His eyes cracked open, allowing the light to flood his pupils. He almost
immediately regretted this, squinting and grunting a bit as his eyes tried
to adjust to the sudden change in brightness.
"Shh, he's awake!" Was all he could hear as he once again cracked his eyes open, glancing about and trying to discern his location.
Immediately, he noticed the nine heads that seemed to be leaning over him in a circle, eyes wide with wonder. Various hairstyles and colors flooded his vision and his brow furrowed with confusion as he silently tried to figure out how he had arrived.
Then they rose as he remembered what it was that had happened. Immediately he scanned the faces again, recognizing and matching them to names.
And then, there she was. The woman he remembered from thousands of years ago. The woman that had brought the only happiness he had felt in quite some time. His first and only fiancée.
"Setsuna..." Ranma mumbled, raising shakily and gazing into her ruby-red orbs.
Her eyes grew shiny as the welled tears that were long overdue. A whisper of a smile crossed her lips when he mentioned her lips, and tears began escaping her eyes and trickling down her cheeks. "Ranma..." She whispered, gazing into his eyes and hoping she never had to look away from his cerulean eyes.
Ranma gave her a weak smile and reached up, gently tracing the contours of her face with his finger tips.
Setsuna breathed in raggedly at the contact and shuddered at the gently tingling that spread from her cheek to the rest of her body.
Ranma pulled his hand away and stood, looking at the others sitting in a circle and smiled a warm and calm smile, like someone who just awoke from the most beautiful dream. More then one girl felt their hearts start fluttering and the room getting hot at the sight of his smile.
"Sooo..." Ranma said, taking a look around, curiousity evident in his eyes. "Where am I?"
The girls didn't hear the words, though they saw his mouth move. Here he was, the prince that they had all dreamed of. His powerful figure holding an air of authority and royalty, the ornate armor only added to his air of power, and made the various girls want to be close to him. The girls all sighed in stereo, causing Ranma to sweat nervously as he recognized the love struck gazes he received from all, sans Usagi, Michiru and Haruka, the latter appearing disgusted with him.
"Er... Usagi?" Was all Ranma said as he turned to his sister, who giggled cutely at Ranma's pleading look.
"Looks like Setsuna may have some competition." Michiru said, giggling a little at the hopeless looking boy before her. Haruka only rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, obviously not amused by the antics.
Ranma turned back to the various girls, looking at each of their faces and cringing at the little hearts in each of their eyes.
Setsuna was the first to recover from her love-induced stupor, and she immediately noticed the love struck looks the inners and Hotaru were giving Ranma. A scowl soon formed on her features as she stood and walked up next to Ranma, hugging him close and putting her arms around him. "Oh Ranma! It's so good to see you alive and well!"
The other girls shook themselves out of their fantasies and started glaring at the green-haired, red eyed woman currently hanging off of Ranma as if he were her lifeline.
Ranma could feel the auras of anger and jealousy forming from the inners (and outer) So he gently pried Setsuna off of him and went to sit next to Usagi. He leaned over a bit and whispered in her ear: "You know what's going on?" Though Ranma may have just gained another life full of memories, that didn't mean he was any better at understanding women.
Usagi smiled and wagged her finger at Ranma. "Now why should I tell you?"
Ranma blinked and turned to look at her, before slumping and looking down at his lap. "I forgot how mean you were... Meanie."
He immediately regretted the comment as he saw his sister's eyes begin to well with tears and she started pouting and giving him the dreaded puppy dog look. "Y-You really think of me that way...?" She asked, a lone tear making its way down her cheek.
Ranma leapt up and waved his arms in a warding position. "N-no! Of course not! I was joking!"
Usagi immediately perked up and smiled the tears all but vanishing "Oh, okay then!"
Ranma just stared as Usagi went back to munching on some cookies that were in front of her and smiling as she crunched noisily. "I get the feeling I was just played." Ranma stated, gazing at his sisters form that now appeared completely fine, where she had just been threatening to break out wailing.
"Got that right." Haruka snorted, wrapping an arm around her lover and getting comfortable.
"Right..." Ranma muttered, sitting once again but this time with a sour look on his face.
