Disclaimer: I own nothing, absolutely nothing. After writing this, I
expect to own even less. If you want to sue, you're welcome to
everything I own.
Warning: This is not an Akane/Ranma fic, strictly speaking. If you are
averse to reading things of this nature, stick to the manga.
Warning: Altaverse (Keichi ain't here, and the senshi timeline is
all messed up.)
"words"
'thoughts'
A Time for Wild Horses chapter 4
by Jose Argao
Setsuna fell to her knees, panting.
Five hours, it has been five hours of non-stop effort on her
part to bring order to the chaos that the timelines have become. She
looked at the unchanged scenes in the Time Gate as they seemingly
mocked her with their resilience. She raised the Time Staff, and
prepared to begin another attempt to return things to what they once
were. Closing her eyes and concentrating on the task at hand, she
willed her energy into the staff, feeding it with the power that she
hoped would be enough to accomplish the nigh impossible task she
had set for herself.
The staff glowed with power, and radiated light. The dark
chamber that housed the gate was filled with light as the keeper of
time poured vast amounts of energy into it. Beads of sweat formed
on her brow as more and more energy was expended. Finally, she could
no longer spare any energy and she collapsed to the floor for the
forty eighth time that night.
A few seconds later, she looked once more to the gates, noting
with anger that the visage before her remained the same as it had
been when she originally started.
Slowly, she brought herself to her feet. Obviously, this
approach was destined to fail. She sighed in defeat.
'Well, time for plan B'
Raising the Time Staff above her head, she prepared to strike
at the artifact that she had been guarding for so long. A small part
of her mind reminded her that this was a futile effort, for the Time
Gate was immune to mere physical attacks. However, she was already
beyond reason at this point.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Setsuna whirled around in shock, squinting her eyes to make
out the being who had managed to go where only she was supposed to
be able to travel.
"Who are you? How did you get here?"
The mysterious stranger stepped into the light, her face the
only part of her that remained shrouded in darkness. Setsuna glanced
at the long, flowing robes she wore and realized that they were unlike
anything she had ever seen before. Her body was beautiful, like a
finely sculpted statue. Her bronze skin was flawless, and her legs
seemed to go on forever. Her voice was low and husky, almost as if she
was trying to seduce you. She walked with an air of confidence that
Setsuna had only seen in Queen Serenity before.
"My name is Urd, and I am the goddess of the past."
Setsuna raised her staff at the intruder. Goddess or not, she
had a job to do and she intended to do it. The worst thing that could
happen would be for the goddess to kill her, sparing her the trouble
of finding a way out of her impending marriage.
"You are not welcome here. You must leave right now, or face
the consequences."
The Time Staff glowed threateningly with power. Urd merely
smiled at the gesture. She allowed herself to walk fully into the
light, revealing her silver tresses to the Senshi.
"I am still here, guardian. Tell me, what exactly are these
consequences you speak of?"
Setsuna moved quickly. Her body became a blur as she attempted
to strike at the silver haired woman who dared to mock her. She was
feeling angry at the moment, and this was as good a method as any for
venting. She smiled with satisfaction as she closed in upon her
opponent. She didn't get her job for slacking off, and Urd was in for
a world of pain.
Suddenly, Urd wasn't there.
Setsuna stared in shock at the empty space in front of her
where Urd had been just moments ago. She couldn't believe it! No one
could possibly be that fast. It would appear that there was a grain
of truth to her claims of godhood.
"You are slow, guardian. You can never hope to defeat one such
as I. I am a goddess, you are a mere immortal. Avoiding your attacks
is child's play for me."
Setsuna glared at her in anger. She attacked again, this time
using every ounce of speed her considerable powers gave her. She went
straight for Urd's throat, aiming her staff in a blow that would end
the match if it were to connect. That was a big 'if'.
Urd disappeared once more, reappearing directly behind her this
time. Setsuna ducked and attempted to sweep Urd off her feet with a low
kick. Urd quickly jumped to avoid the attack. Setsuna was not ready to
give up, however, and followed up with a jumping roundhouse kick that
Urd easily blocked.
"Is that all you can do, guardian? I am beginning to get bored
with you. I expected so much more from the one I chose to be Ranma's
consort."
Setsuna's eyes glazed over in anger. So it was all _her_ fault.
In front of her stood the being that had caused her so much trouble
these past few days. She would pay. If it took every ounce of energy
left in her body, Setsuna would make sure that she would pay dearly for
everything.
The Time Staff glowed with power as Setsuna charged up all the
energy left in her body. A bright green glow emanated from her as she
began her most powerful attack.
"I don't think that's such a good idea. I really wouldn't do
that if I were you."
Setsuna ignored her. Urd may have been a goddess, but she was
a very arrogant, careless goddess.
'Annoying too,' Setsuna thought to herself. No matter, Urd's
own arrogance would be her undoing. Up until now, Urd had waited until
the last moment to avoid her attacks. It was no doubt some ploy to
impress upon her how much stronger Urd was compared to herself. Her
plan of attack relied upon this observation.
Setsuna smiled to herself as she stopped time before releasing
her attack.
"Dead Scream."
The ball of energy streaked quickly towards Urd, who stood
motionless as it approached her. Setsuna's smile grew larger as her
attack moved closer and closer towards the goddess of the past.
*****
Urd was very pleased with herself. Setsuna had proven herself
to be powerful, tenacious, and above all, beautiful. These were all
important traits for Ranma's wife to have. She was virtually perfect
in every way except one.
She didn't want to get married to Ranma.
Urd, for her part, could find no logical reason for this. Ranma
was a hunk, what more could a girl ask for? That's why she was here, to
beat some sense into the lucky girl who before long would be Mrs. Ranma
Saotome.
Her plan was working beautifully, too. Setsuna had bought the
'mysterious, malevolent goddess' act hook, line, and sinker. Her acting
talents were truly a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately for the
keeper of time, she was a far cry from being Urd's equal in power. Urd
looked at Setsuna's attack as it hurtled towards her. She had done her
homework on the senshi. Their attacks were very strong, but almost
painfully slow. It would be a simple matter for her to avoid them. She
called upon her powers to teleport her away from her current location,
but found herself unable to. One thought worked its way into her brain
before impact.
'Uh oh.'
*****
Setsuna let a triumphant yell escape her lips as the attack
hit home. The resulting explosion rocked the chamber with its power.
Setsuna found herself unable to see into the place where Urd was just
standing. It was a swirl of dust floating about. Slowly, the dust
settled and revealed a smoking pile of charcoal that used to be the
norn goddess of the past. She felt elation at her victory, but the
euphoria quickly diminished as the blackened mess yelled angrily at
her.
