Author's Notes: I don't own Ranma ½.

Disclaimer: I got some nice reviews for this story. It warms my heart during this cold and wintry season to see such kindness. The weather outside seems to be reflecting this story rather nicely. I do hope that everyone enjoys this chapter. Without further ado, let's get on with the show!

Frozen Lake of Hell

Chapter 8

The crystal glowed dully in the man's hand. It was pure black with only a tiny spark to distinguish it but the glow it emanated was pale blue. The man holding the ancient holy relic smiled at it. It was his companion and guide when it wasn't being stubborn. He brought the glowing rock up to his face and peered into the depths.

"Where is my foe?" he asked it softly. Anyone passing the alleyway would have thought he was crazy for talking to a stone, but Bordox frankly didn't care. The dark elf's smile hitched up a little more at something.

The Dragon is here Master. He is currently heading in this direction. Unless I miss my guess he's going to investigate this unseasonable weather. Something is very wrong in this world and you know how that attracts the Ancient One's attention. The crystal told him. It was the Onyx of the Devil. Hardly an evil relic, it merely served the best candidate at the time until they died. However, like all of the Gems of Power, it would always remain. This particular stone, however, could hold grudges. The biggest grudge it held was with the very person wielding it.

"The Dragon is heading this way? How far away is he?" Bordox asked curiously.

On the other side of the ward actually, there appears to be a school in the vicinity. Shall we go meet them? The stone asked in anticipation. It was too bad that the current master of the OD didn't realize the excitement was because maybe Ding would kill him this time.

The glowing rock really hated its "Master".

The madly grinning elf stuffed the onyx back in his coat before setting off in the direction of Furinkan High.

-Furinkan High-

The Ancient One, or in this case Ding, was staring at the school with a mixture of awe and horror. The school was radiating madness so palpable that he could taste it. He scrunched up his face and looked to his companions only to meet the same looks. They knew how this place was. Sometimes he cursed himself for being sensitive to auras.

"This place is a wreck if I'm any judge. What goes on here?" he asked Ranma. The young man was peering about the area strangely as if seeing something no one else could.

"Yo baka! Ding's talking to you!" Akane shouted to get her fiancé's attention. The pigtailed boy looked back with a quizzical expression. It was one that the Dragon had seen before.

"You sense it too, right?" Ding asked. After a long moment, Ranma nodded. It made the Old One want to cry out in glee since it meant that this world was already trying to protect itself and here was the guy!

"It's weird…it feels like a dull ache in the back of my skull…" he said with some confusion as he rubbed the back of his head.

"What does?" his normally violent fiancée asked in concern.

"The world's talking to him. He's a superior martial artist and has had experience tapping into his ki to feel the world around him, but in this case it seems something is making the world feel him. Has he done anything recently that could be counted as fantastic or beyond comprehension?" Ding asked. Ranma and Akane exchanged looks since neither one of them wanted to talk about it.

"It was at Jusendo when everything happened…" the pigtailed boy began finally. The Dragon listened for quite a while as the teens got the whole story out of their systems. In the meantime, they had continued to search the school but found nothing. As they headed towards the gate silence descended upon the trio.

"A Phoenix God? You killed a Phoenix God at Jusendo? Man, I've heard some bizarre things before (and caused more) but that takes the cake. It would explain a few things. Like how the omens and signs are finding you. There is a disaster heading for this world but what it is I cannot say." Ding told them regretfully.

"Why can't you? If you know so much…" started Akane heatedly only to be silenced by Ranma's upraised hand.

"He doesn't know. This blizzard is a part of it, but he doesn't know what's going on." The boy told her quietly as they trudged wearily onward. The deep snow made the going rough for the trio as they left the school but so far the cold hadn't settled in. It was only Akane's warning that kept Ding was being separated from his head.

"Look out!" she cried prompting the Dragon to leap back reflexively just in time to avoid the swing of a black bladed katana. A figure leapt out, gripping the katana in a ready stance and a sadistic smile on his face. His pointed ears and wild eyes sent warning bells singing through Ranma's brain.

"Nice to see you again old friend! How have you been?" the elf asked cheerfully.