Setsuna drifted over to him, sitting next to him and cuddling up immediately. "Don't get that way, sweetie. The princess was just having some fun." Ranma grunted and shifted uncomfortably in her arms as she squeezed and rubbed up to him.
Hotaru cocked her head a little, giving her a very cute look as she asked: "Wait, if he's the princess's brother... does that make him a prince?"
Setsuna giggled and rubbed her head against his arm. "Mmmyep!"
Hotaru, Rei, Makoto and Minako all glowered at the over-affectionate Senshi of time with looks that would make Lucifer shiver. She didn't react however, as she was currently resting her head against him with her eyes closed. Ranma swore he felt her purring, but he wasn't about to start complaining.
"So... You're the only male senshi ne?" Michiru asked, deciding that they should start talking about Ranma's powers.
Ranma turned his head and his pupil-less eyes rested on the Senshi of water, and he nodded. "That is true. I was created in a lab by the greatest scientific genius' on the moon. I was intended to be female, but the chaotic energies altered the chromosomes and I became a boy."
Hotaru spoke up, still somewhat shy with Ranma. "So, can you control the weather like Setsuna-mama said?"
Ranma blinked at the –mama suffix, but filed it away to ask later. "Yes. I can directly influence the weather patterns on this or any planet. I believe that my attack showed this, the lightning blast I used to destroy. This earned me the nickname: "The King of Storms." The weather often indicates my mood, and when I fight a storm is a common appearance."
"So could you, make it snow right now?" Makoto inquired, doubting if he could really do it.
Ranma nodded and his bracers and eyes started glowing a cool blue for a second before he looked back at Makoto. "Okay."
The senshi all blinked and unison, looking to one another before standing and rushing outside. Sliding the door open, they all gasped at the fluffy white flakes falling in April and coming to rest upon the ground.
Ranma stood and walked after them, his brows furrowed as he walked and thought to himself. Once he arrived, he spoke up from behind them, startling more than one senshi. "I don't see why you find this amazing; I did much more in our past lives..." Setsuna turned and smiled warmly, just looking at her fiancée sent shivers down her spine. "The senshi do not remember all of their past lives, only bits and pieces."
Eyes widening with understanding, Ranma nodded and watched the Senshi try to catch some of the light puffs in their mouths. A light smile grew on his features as he watched his fellow warriors act so carefree and happy, so unlike how they had acted in the past. Before, it had been all work and no play for them and him too really. But he had been cooped up in the library most of his past life, and he had little to do but learn martial arts, music, and read all of the books in the library. Even the guards started warming up to him, especially once he played some of his music for them.
Ranma leaned against the door jam and reached down to his belt, finding his flute in the pouch that hung from his belt and pulled it out, watching it glow briefly when it came in contact with his smooth flesh. He marveled at the beauty of such a simple object, how it reflected and distorted everything in the vicinity. After he had finished appreciating the beauty of his flute, he raised it to his lips, and began to blow softly, slowly allowing the notes he made come together into a song. He flowed like water with the music, making subtle changes that were hardly noticeable, but made the music all the more enjoyable. The music rolled out in waves, slowly entrancing each of the senshi as the played in the snow. They slowed to halts, each of their eyes closing as the rhythm washed over them. The happy music continued, imbuing the feelings of happiness themselves straight into the senshi as they heard the notes, becoming all the more addicted to the sweet subtlety of the sound.
His gently pulled the instrument away from his mouth, his eyes remaining closed for several seconds before slowly opening and witnessing the effects of his improvised song. Setsuna, who was closest to him, appeared to be having trouble breathing and standing, getting so lost in the music. The other senshi had similar effects to various degrees, and they all slowly returned to the physical realm and gawked at Ranma as he smiled and slid the flute into its proper pouch, before bowing to the crowd.
Clapping started to resound throughout the courtyard, and Ranma perked his head up and looked to find Usagi smiling and clapping as she gazed at her past brother. Others soon began to join in, Michiru being on of the first because she appreciated good music, and Haruka soon joined in her lover, followed by all the others.
Ranma soon grew embarrassed from the attention and started blushing heavily, his cheeks turning a scarlet hue as he chuckled and scratched the base of his pigtail.