"That's it! Now I'm _really_ angry!" Urd waved her arms in
opposite circular gestures and chanted in a language that Setsuna
did not recognize. The marks on her face glowed brightly with power
before her whole body became enveloped in light. Slowly, the light
dissipated and revealed Urd, unharmed.
To her credit, Setsuna managed to raise her staff one last time
before passing out.
*****
"Hmmm, that's odd."
Ami looked through the readings in her computer once more to
confirm her suspicions. True enough, there were glaring discrepancies
in the data she obtained from scanning Ranma. By this time, she had
already ascertained that Ranma was indeed one of the powerful beings
that she had detected earlier. His energy signature burned brightly
in Nerima, standing out above the civilians like a wolf among sheep.
His opponent's aura shared the peculiarity of Ranma's aura.
Although Ami had failed to retrieve as much information from him as
she had from Ranma, she suspected that he would have given her roughly
the same data. Quite frankly, she didn't know what to make of it. She
chewed on the end of her pen, puzzled by the information presented
before her. She decided to just sleep on it, and think things over
the next day, when the rest of the inners were present.
*****
"What's going on? Mom, where are you?"
Ranma looked over the Tendo home once more, but was unable to
find a single person. All the rooms were empty, and there was no one
in the kitchen, living room, or dojo. He'd already searched the yard,
and there was no one on the roof either.
"Where did everyone go? Kasumi! Akane! Pops!"
Ranma slowly crept to the door of the bathroom. It was the only
place he hadn't checked yet. With trembling fingers, he gripped the
handle of the door. He quickly threw it open, bracing himself for the
onslaught of projectiles that was sure to follow.
It never came, the bathroom was empty.
By now, Ranma was _really_ getting worried. It just wasn't
normal for the Tendo Dojo to ever be empty. There was always _someone_
home at any given time. He would've known if they were going to take
a trip and they haven't been invited to go anywhere, so where did
everyone go?
*****
Ranma leapt from rooftop to rooftop, searching for anyone who
could tell him where everyone else was. He looked through the windows
of every house he passed, only to find it empty. The streets were
deserted, and all the shops were likewise devoid of life. The school
looked like it hadn't been used in years, and the Nekohanten was
bare.
Ranma stopped in front of the Ucchan's, panting. He had been
running all around town for a long time, and this was his last chance.
He looked behind him one last time, as if expecting the missing people
to suddenly reappear out of nowhere. Seeing no one, he entered the
Okonomiyaki restaurant.
The door creaked loudly as he entered, and Ranma almost found
the noise comforting in the midst of the silence that pervaded the
atmosphere. He ran up the stairs and turned to the hallway. It came as
no surprise to the young martial artist that it was also empty. He
was just about to leave when he saw a movement out of the corner of
his eye. He quickly ran towards the direction of the movement, but
saw only the shadows cast by objects outside as light streamed in from
an open window.
Ranma fell to his knees, and buried his face in his hands. Real
men didn't cry, and he wasn't about to start now. For what seemed like
forever, the only sound was his own shallow breathing as he fought to
control the sobs that were forming within.
"There you are, we've been looking all over for you."
Ranma whirled around, and found himself facing a woman he
didn't know. She wore a figure hugging body suit that left little to
the imagination. On her feet were dark leather boots that reached up
to her shins. Her legs were encased in a thin material covered by a
pattern that he found hard to distinguish in the darkness. Her upper
body was encased in black leather all the way to the tops of her
breasts, which were bare. Her arms were similarly attired as her
legs, with the same design that Ranma could not fully see. Her face
was covered in shadows, and Ranma could not see through the darkness
that hid her visage.
Although Ranma was sure that he had never seen her before, he
couldn't help but feel that they had already met. Her aura was
strangely familiar, and incredibly powerful. She wasn't even moving,
yet Ranma could feel her energy swirling around her. Ranma puzzled over
this for a few moments. It wasn't like him at all to forget about a
person with _this_ much energy. He looked closely at her, searching for
a clue that would reveal her identity. He found none.
"Come closer, Ranma. I will comfort you. You do not have to be
alone anymore."
The mysterious woman stepped closer, revealing her face to an
astonished Ranma. Who was she? How did she know who he was? Why were
there bat wings behind her head?
Ranma did a quick double take at that point. True enough, twin
bat wings protruded from the back of her head, framing her delicate
face. Further investigation revealed another pair of wings located on
her back.
Ranma stumbled backwards, startled. He was stopped from going
further by a pair of arms going around him, snaking under his arms. He
tried to escape, but found himself unable to resist the feelings that
the contact incited in him. It felt like electricity dancing on his
skin as the arms started stroking his chest soothingly. He heard a
voice from behind him.
"Do not be afraid, Ranma. We are here to comfort you. You do
not have to be alone anymore."
Instantly, Ranma felt his fears disappear as the arms continued
stroking him from behind. In front of him, the woman began walking
towards him. He noticed her long blue-green hair for the first time as
she came closer and closer towards him. When at last they were face to
face, her arms stretched out and enveloped him in their warm embrace.
He felt himself growing calmer and calmer the longer she held him.
"Give yourself to us, Ranma. We can make you happy. You will
never have to be alone."
The last of Ranma's fears eased from his mind. The woman in
front of him released his body from her embrace, and cupped his face in
her hands. The arms behind him never ceased their caresses all through
the proceedings. The mysterious woman tilted her head closer to him,
and he moved towards her in return. Closer and closer they went, until
Ranma could feel the warm breath coming from her slightly parted lips.
*****
"Mmmmm..."
Usagi turned over on her bed, pinning Luna and knocking the
wind from her lungs. The poor feline squirmed frantically against
her, finally waking her up by scratching her arm.
"Ow! What'd you do _that_ for?" Usagi rubbed the sleep from
her eyes and looked at her alarm clock in disgust. It read nine
o'clock. She yawned and stretched her arms as her cat leapt from
her bed onto the floor.
"You were choking me to death!" Luna turned up her nose at
the young blonde and stretched her muscles for relief.
"Well, maybe if you didn't insist on sleeping with me you
wouldn't have gotten into trouble to begin with." Usagi frowned at
her pet. Why couldn't she get a nice, cute, non-verbal cat like
ordinary people?
"Well, maybe if you didn't eat like a pig all the time you
wouldn't have been too heavy for me to move!"
