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Michael "TheZorch" Haney's
"Beneath A Crimson Sky 2"
Chapter 2
"So, that's the situation."
After they arrived home, Nabiki immediately talked Kasumi into asking Ukyo for okonomiyaki cooking tips. This kept Ukyo busy long enough for him to explain things to Sanangi in the dojo. The ebony princess stood calm as he explained about the engagement, when he finished she drew a particularly wicked blade out of her robes.
"I agree, we should skin the panda."
Ranma shook his head, "Nah, he ain't worth it. So, what do you think about this"? He could sense the subtle change in Sanangi's stance which usually meant she was deep in thought.
She put the knife away, "First, your father has the brains of a baboon's ass. And second, I'm not certain. Which engagement takes precedent, which one came first?" That was an easy one to answer, Ranna knew this one for some time now.
"The Tendo agreement was made before I was born." he told her. Sanangi nodded and rubbed her chin.
He watched her walk around the dojo as she thought, then she turned to him. "It's his responsibility, not yours. You were a child when the agreement was made by your father, and he was the one who broke it not you."
Ranma agreed, "Yeah, there's no way I'm taking the blame for something he did."
"He needs to pay the dowry back." Sanangi added.
Ranma shrugged, "That yatai cart is long gone years ago. And, pay Ukyo's family back with what money? I'm not going to give him a loan." All members of the order were paid, even initiates like him were paid rather well. The pay was for expenses like travel costs, living arrangements, and etc. His father didn't know it, but he had a substantial sum saved up. There was no way he was going to share any of it with him. The man would just drink it all away.
"Make him get a job," she said. "Make him pay off his own debts for once."
Ranma almost laughed, "That would be a fitting punishment, making him do honest work for a change." Ranma remembered many occasions where his father promised work for food, and often ran off leaving him to do the work.
"Honestly, love, that man is becoming a weight around your neck." he couldn't argue with that. But, for bad or worst the man was his pop. He wasn't a bad person, just very stupid and too greedy for his own good. Too much of his former sensei rubbed off on him, except for the ultra-perversion part. Ranma wasn't sure how he'd handle his dad being a mega-pervert.
He shrugged, "I intend to eventually leave him here, if and when I move on from this place. He likes it here with his friend." That day was very far off, but he'd been considering cutting his father loose at some point. It was for the man's own good considering his own line of work. Genma might be a good martial artist, but the things he fought on a frequent basis could pull him apart like taffy.
That seemed to satisfy her, "Good, he's your father but he's trouble and you don't need to be dragging that behind you everywhere you go." Ranma nodded in agreement.
"Thanks sensei." he hugged Sanangi and went back to the house.
In the living room Ukyo had her portable grill out. Kasumi was seated behind it baker's peel in hand, and sizzling on the hot surface was a perfectly round and delicious looking okonomiyaki.
"Wow," he heard Ukyo gasp. "Sugar you're a natural at this! I've never seen anyone catch onto the nuances of okonomiyaki cooking so quickly." The young woman's eyes were beaming, like a martial arts master who stumbled upon a prodigy worthy enough to learn their secrets.
"Oh my," Kasumi blushed. "This is my first time making it."
"Wait, this is your first time and you're already cooking like a master!?" He almost laughed as Ukyo nearly passed out.
He loathed to interrupt this scene, but Ranma wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. He wanted to have his friendship with Ukyo back without the engagement hanging around his neck like a noose. It wouldn't be fair to Nabiki either, someone whom he was growing very attached to.
"Hey, Ucchan." he went out onto the engawa and sat down at the edge. Sunlight glitters off the water in the koi pond. She soon came and sat beside him, letting her legs dangle over the edge.
"So, you talk to this friend of yours?" she asked, know he was going to seek advice. Ranma nodded.
"Sanangi, she was my sensei." he told her, which was true. Now she was training Akane, which freed him up so he could continue the search for the Russian. Besides, Sanangi provided the kind of "positive" reinforcement Akane needed. Nothing calmed a high strung girl better than a good ass kicking, by another girl.