Of course, he couldn't do it long because he was nearly tackled from the side by an amorous green headed red eyed woman that seemed attracted to Ranma like a magnet at the moment.
"That was beautiful!" Setsuna sobbed as she squeezed the life out of him quite literally.
Ranma's face turned red, then purple as he wheezed and gasped for air around his loving fiancée.
"You're going to kill him Setsuna!" Several of the others shouted, rushing up to pry the normally cold woman off of her fiancée and possible love interest for the rest of the senshi, excluding Haruka, Michiru and Usagi.
Ranma gasped and gulped air down as the combined strength of the four girls pulled her off, though not without a lot of struggling. Setsuna was still lunging, wishing to only be close to her long lost lover after they had been separate for so long.
Ranma just breathed deeply as he massaged his abused throat, gazing at Setsuna with fearful eyes. He wasn't sure if she was trying to hug him or kill him!
~_~_~_~_~ several minutes later, after Setsuna finally calmed down... ~_~_~_~_~
Ranma sat, watching Setsuna expectantly as she began to voice the reason behind her actions.
"F-forgive me Ranma... I know I was never like this in the past..." This was very true. One of the reasons Ranma was so afraid was because Setsuna had been acting the opposite he expected her to. In the past she was always cold to him, always giving him dirty looks and having no respect for him. She thought of him as an unnatural monster, and insisted the engagement was only because Queen Serenity had decreed that it would happen. For her to act so... affectionate now made Ranma think she was possessed. "You see, 3,000 years is a long time to think... And after you died, everything just seemed darker, lonelier. I thought I would never see you again! I figured that because of your immunity to magic, I wouldn't get the chance to tell you... I love you."
Still as stone, Ranma gazed right back at Setsuna with an open and gaping mouth, unsure of how to act. Setsuna seemed to be expecting something, as did most of the other senshi. So when the question: "How were you sent forward? I thought you were immune to magic?" was voiced, Ranma jumped at the opportunity to change the subject.
"Well, you see..." He began, trying to avoid looking at Setsuna and failing miserably. He winced at the undeniable hurt that was in her eye at Ranma's failure to respond, but continued nonetheless. "My immunity to magic is only because I have an equal amount of Life and Chaos oriented blood, causing a void of all magic to exist throughout my body. When I held the last Youma off, I had lost enough blood that my body, and therefore my soul were susceptible to the effects of Mother's spell."
Ami nodded, understanding the explanation, while Usagi and Minako looked at each other with blank looks.
"So, you are still immune to magic?" Ami asked, genuinely interested in Ranma, who happened to be a product of science.
Ranma chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I was not for the majority of this lifetime, but when I awoke the memories of my past life, I met Mother. I believe that she imbued half of my blood with the Life magic that it had in the past."
"What about the Chaos half?" Setsuna asked in a small voice, trying to appear strong.
Ranma cursed his skills with the opposite sex internally as he responded. "Well, you see that my blood was pure Chaos. In this life, I was born with a curse to live an interesting life, and I acquired more curses along the way, as you all witnessed. Mother only had to convert half to Life to create the void once more."
Not all of the senshi understood the explanation as well as some of the others did, but they all nodded and understood that he was immune to magic.
Ranma glanced at Setsuna one more time and noticed the pained look in her eyes, her soul. She appeared genuinely heartbroken that Ranma had not returned the love she had given him. But Ranma couldn't tell her that he did because he couldn't tell her he felt something he wasn't sure he did. Love was such a foreign concept to him; he had never felt love in this or his past life. Never the tender touch of a mother, and the warm smile she gave you when you accomplished anything. All he had felt was loneliness. He truly wanted to please Setsuna, but that was just not something he could do at the moment.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
The man appeared to have a scowl permanently etched into his stony face as he watched the fight repeatedly on the sheet of glass before him.
His face was wrapped in shadows, hiding his face and features from anything that tried to discover what he looked like. Despite his movements, no light was able to penetrate the darkness that surrounded his body, and left the man's appearance an enigma.
On the sheet of glass, a recording played, showing a boy being surrounded by a tornado in a building, before he completely obliterated a creature that resembled a scorpion.