Usagi opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted by the
ringing of her communicator. Flipping the device open, she saw the
face of Ami Mizuno smiling back at her.
"You have to come over to Rei's right away, Usagi. It's
important. Bring Luna with you."
Usagi yawned sleepily before answering. "Right now? Is it about
Ranma?"
Ami nodded. "Yes, it is."
Usagi looked at the clock again. It read three minutes after
nine. She threw a pillow at Luna before finally answering.
"I'll be right there."
*****
"Wha?"
Ranma awoke with a start and looked at his surroundings. He
was back at the Tendo residence, and the sun had already risen. His
father was beside him, sound asleep. He looked at the small alarm
clock beside his futon and groaned. It was late.
'That was _some_ dream.'
He sat there for a while, thinking about the mysterious woman
from his dreams. She had seemed so familiar, yet he couldn't place
her. He found his trail of thought derailed when he heard the sound
of the door opening.
"Ranma, are you awake? I think heard a sound coming from in
here."
A cold chill swept through Ranma's body as he registered
Akane's presence of in his room. She couldn't have been still mad
about yesterday, could she? He gave her a weak smile as he attempted
to make the best of a bad situation.
"Akane! What are _you_ doing here so early?"
Akane waited for a few seconds before replying. "I want to
talk to you about yesterday."
'That's it, I'm dead.'
Ranma immediately began scanning the room for an exit. The
windows were open, but Akane had placed herself in front of them.
He could make a dash for the door, but the scroll he'd retrieved
from the night before was in his pack, which was in the drawer by
the windows. He thought quickly, trying to come up with a plan for
escape.
"I'm really sorry about yesterday, Ranma."
Ranma uttered a small prayer before bracing himself for
impact. Akane was sorry, and that meant-
Ranma quickly opened his left eye. "What was that again, Akane?
I must be hearing things, because I could have sworn you just said that
you were sorry about yesterday."
Akane's eyes twitched in anger, but she held herself in check.
"You weren't hearing things, Ranma. I really _am_ sorry for
yesterday."
Ranma jumped up and put his hands on her shoulders. He locked
eyes with her, a worried look on his face. "Akane, you're not sick or
anything, are you?"
Akane brushed him off and turned her back to him. "Look, would
you stop acting like such a jerk! It's hard enough to do this as it is
without you making fun of me!"
She faced him again, but looked towards the ground, avoiding
eye contact. "Look, Nabiki told me you were in another district all
day yesterday. I just wanted to tell you that... What I mean is that...
I just wanted to say..."
Ranma raised a finger to her chin and raised her head to eye
level. "What is it, Akane?"
Akane quickly looked to the side, embarrassed. "Please don't
leave, Ranma. I'd... I'd miss you."
Ranma heaved a huge sigh of relief. It looked as if he'd
survive today after all. He laughed as he replied to his fiancee. "Is
_that_ all you're worried about? Don't worry, Akane. I'm not going
anywhere anytime soon."
Akane's face brightened immediately. "That's great! I'll make
it all up to you, Ranma. I even made you breakfast!"
Ranma's face went from a happy smile to a look of fear in the
span of two seconds. He smiled nervously and inched slowly towards the
pack containing the scroll.
"Akane! You... you _shouldn't_ have..."
The excited girl ignored him as she ran out of the room and
returned shortly carrying a covered tray. With flourish, she removed
the cover and revealed... something.
"Eat up, Ranma. I made it _all_ myself."
Ranma slowly picked up his chopsticks and used them to pick
up a piece of the blackened remains of whatever it was Akane tried to
cook. He raised it to his nose and smelled it. It had a strange,
rancid odor.
"Um... what is it, Akane?"
Akane smiled cutely and pointed to the plate the morsel had
come from. "It's a stack of pancakes. I got the recipe from the back
of a pancake mix carton."
Ranma examined the piece on his chopsticks. "Aren't they
supposed to be brown?"
Akane grinned sheepishly as she explained. "Well, I kinda
modified it to make it more Japanese."
Ranma continued looking at it. "More Japanese huh? Exactly
what did you do to the mix, Akane?"
The smile never left Akane's face. "It's a surprise."
A few seconds later, her right eye started to twitch. "Well,
aren't you going to eat it?"
Ranma looked back and forth between the burning stare of
Akane and the burned mass in front of him. He raised his chopsticks
to his lips, popped the piece into his mouth, then swallowed quickly
without chewing. His eyes grew wide and his limbs stiffened before
he fell to the ground, unconscious.
*****
"So she thinks she can blast me and get away with it, does she?
Well, we'll see about _that_!"
Urd strode angrily towards her terminal, ignoring the curious
stares being directed towards her. Upon arriving at her post, she
unceremoniously plopped down upon her chair and began pounding away
on her keyboard. The angry frown never left her face until hours later,
when it was replaced by a malicious grin.
*****
"Are any of you familiar with the concept of the Kirlian
Effect?"
Ami watched as the rest of the inner senshi ignored her
completely. Usagi was reading a manga that Rei was trying to retrieve
from her, and Makoto was engaged in conversation with Minako about
Ryoga. She held her temples in frustration. She hit the table with her
fist as hard as she could, putting a stop to the various activities
the others were engaged in.
"(ahem) As I was saying, are any of you familiar with the
concept of the Kirlian Effect?"
Four pairs of eyes stared back at her in silence. She sighed
exasperatedly.
"Fine, I'll explain. The Kirlian Effect is seen in special
photographs that were taken using Bio-electrography. It was
discovered by a man named Semyon Davidovich Kirlian."
Usagi yawned tiredly, stopping abruptly when she noticed
Ami frowning at her.
"It is a special kind of photography that shows a luminous
halo around objects. Some believe these to be photos of the Aura. In
actuality, they are not. They are just pictures of something called
the Corona Discharge of an object. However, it was close enough that
I was able to modify the process to show an objects aura. It's very
effective, and even shows the outline of the aura around parts of
an object that have been cut off."
Minako propped up her head on Makoto's shoulder and rubbed
her eyes. "Well' what does this have to do with Ranma?"
Ami brought out her computer and pressed a few keys before
handing it to them.
"This is what Ranma's aura looks like. As you can see, there's
definitely something wrong with it."
Rei frowned. "Ami-chan, I think there's something wrong with
your computer. These are two auras, one on top of the other."
Ami nodded. "I thought so too, at first. I repeated the process
many times but I always got the same result. I figured that there was
something wrong with the computer itself, but it works fine on everyone
else. Look, here's your aura."