"Yeah," he began, trying to figure out how best to say this without alienating her. "Look, what my pop did to you and your family was wrong. And, you aren't the only ones he's done this to, believe me." He rolled his eyes when he said that.
"So, mine wasn't the only agreement he made?" he nodded, feeling the waves of emotions coming off of her. If she wasn't so angry she'd be sobbing.
"No, no it wasn't." he knew exactly how many, and that eventually he'd have to contend with them at some point. Yes, arranged marriages were pretty old fashioned in Japan, but a lot of old traditional families took them seriously. Most of the people his father scammed were from old traditional families.
"Just come out and say it Ranchan."
He hated having to do this. "You are my best friend, you know that." She nodded, her eyes started getting misty, he noticed a few tears welling up.
"You're in love with her, that girl." she looked over her shoulder and Ranma followed her gaze. Nabiki stood just inside the shoji doors, her cheeks flushed red. He looked into her eyes and smiled.
"Was I that obvious?" he asked, still looking at Nabiki.
Ukyo sighed, "It wasn't hard to miss, sugar." The smile on Ukyo's face was contrasted by the tears in her eyes.
Ranma sighed, "Goddamn you pops." He stood and beckoned both girls to follow him. Moments later they were in the dojo. Ranma went around and closed each of the shoji doors.
"Wait here," he closed the last door behind him. He returned minutes later with his father, whom he knew was putting up one hell of a resistance against his glamouring power. It was the first time he'd seen his father actually resist him with such ferocity.
"Pop, this is Ukyo," he closed the door and waved his hand towards the girl in question. "You remember her, don't you?" The man's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, he looked like he was about to dart from the room.
Trying to keep his composure, Ranma grabbed the front of his father's gi. "You did something to Ukyo and her family, and you are going to make things right." The panicked look in Genma's eyes put a smile on Ranma's face. Mentally, though, Ranma was pushing back hard. He really did not want to do this.
Ranma turned, focused his glowing yellow eyes on Ukyo and said, "Do not remember this." Ukyo swooned but Nabiki caught her.
"What are you doing?" Nabiki asked, a worried edge to her voice.
"Something that needs to be done." Ranma replied, then lunged forward and drove his fangs into Genma's neck. The big martial artist gargling something unintelligible and his body convulsed. The blood of a relative is one of the sweetest nectar for a vampire, and Ranma fought hard to control his darker instincts to stay in control. This was his ultimate test, one he passed as he pulled himself back and resisted the need to drink every last drop of the sweet crimson ambrosia.
Ranma clasped his father's face in his hands and brought his forehead close to his. "Obey!" he commanded out loud and in Genma's mind and this time the man was unable to resist. There were few who could break free of this kind of magic.
"Pop, you are going to work to pay off the dowry you stole from Ukyo's family." Ranma stepped back, Genma's face was blank for a few moments, then he seemed to suddenly become aware of his surroundings.
"You will also apologize to her for what you've done, and write a letter of apology to her family." he added.
"Yes master!" Genma shouted emphatically with a deep respectful bow. Ranma saw the shocked, borderline horrified look on her face.
"I'm sorry," he said, turning to face her. "I should have warned you. Please, don't look at me like that." He was scared that he might have just lost her, but the change in her expression told him his words had reassured her.
"What, what did you do?" she swallowed before speaking.
Ranma stuck a thumb back in Genma's direction. "I enthralled him."
"Enthralled, wait, you can do that?" she looked at him wide eyed.
"Yeah, but it isn't something we do lightly," he explained. "It is one of those last ditch, no other option sort of things. We only do it unless there is no other recourse." She nodded in understanding.