"Gurney!" A deep voice rumbled, calling out for his loyal servant. His voice echoed through the marble palace, which was now acting as his base of operations until he could accomplish several of his goals.
A balding man stepped before the mighty throne that the powerful figure sat upon, his short stature dwarfed even more by the giant of a man that sat before him.
"Y-Yes master...?" Gurney stuttered, his voice high and squeaky. It was obvious just by looking at him that this man was a follower, and would be unable to lead an ant into battle.
The figure gazed upon Gurney in what could only be described in disgust before he spoke again. "The King of Storms has awoken. While this is unexpected and most inconvenient, it does not make my plans impossible."
"S-Should I send out more youma sir?" The mousy man replied, flinching a little at the figure's reaction.
"Youma? Have you not learned anything Gurney? They would be unable to hurt The King of Storms... They are creatures of magic, and thus would be useless. Send out the Shades..."
Gurney's eyes widened in horror at his master's request and voiced his opinion about such a plan. "B-but sir!? The S-Shades!? They are still in development; s-surely you cannot be serious!"
The figure leaned forward, darkness bending around him and engulfing his figure, even once he was in the direct path of one of the overhead lights. "Gurney, do remember what I keep you around for. You are replaceable, fool! Now hurry and get the scientists to release the Shades! I have already sent the necessary information to program their targets."
Gurney whimpered and nodded, bowing with shaky legs before scampering off in the palace, his footsteps echoing in the giant halls.
The figure leaned forward and watched the awakening of Ranma once more before he grinned, several pointed teeth reflecting light and shimmering in the darkness. "So Ranma... Let's see how you do against my creations..."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Whew! This has to be one of my quickest updates (since the beginning at least)! Of course, the last chapter I did was for my other story, but hey, I give you the material, you read it ne?
I must warn you, the story is going to get darker and darker from this point in, so be prepared for some depressing stuff.
I introduced the antagonist, if you couldn't tell ^_^
I had two people tell me they were making fanart from my last update for this story and... I have yet to receive it. ^_^; I am pretty sure they will start working again once their favorite story is updated!
Anyway, Chaos and Carnage is next, sorry about them getting two updates in a row, I just couldn't get the ideas out of my head.
Till next time! Ja!
~Gundraw
"Shh, he's awake!" Was all he could hear as he once again cracked his eyes open, glancing about and trying to discern his location.
Immediately, he noticed the nine heads that seemed to be leaning over him in a circle, eyes wide with wonder. Various hairstyles and colors flooded his vision and his brow furrowed with confusion as he silently tried to figure out how he had arrived.
Then they rose as he remembered what it was that had happened. Immediately he scanned the faces again, recognizing and matching them to names.
And then, there she was. The woman he remembered from thousands of years ago. The woman that had brought the only happiness he had felt in quite some time. His first and only fiancée.
"Setsuna..." Ranma mumbled, raising shakily and gazing into her ruby-red orbs.
Her eyes grew shiny as the welled tears that were long overdue. A whisper of a smile crossed her lips when he mentioned her lips, and tears began escaping her eyes and trickling down her cheeks. "Ranma..." She whispered, gazing into his eyes and hoping she never had to look away from his cerulean eyes.
Ranma gave her a weak smile and reached up, gently tracing the contours of her face with his finger tips.
Setsuna breathed in raggedly at the contact and shuddered at the gently tingling that spread from her cheek to the rest of her body.
Ranma pulled his hand away and stood, looking at the others sitting in a circle and smiled a warm and calm smile, like someone who just awoke from the most beautiful dream. More then one girl felt their hearts start fluttering and the room getting hot at the sight of his smile.
"Sooo..." Ranma said, taking a look around, curiousity evident in his eyes. "Where am I?"
The girls didn't hear the words, though they saw his mouth move. Here he was, the prince that they had all dreamed of. His powerful figure holding an air of authority and royalty, the ornate armor only added to his air of power, and made the various girls want to be close to him. The girls all sighed in stereo, causing Ranma to sweat nervously as he recognized the love struck gazes he received from all, sans Usagi, Michiru and Haruka, the latter appearing disgusted with him.
"Er... Usagi?" Was all Ranma said as he turned to his sister, who giggled cutely at Ranma's pleading look.