Ami punched a few keys on the computer and the display changed
to show a female outline glowing bright red, as if on fire. After
letting everyone have a look, Ami reverted the display back to Ranma's
aura.
"That is definitely Ranma's aura. If you look closely, you may
notice that the outlines are composed of one male and one female. I've
never seen anything like it. I don't know what to make of it. Aside
from Ranma, Mako-chan's sempai also has the same kind of aura.
A few moments later, the screen showed a male outline with a
small, faint aura in the middle.
"I'm not sure what that thing in the middle is, but I think
it's another aura like the one Ranma has. Something's up with the two
of them, and I'm not sure what it is." Ami frowned and bit her lower
lip.
"Also, take a look at these readings I took while they were
fighting. They're much stronger than normal humans, and probably a
match to our senshi forms as well." Ami turned to Artemis and Luna,
who had been listening silently to this point.
"Have you ever seen anything like this? Artemis? Luna? Hey,
I'm talking to you!"
The two cats stood side by side, neither of them paying any
attention to the frantic calls. The crescent moon symbols on their
foreheads started to glow, and Ami turned to their owners.
"What happened to them?"
Minako and Usagi could only shake their heads in wonder as
the watched the spectacle unfold before them.
"I don't know, Luna was fine this morning when I brought her
here.
The two cats continued to stand still, unmoving. The crescent
moons glowed ever brighter until the girls could barely stand to look
directly at them. After a few seconds, the light dissipated the two
cats opened their eyes. Luna spoke first.
"We have something _really_ important to tell you guys."
*****
"I don't like that one either! Oh, these outfits are all
wrong!"
Haruka put the frilly dress down on the bed, along with the
rest of Hotaru's limited wardrobe. "Well, that's the last one. You
don't have any clothes left, Hotaru-chan. Why are you being so picky
today anyway? Your new boyfriend will like you no matter what you
wear, so stop fussing about it."
Hotaru blushed and turned away quickly. "I told you he's _not_
my boyfriend! We just met yesterday and he said he has a surprise for
me today, that's all."
Haruka stopped examining the blouse she had picked up from the
pile on the bed and looked at Hotaru. "A surprise? Hmmm... it's a bit
early for him to propose to you, don't you think? Oh well, I guess it's
true what they say about kids these days."
Hotaru snatched the blouse from her hands and put it back onto
the bed. "For the last time, Ranma is _not_ my boyfriend and we are
definitely _not_ going to get married!"
Haruka picked up another blouse and held it in front of Hotaru,
who took it and threw it back where it came from. "Sure, whatever you
say, Hotaru-chan. By the way, are you going to have a western-style
wedding or a more traditional one? Have you decided on a design for the
wedding dress?"
Hotaru looked at the large pile of clothing on her bed and
sighed. For some reason, all of her clothes seemed so _boring_ to her
today. They seemed fine before, but now she couldn't imagine herself
wearing them next to Ranma.
"I can't wear _any_ of these! What am I going to do?"
Haruka looked helplessly at the confused child. Where was
Michiru when you needed her anyway? She just didn't have the skills
needed to help Hotaru with her dilemma. It was fun to tease the kid,
though. She looked so cute when she blushed.
"It looks like you guys could use some help."
Hotaru and Haruka turned towards the door to find a grinning
Michiru. The new arrival walked into the room and quickly began looking
through the mess on the bed. Haruka tapped her left shoulder.
"Hey, where have you been?" Michiru shrugged off Haruka's
finger as she continued searching, holding up a blouse or a dress from
time to time.
"I've been around." She held up a blouse in front of Hotaru
then dropped it into her arms. "Here you go."
Hotaru held it up in front of her on the mirror. "This one?
But I'm not sure that-"
Michiru interrupted her by holding up a skirt under the
blouse. Hotaru looked at the combination in surprise.
"How did you-"
Michiru once again interrupted her by taking the clothes from
her arms and pushing her outside. "You'll learn in time, Hotaru-chan.
Now you'd better shower before your date."
"It's not a date!" Hotaru protested one last time before going
off to the bathroom.
"Our little girl is growing up." Haruka's arms encircled
Michiru's waist as they watched Hotaru walking to the bathroom.
"It wasn't all _that_ long ago that we were little girls
ourselves." Michiru placed her own arms above Haruka's and leaned
into her lover.
"Did you find her?"
Michiru's eyes closed and she breathed deeply before giving
her reply. "Not a trace. Setsuna hasn't been seen in Juuban for a
while."
Haruka frowned. "How about the inners?"
"I haven't asked them yet. Is this something important?"
Michiru turned around to face Haruka.
"It's probably nothing. She just seemed a little out of it the
last time we talked."
Michiru walked towards the bed and started putting the clothes
back into Hotaru's closet. "Don't worry about it. Setsuna's a big girl.
She can take care of herself."
Haruka smiled. "You're right. I'm worried about nothing. She
would have told us if something was wrong, anyway."
Michiru smiled back. "Yeah, she's probably out having the time
of her life as we speak."
*****
Setsuna slowly awoke from her fitful slumber, and groggily
sat up. She looked around her surroundings, searching for a trace of
the intruder who had defeated her not so long ago. Finding no trace
of her opponent, she began to take stock of her surroundings. The
chamber still bore traces of their violent encounter. She could
still make out the crater where her attack had hit the goddess Urd.
She thought for a moment about whether Urd's words were true. She
sure seemed strong enough to be a goddess, but Setsuna didn't think
that a real goddess would spend her time interfering with the marital
affairs of a mortal.
Setsuna gasped at the thought, and quickly made her way to
the Time Gate. It had escaped the battle with nary a scratch and
still stood on the same place where it had been for thousands of
years. Carefully summoning a small fraction of her remaining power
to the Time Staff, she scanned the Gate for any signs of changes
made. She gaped in shock as she saw countless possible timelines,
none of them even slightly similar to each other. She frantically
searched for Crystal Tokyo, and was shocked to find it in less than
half of the timelines. How could this happen? She traced the lines
back farther and farther, hoping to find a clue as to where these
changes originated. It took her a while, traveling as far back as
the Silver Millenium to find out what had happened.
A few seconds later, for the second time in less than a week,
Setsuna fainted.
*****
Author's notes:
Hmmm... well _that_ didn't answer much, did it? I guess we'll
all have to wait until the next chapter to find out more! I would
like to thank Ash, Chester, James Merrit, and Seaver for all of
their help and suggestions.
I would like to thank Ash for his help on researching the
Kirlian Effect.
