disobeying an order in front of the entire council.
"You are excused, Lo Shin." the queen finally spoke, drawing even more whispers at her obvious avoidance.
The pink - haired warrior bowed one last time, then slowly made her way out of the council area. She didn't dare raise her head for fear of making eye contact with anyone.
As soon as the young warrior was out of sight, one of the elders stepped up from her seat and walked over to the middle of the floor that was occupied a few moments earlier.
The elder had long greyish - white hair that reached up to her ankles. She looked older the most of the other elders, but was actually one of the younger members of the council at age 190.
The old woman didn't bow like an ordinary warrior. Instead, she stood in front of her queen with the courage and wisdom that has made her one of the highest ranking council members in the tribe.
"Your daughter's defiance is an outrage. She must be punished for her disobedience." Tsi Shu said, staring at the queen as though she was laying down some sort of challenge.
The queen coolly returned her gaze, not at all flinching at the tone the elder had used. The two engaged in a silent battle as they stared each other down.
"Fau Da?" the queen called softly, her eyes never leaving the older woman in front of her.
This time, a much older woman walked up to the middle of the floor, her hand firmly on her cane as she moved. The 420 year old woman stood before her queen, blatantly ignoring the arrogant Tsi Shu.
"My Queen." she said, her shoulder length hair swaying as she came to a stop.
"Leave us!" the queen instructed, and the elders and servants were escorted one by one. Even Tsi Shu left the area, but not before snorting indignantly at the ruler.
"Is it time?" the queen asked softly, her features solemn.
"It has been more than a year, my dear Pa Fum. Your daughter has left us with no other alternative." Fau Da answered truthfully, a tinge of regret in her voice.
The queen was silent, almost subdued as the oldest member of the council addressed her by her given name. There were only a few allowed to call her that, and Fau Da was the one who did it the most.
Pa Fum was raised by the older woman when her mother was killed in a war decades ago, and it is known all over the tribe that the queen considers the old woman as her mother.
Fau Da was regarded as the highest ranking member of the council and with her status comes great respect. Nobody dared question nor cross the old woman, for fear of provoking the queen.
"I guess I have no choice. Tsi Shu's finally getting her wish." Pa Fum surrendered, rising from her seat.
"Warrior!" she called, and one of the warriors guarding the area appeared by the entrance.
"My Queen." the warrior said, head bowed and waiting.
"Please tell Warrior Kho Ton to assemble ten of her finest warriors to accompany me and the council." she ordered, and Fau Da's eyes widened slightly as she realized the gravity of the command.
"Yes, my Queen."
The queen looked back at her 'mother' to find the old woman's eyes narrowed at her. The elder kept silent, but there was apparent questioning in her eyes.
"My daughter may have disobeyed me, but that doesn't mean I'll leave her in the hands of a vulture like Tsi Shu." Pa Fum explained.
"You know that you won't be able to interfere. That you'll be a mere observer in all of the proceedings." Fau Da reminded her.
"I know that. But she is my blood. I will give her one last chance to obey. I will not let her be executed just to satisfy the council." Pa Fum swore, her jaw stiff.
Fau Da shook her head slightly, then made her way towards the nearer seats. Her back had started to ache from all that standing, and it was not wise to aggravate it further.
"She doesn't even know that you're her real mother. She has never seen your face." Fau Da said, her eyes growing sad.
Since Pa Fum assumed the throne many years ago, she was not allowed to intermingle with the more common folk. She was a warrior and was of noble blood, and thus needed to be with those her equal.
"It doesn't matter. She is my daughter and the rightful heir to the throne. She will fulfill the Kiss of Death and take her place as Princess." Pa Fum stated, and even the great elder knew when to yield.
Pa Fum stepped out from behind the curtains and finally revealed herself for all the world to see. Her hair was a rich, deep purple and was so long it almost reached her ankles.
"Xian Pu will obey."
End of Epilogue
End of "The Search for Atlantis"
To be continued in "Against All Odds"
From the author:
The words in UNDERLINE are spoken or thought in Chinese in this chapter.
For the life of me, I can't remember if Rumiko Takahashi ever used the name Lo Shin / Lotion, or any other 'health care product' for the name of an amazon. If she had, then my apologies, but my Lo Shin / Lotion and other 'health care product' characters are different from hers. So don't mistake them for each other, OK? :)
I can't remember if it was in the anime or the manga, but I distinctly remember that Cologne is around the age of 300. In any case, if that is not correct, then I am making Cologne 300 years old. So don't be too surprised with the ages of the other characters, OK? I hope that's clear with everyone.
Note:
This chapter is sorta a rewrite of the original. I've been able to find the final two chapters of this first book and some of the other drafts from the second and third books that have been missing from my old hard disk, the one that crashed, but they've all been corrupted somehow. So I just took whatever parts were salvageable from the old 1999 version of the chapter and just added some parts now, 2004. Hence, the two copyright years below. Just thought I'd mention it. :)
Also... since this and most of the next chapters would be rewrites, I would like to apologize for misspelled words or any grammatical errors. I don't have pre-readers / betas anymore, so any mistakes should be blamed on me.
All comments, suggestions, criticisms and the like, please click the link below.
All Ranma 1/2 characters copyright to Rumiko Takahashi. They are used without permission. Please do not sue me, I don't have money.
©1999 Shirley Joy Gadia, all other characters mentioned above and the story, all rights reserved.
©2004 Shirley Joy Gadia, all other characters mentioned above and the story, all rights reserved.
Thank you!