"Oh just fine Bordox…how have you been? I see you managed to heal faster this time. Kudos on that." Ding returned conversationally.

"Who is that?" the girl beside him asked quietly even as Ranma slid into a more hostile ready stance.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? This is Bordox Elfin of the Dark Side of the Royal Balance and my sworn enemy. Bordox, these two are Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome. Now that we all know each other this should make things a little easier." The Dragon said as he casually brought out his sword and adopted a classic kendo stance.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance. Since we're all friends now how about a gift? I'm sure you'll enjoy these…" Bordox waved his hand at the snow. The teens got ready for anything but what happened next was too weird for even Nerima. The snow began to bulge and swell into rough shapes. The shapes were flattish and icy eyes appeared even as a cold gelatin-like substance oozed out from the snow.

"Frost Flans! Okay, that's cold even for you…" Ding grated out, unintentionally punning. His ancient nemesis laughed before launching in to attack with his sword held low forcing the Dragon to focus solely on the fight at hand and not on his new friends.

The Frost Flans numbered six total and were roughly four feet high and four feet across. Their grotesque jiggling and burbling cries grated on the ears. Ranma was the first to attack with a solid punch only to find his fist pulled into the mass causing his fingers to numb instantly. His fiancée heaved on his free arm and tugged him loose, but they had to jump back as the strange blue things lunged forward with surprising agility. Akane summoned up her mallet and smashed the nearest one flat only to see it spring back into perfect shape. Ranma cupped his hands together to fire off a point-blank Moko Takabisha into the ranks. He smiled in satisfaction as they exploded into blue goo only to gape in astonishment as the Frost Flans fused into a giant Flan. He spared a glance to Akane to see how she was doing only to see her running from three more. This was getting bad.

"How the hell am I supposed to take out something like this?" he demanded even as he wracked his brain for an answer, but his opponent wasn't a patient monster. Even as he came up with an idea, his world went dark and everything became cold.

The Flan had engulfed him.

-Akane-

This was not a good day by any stretch of the imagination unless you counted Jusendo, but even this was bad by those standards. The girl tried to avoid her slimy foes but they were excellent at chasing and worse, Mallet-sama had failed to stop them. She had tried everything she could think of and them some but nothing was working. Akane looked over to Ranma to see how he was doing and froze in shock. The giant creature had swallowed her fiancé like a piece of fruit in a jell-o mold.

"Ranma!" she cried as she tried to rush to his aid but found she had neglected the Flans even as they latched onto her legs and back, the cold seeping in instantly. Akane tried to fight them off but it wasn't working even as she felt her body falling to the snow covered ground. The Tendo heir looked to Ding to see what he was doing and found him engaged in the fight of his life against the man who did this to them. Her anger began to return even as she lay in the snow, freezing to death.

'This can't be how it ends!' she rages internally. 'Not after everything we've gone through! I love him and he loves me! Why can't we get any peace? Why?' her thoughts and feelings reached critical mass, her aura began pumping out heat like a furnace warring with the ice covering her body. Akane pushed herself to her knees, fists clenched at her sides as her brain filled with fire. Her anger filled mind vented her frustration with a single word.

"WHY?" she screamed to the heavens even as fire exploded from her body in violent gouts of flame. Her angry outburst destroyed her attackers and burnt through the concrete she knelt on. Intense heat warped and twisted the light posts as her fury sought out targets to destroy. It wasn't surprising that the Frost Flans clinging to her were the first to feel her rage. Her eyes locked onto the giant Flan holding her fiancé and she stood up, hands pointing with splayed fingers at the monstrosity.

"Earth's fury gather in flames…Heat Shell!" she intoned with a violent shout, unsure where the words came from only caring that Ranma be freed. The Frost Flan resisted better than its littler counterparts but it didn't stand a chance against the flames. Ranma hit the ground with a wet thud as his prison was melted. Akane rushed to take the boy in her arms. His eyes stared into hers for a few moments before he sank into a deep slumber.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay but let's just say the holidays are a trying time for me. Thank you all for being patient and I hope it was worth the wait! Next time find out what's happening with the fight between Ding and Bordox also, what's going on with Akane? How did she do that? Until next time, ja ne!