Please send C&C to ukyo_rulz@edsamail.com.ph
Visit my homepage (www.geocities.com/ex_fuk) for new chapters.
expect to own even less. If you want to sue, you're welcome to
everything I own.
Warning: This is not an Akane/Ranma fic, strictly speaking. If you are
averse to reading things of this nature, stick to the manga.
Warning: Altaverse (Keichi ain't here, and the senshi timeline is
all messed up.)
"words"
'thoughts'
A Time for Wild Horses chapter 4
by Jose Argao
Setsuna fell to her knees, panting.
Five hours, it has been five hours of non-stop effort on her
part to bring order to the chaos that the timelines have become. She
looked at the unchanged scenes in the Time Gate as they seemingly
mocked her with their resilience. She raised the Time Staff, and
prepared to begin another attempt to return things to what they once
were. Closing her eyes and concentrating on the task at hand, she
willed her energy into the staff, feeding it with the power that she
hoped would be enough to accomplish the nigh impossible task she
had set for herself.
The staff glowed with power, and radiated light. The dark
chamber that housed the gate was filled with light as the keeper of
time poured vast amounts of energy into it. Beads of sweat formed
on her brow as more and more energy was expended. Finally, she could
no longer spare any energy and she collapsed to the floor for the
forty eighth time that night.
A few seconds later, she looked once more to the gates, noting
with anger that the visage before her remained the same as it had
been when she originally started.
Slowly, she brought herself to her feet. Obviously, this
approach was destined to fail. She sighed in defeat.
'Well, time for plan B'
Raising the Time Staff above her head, she prepared to strike
at the artifact that she had been guarding for so long. A small part
of her mind reminded her that this was a futile effort, for the Time
Gate was immune to mere physical attacks. However, she was already
beyond reason at this point.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Setsuna whirled around in shock, squinting her eyes to make
out the being who had managed to go where only she was supposed to
be able to travel.
"Who are you? How did you get here?"
The mysterious stranger stepped into the light, her face the
only part of her that remained shrouded in darkness. Setsuna glanced
at the long, flowing robes she wore and realized that they were unlike
anything she had ever seen before. Her body was beautiful, like a
finely sculpted statue. Her bronze skin was flawless, and her legs
seemed to go on forever. Her voice was low and husky, almost as if she
was trying to seduce you. She walked with an air of confidence that
Setsuna had only seen in Queen Serenity before.
"My name is Urd, and I am the goddess of the past."
Setsuna raised her staff at the intruder. Goddess or not, she
had a job to do and she intended to do it. The worst thing that could
happen would be for the goddess to kill her, sparing her the trouble
of finding a way out of her impending marriage.
"You are not welcome here. You must leave right now, or face
the consequences."
The Time Staff glowed threateningly with power. Urd merely
smiled at the gesture. She allowed herself to walk fully into the
light, revealing her silver tresses to the Senshi.
"I am still here, guardian. Tell me, what exactly are these
consequences you speak of?"
Setsuna moved quickly. Her body became a blur as she attempted
to strike at the silver haired woman who dared to mock her. She was
feeling angry at the moment, and this was as good a method as any for
venting. She smiled with satisfaction as she closed in upon her
opponent. She didn't get her job for slacking off, and Urd was in for
a world of pain.
Suddenly, Urd wasn't there.
Setsuna stared in shock at the empty space in front of her
where Urd had been just moments ago. She couldn't believe it! No one
could possibly be that fast. It would appear that there was a grain
of truth to her claims of godhood.
"You are slow, guardian. You can never hope to defeat one such
as I. I am a goddess, you are a mere immortal. Avoiding your attacks
is child's play for me."
Setsuna glared at her in anger. She attacked again, this time
using every ounce of speed her considerable powers gave her. She went
straight for Urd's throat, aiming her staff in a blow that would end
the match if it were to connect. That was a big 'if'.
Urd disappeared once more, reappearing directly behind her this
time. Setsuna ducked and attempted to sweep Urd off her feet with a low
kick. Urd quickly jumped to avoid the attack. Setsuna was not ready to
give up, however, and followed up with a jumping roundhouse kick that
Urd easily blocked.
"Is that all you can do, guardian? I am beginning to get bored
with you. I expected so much more from the one I chose to be Ranma's
consort."
Setsuna's eyes glazed over in anger. So it was all _her_ fault.
In front of her stood the being that had caused her so much trouble
these past few days. She would pay. If it took every ounce of energy
left in her body, Setsuna would make sure that she would pay dearly for
everything.
The Time Staff glowed with power as Setsuna charged up all the
energy left in her body. A bright green glow emanated from her as she
began her most powerful attack.
"I don't think that's such a good idea. I really wouldn't do
that if I were you."
Setsuna ignored her. Urd may have been a goddess, but she was
a very arrogant, careless goddess.
'Annoying too,' Setsuna thought to herself. No matter, Urd's
own arrogance would be her undoing. Up until now, Urd had waited until
the last moment to avoid her attacks. It was no doubt some ploy to
impress upon her how much stronger Urd was compared to herself. Her
plan of attack relied upon this observation.
Setsuna smiled to herself as she stopped time before releasing
her attack.
"Dead Scream."
The ball of energy streaked quickly towards Urd, who stood
motionless as it approached her. Setsuna's smile grew larger as her
attack moved closer and closer towards the goddess of the past.
*****
Urd was very pleased with herself. Setsuna had proven herself
to be powerful, tenacious, and above all, beautiful. These were all
important traits for Ranma's wife to have. She was virtually perfect
in every way except one.
She didn't want to get married to Ranma.
Urd, for her part, could find no logical reason for this. Ranma
was a hunk, what more could a girl ask for? That's why she was here, to
beat some sense into the lucky girl who before long would be Mrs. Ranma
Saotome.
Her plan was working beautifully, too. Setsuna had bought the
'mysterious, malevolent goddess' act hook, line, and sinker. Her acting
talents were truly a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately for the
keeper of time, she was a far cry from being Urd's equal in power. Urd
looked at Setsuna's attack as it hurtled towards her. She had done her
homework on the senshi. Their attacks were very strong, but almost
painfully slow. It would be a simple matter for her to avoid them. She
called upon her powers to teleport her away from her current location,
but found herself unable to. One thought worked its way into her brain
before impact.
'Uh oh.'
*****
Setsuna let a triumphant yell escape her lips as the attack
hit home. The resulting explosion rocked the chamber with its power.
Setsuna found herself unable to see into the place where Urd was just
standing. It was a swirl of dust floating about. Slowly, the dust
settled and revealed a smoking pile of charcoal that used to be the
norn goddess of the past. She felt elation at her victory, but the
euphoria quickly diminished as the blackened mess yelled angrily at
her.