"Looks like Setsuna may have some competition." Michiru said, giggling a little at the hopeless looking boy before her. Haruka only rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, obviously not amused by the antics.
Ranma turned back to the various girls, looking at each of their faces and cringing at the little hearts in each of their eyes.
Setsuna was the first to recover from her love-induced stupor, and she immediately noticed the love struck looks the inners and Hotaru were giving Ranma. A scowl soon formed on her features as she stood and walked up next to Ranma, hugging him close and putting her arms around him. "Oh Ranma! It's so good to see you alive and well!"
The other girls shook themselves out of their fantasies and started glaring at the green-haired, red eyed woman currently hanging off of Ranma as if he were her lifeline.
Ranma could feel the auras of anger and jealousy forming from the inners (and outer) So he gently pried Setsuna off of him and went to sit next to Usagi. He leaned over a bit and whispered in her ear: "You know what's going on?" Though Ranma may have just gained another life full of memories, that didn't mean he was any better at understanding women.
Usagi smiled and wagged her finger at Ranma. "Now why should I tell you?"
Ranma blinked and turned to look at her, before slumping and looking down at his lap. "I forgot how mean you were... Meanie."
He immediately regretted the comment as he saw his sister's eyes begin to well with tears and she started pouting and giving him the dreaded puppy dog look. "Y-You really think of me that way...?" She asked, a lone tear making its way down her cheek.
Ranma leapt up and waved his arms in a warding position. "N-no! Of course not! I was joking!"
Usagi immediately perked up and smiled the tears all but vanishing "Oh, okay then!"
Ranma just stared as Usagi went back to munching on some cookies that were in front of her and smiling as she crunched noisily. "I get the feeling I was just played." Ranma stated, gazing at his sisters form that now appeared completely fine, where she had just been threatening to break out wailing.
"Got that right." Haruka snorted, wrapping an arm around her lover and getting comfortable.
"Right..." Ranma muttered, sitting once again but this time with a sour look on his face.
Setsuna drifted over to him, sitting next to him and cuddling up immediately. "Don't get that way, sweetie. The princess was just having some fun." Ranma grunted and shifted uncomfortably in her arms as she squeezed and rubbed up to him.
Hotaru cocked her head a little, giving her a very cute look as she asked: "Wait, if he's the princess's brother... does that make him a prince?"
Setsuna giggled and rubbed her head against his arm. "Mmmyep!"
Hotaru, Rei, Makoto and Minako all glowered at the over-affectionate Senshi of time with looks that would make Lucifer shiver. She didn't react however, as she was currently resting her head against him with her eyes closed. Ranma swore he felt her purring, but he wasn't about to start complaining.
"So... You're the only male senshi ne?" Michiru asked, deciding that they should start talking about Ranma's powers.
Ranma turned his head and his pupil-less eyes rested on the Senshi of water, and he nodded. "That is true. I was created in a lab by the greatest scientific genius' on the moon. I was intended to be female, but the chaotic energies altered the chromosomes and I became a boy."
Hotaru spoke up, still somewhat shy with Ranma. "So, can you control the weather like Setsuna-mama said?"
Ranma blinked at the –mama suffix, but filed it away to ask later. "Yes. I can directly influence the weather patterns on this or any planet. I believe that my attack showed this, the lightning blast I used to destroy. This earned me the nickname: "The King of Storms." The weather often indicates my mood, and when I fight a storm is a common appearance."
"So could you, make it snow right now?" Makoto inquired, doubting if he could really do it.
Ranma nodded and his bracers and eyes started glowing a cool blue for a second before he looked back at Makoto. "Okay."
The senshi all blinked and unison, looking to one another before standing and rushing outside. Sliding the door open, they all gasped at the fluffy white flakes falling in April and coming to rest upon the ground.
Ranma stood and walked after them, his brows furrowed as he walked and thought to himself. Once he arrived, he spoke up from behind them, startling more than one senshi. "I don't see why you find this amazing; I did much more in our past lives..." Setsuna turned and smiled warmly, just looking at her fiancée sent shivers down her spine. "The senshi do not remember all of their past lives, only bits and pieces."