"That's it! Now I'm _really_ angry!" Urd waved her arms in
opposite circular gestures and chanted in a language that Setsuna
did not recognize. The marks on her face glowed brightly with power
before her whole body became enveloped in light. Slowly, the light
dissipated and revealed Urd, unharmed.
To her credit, Setsuna managed to raise her staff one last time
before passing out.
*****
"Hmmm, that's odd."
Ami looked through the readings in her computer once more to
confirm her suspicions. True enough, there were glaring discrepancies
in the data she obtained from scanning Ranma. By this time, she had
already ascertained that Ranma was indeed one of the powerful beings
that she had detected earlier. His energy signature burned brightly
in Nerima, standing out above the civilians like a wolf among sheep.
His opponent's aura shared the peculiarity of Ranma's aura.
Although Ami had failed to retrieve as much information from him as
she had from Ranma, she suspected that he would have given her roughly
the same data. Quite frankly, she didn't know what to make of it. She
chewed on the end of her pen, puzzled by the information presented
before her. She decided to just sleep on it, and think things over
the next day, when the rest of the inners were present.
*****
"What's going on? Mom, where are you?"
Ranma looked over the Tendo home once more, but was unable to
find a single person. All the rooms were empty, and there was no one
in the kitchen, living room, or dojo. He'd already searched the yard,
and there was no one on the roof either.
"Where did everyone go? Kasumi! Akane! Pops!"
Ranma slowly crept to the door of the bathroom. It was the only
place he hadn't checked yet. With trembling fingers, he gripped the
handle of the door. He quickly threw it open, bracing himself for the
onslaught of projectiles that was sure to follow.
It never came, the bathroom was empty.
By now, Ranma was _really_ getting worried. It just wasn't
normal for the Tendo Dojo to ever be empty. There was always _someone_
home at any given time. He would've known if they were going to take
a trip and they haven't been invited to go anywhere, so where did
everyone go?
*****
Ranma leapt from rooftop to rooftop, searching for anyone who
could tell him where everyone else was. He looked through the windows
of every house he passed, only to find it empty. The streets were
deserted, and all the shops were likewise devoid of life. The school
looked like it hadn't been used in years, and the Nekohanten was
bare.
Ranma stopped in front of the Ucchan's, panting. He had been
running all around town for a long time, and this was his last chance.
He looked behind him one last time, as if expecting the missing people
to suddenly reappear out of nowhere. Seeing no one, he entered the
Okonomiyaki restaurant.
The door creaked loudly as he entered, and Ranma almost found
the noise comforting in the midst of the silence that pervaded the
atmosphere. He ran up the stairs and turned to the hallway. It came as
no surprise to the young martial artist that it was also empty. He
was just about to leave when he saw a movement out of the corner of
his eye. He quickly ran towards the direction of the movement, but
saw only the shadows cast by objects outside as light streamed in from
an open window.
Ranma fell to his knees, and buried his face in his hands. Real
men didn't cry, and he wasn't about to start now. For what seemed like
forever, the only sound was his own shallow breathing as he fought to
control the sobs that were forming within.
"There you are, we've been looking all over for you."
Ranma whirled around, and found himself facing a woman he
didn't know. She wore a figure hugging body suit that left little to
the imagination. On her feet were dark leather boots that reached up
to her shins. Her legs were encased in a thin material covered by a
pattern that he found hard to distinguish in the darkness. Her upper
body was encased in black leather all the way to the tops of her
breasts, which were bare. Her arms were similarly attired as her
legs, with the same design that Ranma could not fully see. Her face
was covered in shadows, and Ranma could not see through the darkness
that hid her visage.
Although Ranma was sure that he had never seen her before, he
couldn't help but feel that they had already met. Her aura was
strangely familiar, and incredibly powerful. She wasn't even moving,
yet Ranma could feel her energy swirling around her. Ranma puzzled over
this for a few moments. It wasn't like him at all to forget about a
person with _this_ much energy. He looked closely at her, searching for
a clue that would reveal her identity. He found none.
"Come closer, Ranma. I will comfort you. You do not have to be
alone anymore."
The mysterious woman stepped closer, revealing her face to an
astonished Ranma. Who was she? How did she know who he was? Why were
there bat wings behind her head?
Ranma did a quick double take at that point. True enough, twin
bat wings protruded from the back of her head, framing her delicate
face. Further investigation revealed another pair of wings located on
her back.
Ranma stumbled backwards, startled. He was stopped from going
further by a pair of arms going around him, snaking under his arms. He
tried to escape, but found himself unable to resist the feelings that
the contact incited in him. It felt like electricity dancing on his
skin as the arms started stroking his chest soothingly. He heard a
voice from behind him.
"Do not be afraid, Ranma. We are here to comfort you. You do
not have to be alone anymore."
Instantly, Ranma felt his fears disappear as the arms continued
stroking him from behind. In front of him, the woman began walking
towards him. He noticed her long blue-green hair for the first time as
she came closer and closer towards him. When at last they were face to
face, her arms stretched out and enveloped him in their warm embrace.
He felt himself growing calmer and calmer the longer she held him.
"Give yourself to us, Ranma. We can make you happy. You will
never have to be alone."
The last of Ranma's fears eased from his mind. The woman in
front of him released his body from her embrace, and cupped his face in
her hands. The arms behind him never ceased their caresses all through
the proceedings. The mysterious woman tilted her head closer to him,
and he moved towards her in return. Closer and closer they went, until
Ranma could feel the warm breath coming from her slightly parted lips.
*****
"Mmmmm..."
Usagi turned over on her bed, pinning Luna and knocking the
wind from her lungs. The poor feline squirmed frantically against
her, finally waking her up by scratching her arm.
"Ow! What'd you do _that_ for?" Usagi rubbed the sleep from
her eyes and looked at her alarm clock in disgust. It read nine
o'clock. She yawned and stretched her arms as her cat leapt from
her bed onto the floor.
"You were choking me to death!" Luna turned up her nose at
the young blonde and stretched her muscles for relief.
"Well, maybe if you didn't insist on sleeping with me you
wouldn't have gotten into trouble to begin with." Usagi frowned at
her pet. Why couldn't she get a nice, cute, non-verbal cat like
ordinary people?
"Well, maybe if you didn't eat like a pig all the time you
wouldn't have been too heavy for me to move!"
Usagi opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted by the
ringing of her communicator. Flipping the device open, she saw the
face of Ami Mizuno smiling back at her.
"You have to come over to Rei's right away, Usagi. It's
important. Bring Luna with you."
Usagi yawned sleepily before answering. "Right now? Is it about
Ranma?"
Ami nodded. "Yes, it is."
Usagi looked at the clock again. It read three minutes after
nine. She threw a pillow at Luna before finally answering.
"I'll be right there."
*****
"Wha?"
Ranma awoke with a start and looked at his surroundings. He
was back at the Tendo residence, and the sun had already risen. His
father was beside him, sound asleep. He looked at the small alarm
clock beside his futon and groaned. It was late.
'That was _some_ dream.'
He sat there for a while, thinking about the mysterious woman
from his dreams. She had seemed so familiar, yet he couldn't place
her. He found his trail of thought derailed when he heard the sound
of the door opening.
"Ranma, are you awake? I think heard a sound coming from in
here."
A cold chill swept through Ranma's body as he registered
Akane's presence of in his room. She couldn't have been still mad
about yesterday, could she? He gave her a weak smile as he attempted
to make the best of a bad situation.
"Akane! What are _you_ doing here so early?"
Akane waited for a few seconds before replying. "I want to
talk to you about yesterday."
'That's it, I'm dead.'
Ranma immediately began scanning the room for an exit. The
windows were open, but Akane had placed herself in front of them.
He could make a dash for the door, but the scroll he'd retrieved
from the night before was in his pack, which was in the drawer by
the windows. He thought quickly, trying to come up with a plan for
escape.
"I'm really sorry about yesterday, Ranma."
Ranma uttered a small prayer before bracing himself for
impact. Akane was sorry, and that meant-
Ranma quickly opened his left eye. "What was that again, Akane?
I must be hearing things, because I could have sworn you just said that
you were sorry about yesterday."
Akane's eyes twitched in anger, but she held herself in check.
"You weren't hearing things, Ranma. I really _am_ sorry for
yesterday."
Ranma jumped up and put his hands on her shoulders. He locked
eyes with her, a worried look on his face. "Akane, you're not sick or
anything, are you?"
Akane brushed him off and turned her back to him. "Look, would
you stop acting like such a jerk! It's hard enough to do this as it is
without you making fun of me!"
She faced him again, but looked towards the ground, avoiding
eye contact. "Look, Nabiki told me you were in another district all
day yesterday. I just wanted to tell you that... What I mean is that...
I just wanted to say..."
Ranma raised a finger to her chin and raised her head to eye
level. "What is it, Akane?"
Akane quickly looked to the side, embarrassed. "Please don't
leave, Ranma. I'd... I'd miss you."
Ranma heaved a huge sigh of relief. It looked as if he'd
survive today after all. He laughed as he replied to his fiancee. "Is
_that_ all you're worried about? Don't worry, Akane. I'm not going
anywhere anytime soon."
Akane's face brightened immediately. "That's great! I'll make
it all up to you, Ranma. I even made you breakfast!"
Ranma's face went from a happy smile to a look of fear in the
span of two seconds. He smiled nervously and inched slowly towards the
pack containing the scroll.
"Akane! You... you _shouldn't_ have..."
The excited girl ignored him as she ran out of the room and
returned shortly carrying a covered tray. With flourish, she removed
the cover and revealed... something.
"Eat up, Ranma. I made it _all_ myself."
Ranma slowly picked up his chopsticks and used them to pick
up a piece of the blackened remains of whatever it was Akane tried to
cook. He raised it to his nose and smelled it. It had a strange,
rancid odor.
"Um... what is it, Akane?"
Akane smiled cutely and pointed to the plate the morsel had
come from. "It's a stack of pancakes. I got the recipe from the back
of a pancake mix carton."
Ranma examined the piece on his chopsticks. "Aren't they
supposed to be brown?"
Akane grinned sheepishly as she explained. "Well, I kinda
modified it to make it more Japanese."
Ranma continued looking at it. "More Japanese huh? Exactly
what did you do to the mix, Akane?"
The smile never left Akane's face. "It's a surprise."
A few seconds later, her right eye started to twitch. "Well,
aren't you going to eat it?"
Ranma looked back and forth between the burning stare of
Akane and the burned mass in front of him. He raised his chopsticks
to his lips, popped the piece into his mouth, then swallowed quickly
without chewing. His eyes grew wide and his limbs stiffened before
he fell to the ground, unconscious.
*****
"So she thinks she can blast me and get away with it, does she?
Well, we'll see about _that_!"
Urd strode angrily towards her terminal, ignoring the curious
stares being directed towards her. Upon arriving at her post, she
unceremoniously plopped down upon her chair and began pounding away
on her keyboard. The angry frown never left her face until hours later,
when it was replaced by a malicious grin.
*****
"Are any of you familiar with the concept of the Kirlian
Effect?"
Ami watched as the rest of the inner senshi ignored her
completely. Usagi was reading a manga that Rei was trying to retrieve
from her, and Makoto was engaged in conversation with Minako about
Ryoga. She held her temples in frustration. She hit the table with her
fist as hard as she could, putting a stop to the various activities
the others were engaged in.
"(ahem) As I was saying, are any of you familiar with the
concept of the Kirlian Effect?"
Four pairs of eyes stared back at her in silence. She sighed
exasperatedly.
"Fine, I'll explain. The Kirlian Effect is seen in special
photographs that were taken using Bio-electrography. It was
discovered by a man named Semyon Davidovich Kirlian."
Usagi yawned tiredly, stopping abruptly when she noticed
Ami frowning at her.
"It is a special kind of photography that shows a luminous
halo around objects. Some believe these to be photos of the Aura. In
actuality, they are not. They are just pictures of something called
the Corona Discharge of an object. However, it was close enough that
I was able to modify the process to show an objects aura. It's very
effective, and even shows the outline of the aura around parts of
an object that have been cut off."
Minako propped up her head on Makoto's shoulder and rubbed
her eyes. "Well' what does this have to do with Ranma?"
Ami brought out her computer and pressed a few keys before
handing it to them.
"This is what Ranma's aura looks like. As you can see, there's
definitely something wrong with it."
Rei frowned. "Ami-chan, I think there's something wrong with
your computer. These are two auras, one on top of the other."
Ami nodded. "I thought so too, at first. I repeated the process
many times but I always got the same result. I figured that there was
something wrong with the computer itself, but it works fine on everyone
else. Look, here's your aura."
Ami punched a few keys on the computer and the display changed
to show a female outline glowing bright red, as if on fire. After
letting everyone have a look, Ami reverted the display back to Ranma's
aura.