Eyes widening with understanding, Ranma nodded and watched the Senshi try to catch some of the light puffs in their mouths. A light smile grew on his features as he watched his fellow warriors act so carefree and happy, so unlike how they had acted in the past. Before, it had been all work and no play for them and him too really. But he had been cooped up in the library most of his past life, and he had little to do but learn martial arts, music, and read all of the books in the library. Even the guards started warming up to him, especially once he played some of his music for them.
Ranma leaned against the door jam and reached down to his belt, finding his flute in the pouch that hung from his belt and pulled it out, watching it glow briefly when it came in contact with his smooth flesh. He marveled at the beauty of such a simple object, how it reflected and distorted everything in the vicinity. After he had finished appreciating the beauty of his flute, he raised it to his lips, and began to blow softly, slowly allowing the notes he made come together into a song. He flowed like water with the music, making subtle changes that were hardly noticeable, but made the music all the more enjoyable. The music rolled out in waves, slowly entrancing each of the senshi as the played in the snow. They slowed to halts, each of their eyes closing as the rhythm washed over them. The happy music continued, imbuing the feelings of happiness themselves straight into the senshi as they heard the notes, becoming all the more addicted to the sweet subtlety of the sound.
His gently pulled the instrument away from his mouth, his eyes remaining closed for several seconds before slowly opening and witnessing the effects of his improvised song. Setsuna, who was closest to him, appeared to be having trouble breathing and standing, getting so lost in the music. The other senshi had similar effects to various degrees, and they all slowly returned to the physical realm and gawked at Ranma as he smiled and slid the flute into its proper pouch, before bowing to the crowd.
Clapping started to resound throughout the courtyard, and Ranma perked his head up and looked to find Usagi smiling and clapping as she gazed at her past brother. Others soon began to join in, Michiru being on of the first because she appreciated good music, and Haruka soon joined in her lover, followed by all the others.
Ranma soon grew embarrassed from the attention and started blushing heavily, his cheeks turning a scarlet hue as he chuckled and scratched the base of his pigtail.
Of course, he couldn't do it long because he was nearly tackled from the side by an amorous green headed red eyed woman that seemed attracted to Ranma like a magnet at the moment.
"That was beautiful!" Setsuna sobbed as she squeezed the life out of him quite literally.
Ranma's face turned red, then purple as he wheezed and gasped for air around his loving fiancée.
"You're going to kill him Setsuna!" Several of the others shouted, rushing up to pry the normally cold woman off of her fiancée and possible love interest for the rest of the senshi, excluding Haruka, Michiru and Usagi.
Ranma gasped and gulped air down as the combined strength of the four girls pulled her off, though not without a lot of struggling. Setsuna was still lunging, wishing to only be close to her long lost lover after they had been separate for so long.
Ranma just breathed deeply as he massaged his abused throat, gazing at Setsuna with fearful eyes. He wasn't sure if she was trying to hug him or kill him!
~_~_~_~_~ several minutes later, after Setsuna finally calmed down... ~_~_~_~_~
Ranma sat, watching Setsuna expectantly as she began to voice the reason behind her actions.
"F-forgive me Ranma... I know I was never like this in the past..." This was very true. One of the reasons Ranma was so afraid was because Setsuna had been acting the opposite he expected her to. In the past she was always cold to him, always giving him dirty looks and having no respect for him. She thought of him as an unnatural monster, and insisted the engagement was only because Queen Serenity had decreed that it would happen. For her to act so... affectionate now made Ranma think she was possessed. "You see, 3,000 years is a long time to think... And after you died, everything just seemed darker, lonelier. I thought I would never see you again! I figured that because of your immunity to magic, I wouldn't get the chance to tell you... I love you."
Still as stone, Ranma gazed right back at Setsuna with an open and gaping mouth, unsure of how to act. Setsuna seemed to be expecting something, as did most of the other senshi. So when the question: "How were you sent forward? I thought you were immune to magic?" was voiced, Ranma jumped at the opportunity to change the subject.
"Well, you see..." He began, trying to avoid looking at Setsuna and failing miserably. He winced at the undeniable hurt that was in her eye at Ranma's failure to respond, but continued nonetheless. "My immunity to magic is only because I have an equal amount of Life and Chaos oriented blood, causing a void of all magic to exist throughout my body. When I held the last Youma off, I had lost enough blood that my body, and therefore my soul were susceptible to the effects of Mother's spell."