"That is definitely Ranma's aura. If you look closely, you may
notice that the outlines are composed of one male and one female. I've
never seen anything like it. I don't know what to make of it. Aside
from Ranma, Mako-chan's sempai also has the same kind of aura.
A few moments later, the screen showed a male outline with a
small, faint aura in the middle.
"I'm not sure what that thing in the middle is, but I think
it's another aura like the one Ranma has. Something's up with the two
of them, and I'm not sure what it is." Ami frowned and bit her lower
lip.
"Also, take a look at these readings I took while they were
fighting. They're much stronger than normal humans, and probably a
match to our senshi forms as well." Ami turned to Artemis and Luna,
who had been listening silently to this point.
"Have you ever seen anything like this? Artemis? Luna? Hey,
I'm talking to you!"
The two cats stood side by side, neither of them paying any
attention to the frantic calls. The crescent moon symbols on their
foreheads started to glow, and Ami turned to their owners.
"What happened to them?"
Minako and Usagi could only shake their heads in wonder as
the watched the spectacle unfold before them.
"I don't know, Luna was fine this morning when I brought her
here.
The two cats continued to stand still, unmoving. The crescent
moons glowed ever brighter until the girls could barely stand to look
directly at them. After a few seconds, the light dissipated the two
cats opened their eyes. Luna spoke first.
"We have something _really_ important to tell you guys."
*****
"I don't like that one either! Oh, these outfits are all
wrong!"
Haruka put the frilly dress down on the bed, along with the
rest of Hotaru's limited wardrobe. "Well, that's the last one. You
don't have any clothes left, Hotaru-chan. Why are you being so picky
today anyway? Your new boyfriend will like you no matter what you
wear, so stop fussing about it."
Hotaru blushed and turned away quickly. "I told you he's _not_
my boyfriend! We just met yesterday and he said he has a surprise for
me today, that's all."
Haruka stopped examining the blouse she had picked up from the
pile on the bed and looked at Hotaru. "A surprise? Hmmm... it's a bit
early for him to propose to you, don't you think? Oh well, I guess it's
true what they say about kids these days."
Hotaru snatched the blouse from her hands and put it back onto
the bed. "For the last time, Ranma is _not_ my boyfriend and we are
definitely _not_ going to get married!"
Haruka picked up another blouse and held it in front of Hotaru,
who took it and threw it back where it came from. "Sure, whatever you
say, Hotaru-chan. By the way, are you going to have a western-style
wedding or a more traditional one? Have you decided on a design for the
wedding dress?"
Hotaru looked at the large pile of clothing on her bed and
sighed. For some reason, all of her clothes seemed so _boring_ to her
today. They seemed fine before, but now she couldn't imagine herself
wearing them next to Ranma.
"I can't wear _any_ of these! What am I going to do?"
Haruka looked helplessly at the confused child. Where was
Michiru when you needed her anyway? She just didn't have the skills
needed to help Hotaru with her dilemma. It was fun to tease the kid,
though. She looked so cute when she blushed.
"It looks like you guys could use some help."
Hotaru and Haruka turned towards the door to find a grinning
Michiru. The new arrival walked into the room and quickly began looking
through the mess on the bed. Haruka tapped her left shoulder.
"Hey, where have you been?" Michiru shrugged off Haruka's
finger as she continued searching, holding up a blouse or a dress from
time to time.
"I've been around." She held up a blouse in front of Hotaru
then dropped it into her arms. "Here you go."
Hotaru held it up in front of her on the mirror. "This one?
But I'm not sure that-"
Michiru interrupted her by holding up a skirt under the
blouse. Hotaru looked at the combination in surprise.
"How did you-"
Michiru once again interrupted her by taking the clothes from
her arms and pushing her outside. "You'll learn in time, Hotaru-chan.
Now you'd better shower before your date."
"It's not a date!" Hotaru protested one last time before going
off to the bathroom.
"Our little girl is growing up." Haruka's arms encircled
Michiru's waist as they watched Hotaru walking to the bathroom.
"It wasn't all _that_ long ago that we were little girls
ourselves." Michiru placed her own arms above Haruka's and leaned
into her lover.
"Did you find her?"
Michiru's eyes closed and she breathed deeply before giving
her reply. "Not a trace. Setsuna hasn't been seen in Juuban for a
while."
Haruka frowned. "How about the inners?"
"I haven't asked them yet. Is this something important?"
Michiru turned around to face Haruka.
"It's probably nothing. She just seemed a little out of it the
last time we talked."
Michiru walked towards the bed and started putting the clothes
back into Hotaru's closet. "Don't worry about it. Setsuna's a big girl.
She can take care of herself."
Haruka smiled. "You're right. I'm worried about nothing. She
would have told us if something was wrong, anyway."
Michiru smiled back. "Yeah, she's probably out having the time
of her life as we speak."
*****
Setsuna slowly awoke from her fitful slumber, and groggily
sat up. She looked around her surroundings, searching for a trace of
the intruder who had defeated her not so long ago. Finding no trace
of her opponent, she began to take stock of her surroundings. The
chamber still bore traces of their violent encounter. She could
still make out the crater where her attack had hit the goddess Urd.
She thought for a moment about whether Urd's words were true. She
sure seemed strong enough to be a goddess, but Setsuna didn't think
that a real goddess would spend her time interfering with the marital
affairs of a mortal.
Setsuna gasped at the thought, and quickly made her way to
the Time Gate. It had escaped the battle with nary a scratch and
still stood on the same place where it had been for thousands of
years. Carefully summoning a small fraction of her remaining power
to the Time Staff, she scanned the Gate for any signs of changes
made. She gaped in shock as she saw countless possible timelines,
none of them even slightly similar to each other. She frantically
searched for Crystal Tokyo, and was shocked to find it in less than
half of the timelines. How could this happen? She traced the lines
back farther and farther, hoping to find a clue as to where these
changes originated. It took her a while, traveling as far back as
the Silver Millenium to find out what had happened.
A few seconds later, for the second time in less than a week,
Setsuna fainted.
*****
Author's notes:
Hmmm... well _that_ didn't answer much, did it? I guess we'll
all have to wait until the next chapter to find out more! I would
like to thank Ash, Chester, James Merrit, and Seaver for all of
their help and suggestions.
I would like to thank Ash for his help on researching the
Kirlian Effect.
Please send C&C to ukyo_rulz@edsamail.com.ph
Visit my homepage (www.geocities.com/ex_fuk) for new chapters.