Ami nodded, understanding the explanation, while Usagi and Minako looked at each other with blank looks.
"So, you are still immune to magic?" Ami asked, genuinely interested in Ranma, who happened to be a product of science.
Ranma chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I was not for the majority of this lifetime, but when I awoke the memories of my past life, I met Mother. I believe that she imbued half of my blood with the Life magic that it had in the past."
"What about the Chaos half?" Setsuna asked in a small voice, trying to appear strong.
Ranma cursed his skills with the opposite sex internally as he responded. "Well, you see that my blood was pure Chaos. In this life, I was born with a curse to live an interesting life, and I acquired more curses along the way, as you all witnessed. Mother only had to convert half to Life to create the void once more."
Not all of the senshi understood the explanation as well as some of the others did, but they all nodded and understood that he was immune to magic.
Ranma glanced at Setsuna one more time and noticed the pained look in her eyes, her soul. She appeared genuinely heartbroken that Ranma had not returned the love she had given him. But Ranma couldn't tell her that he did because he couldn't tell her he felt something he wasn't sure he did. Love was such a foreign concept to him; he had never felt love in this or his past life. Never the tender touch of a mother, and the warm smile she gave you when you accomplished anything. All he had felt was loneliness. He truly wanted to please Setsuna, but that was just not something he could do at the moment.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
The man appeared to have a scowl permanently etched into his stony face as he watched the fight repeatedly on the sheet of glass before him.
His face was wrapped in shadows, hiding his face and features from anything that tried to discover what he looked like. Despite his movements, no light was able to penetrate the darkness that surrounded his body, and left the man's appearance an enigma.
On the sheet of glass, a recording played, showing a boy being surrounded by a tornado in a building, before he completely obliterated a creature that resembled a scorpion.
"Gurney!" A deep voice rumbled, calling out for his loyal servant. His voice echoed through the marble palace, which was now acting as his base of operations until he could accomplish several of his goals.
A balding man stepped before the mighty throne that the powerful figure sat upon, his short stature dwarfed even more by the giant of a man that sat before him.
"Y-Yes master...?" Gurney stuttered, his voice high and squeaky. It was obvious just by looking at him that this man was a follower, and would be unable to lead an ant into battle.
The figure gazed upon Gurney in what could only be described in disgust before he spoke again. "The King of Storms has awoken. While this is unexpected and most inconvenient, it does not make my plans impossible."
"S-Should I send out more youma sir?" The mousy man replied, flinching a little at the figure's reaction.
"Youma? Have you not learned anything Gurney? They would be unable to hurt The King of Storms... They are creatures of magic, and thus would be useless. Send out the Shades..."
Gurney's eyes widened in horror at his master's request and voiced his opinion about such a plan. "B-but sir!? The S-Shades!? They are still in development; s-surely you cannot be serious!"
The figure leaned forward, darkness bending around him and engulfing his figure, even once he was in the direct path of one of the overhead lights. "Gurney, do remember what I keep you around for. You are replaceable, fool! Now hurry and get the scientists to release the Shades! I have already sent the necessary information to program their targets."
Gurney whimpered and nodded, bowing with shaky legs before scampering off in the palace, his footsteps echoing in the giant halls.
The figure leaned forward and watched the awakening of Ranma once more before he grinned, several pointed teeth reflecting light and shimmering in the darkness. "So Ranma... Let's see how you do against my creations..."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Whew! This has to be one of my quickest updates (since the beginning at least)! Of course, the last chapter I did was for my other story, but hey, I give you the material, you read it ne?
I must warn you, the story is going to get darker and darker from this point in, so be prepared for some depressing stuff.
I introduced the antagonist, if you couldn't tell ^_^
I had two people tell me they were making fanart from my last update for this story and... I have yet to receive it. ^_^; I am pretty sure they will start working again once their favorite story is updated!
Anyway, Chaos and Carnage is next, sorry about them getting two updates in a row, I just couldn't get the ideas out of my head.
Till next time! Ja!
~Gundraw