"This goes beyond our ability to glamour the mind," he further explained. "This is a complete domination of a person's will. Pops will obey anything I tell him now, no matter what it is he will do it without question, without complaint, and he'll literally kill himself in an effort to complete whatever it is I tell him to do. Now you understand why we rarely use it."
"Speaking of which," he turned back to his father. "Pops, you will do what I told you, but you will not push yourself. You'll eat three times a day and sleep all night so you are rested for the next day. If you get sick tell me and I will allow you to rest to recover. Do you understand?"
"Yes master, I understand." Genma answered nodding with a smile.
"Call me Ranma, only call me master when we are alone."
Genma bowed, "Yes Ranma!"
"Wow, you weren't kidding, so he'll do anything you ask?" Ranma nodded and he could literally hear the gears turning in Nabiki's head.
"Don't even think about it!" he pointed at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He had to nip this in the bud fast.
She look at him shocked, "What?"
"You know what, besides I'm not putting my lips on Kuno's neck, who knows where he's been."
Somewhere in Africa
"Where the hell am I now!?"
Elsewhere in Tokyo
"Any word yet, Vera?"
"Yes, your majesty, it is confirmed the Moon Clan has arrived in Japan."
"So, he is here, in Tokyo?"
"Yes, if they are here then so is he, but it doesn't appear that they have found exact where he is yet."
"Has the Eight Elite arrived?"
"Yes, princess, Wolfgang is coordinating with them now."
"This has to end, either we end him or we let the Moon Clan do it, but either way his agenda has to be stopped."
"It should be your responsibility to put him down, princess, he is your grandfather."
"I know, but this is getting in the way of our other plans."
"Speaking of which, we won't be getting any support from the Three Clans for this operation."
"I wasn't expecting any, they secretly support grandfather's ideology so why would they oppose him and they've made their opinion of the bund project perfectly clear."
"There is one other detail, I do not know if it is related to us."
"What is that?"
"The Grandmaster of the Order of the Crimson Circle has been seen at Tokyo Airport, and I've been told Dragasoni was seen in Tokyo as recent as last week, that cannot be a coincidence."
"And now the Revenants are here, this could complicate things."
"The Crimson Circle has no beef with you, your majesty."
"True, but I wonder what they'd think of my plan for Tokyo Landfill number zero?"
"We will have to cross that bridge once we get there, I supposed, princess."
"Get Nelly, Nella, and Nero ready, we're moving out, and don't forget to bring extra shade jell."
"At once, princess."
On a train somewhere between Osaka and Tokyo
The man watched the child sitting across from him. She was but twelve years old in appearance, but Baron knew appearances were deceiving. To human eyes she was a strikingly beautiful young girl just blossoming into womanhood. Fair skin, ankle length hair as white as snow, and blood red eyes. She was dressed in one of her favorite outfits, a black Victorian style lolita goth dress with white hose, matching black shoes, and a black bow tried in her long hair. People couldn't help but stare, not because she stood out like a sore thumb, but because of what she was. How could they know, they'd never understand.
"What?" she caught him watching her and Baron looked away. Her voice was surprisingly mature for someone of her apparent age.
"Is there something on my face?" she scowled, rubbing her cheeks.
"No, I was just thinking." Baron shook his head.
"You were thinking awfully hard," she regarded him with a knowing smile. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were becoming a lolicon."
"Hey!" Baron spotted more than one angry look in his direction.
The girl laughed, the sound was like a small bell. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so what were you thinking about?" She set her head on her hand in that tilted way that told him she was thinking.
Baron looked to the window, the landscape of Japan slowly raced by in the distance. "I already know you can feel it, if I do you do. We're headed into something, something big."
Her expression turned serious. "I've felt it for some time now. Threads of fate and causality are converging into one place. Somewhere in Tokyo."
"Then, given our circumstances wouldn't it be a good idea to be somewhere else?" he wondered why she'd taking them into the middle of something big given their current situation.
She shook her head, "No, our fate is wound up along with it. Whatever is going to happen we are already fated to be there when it happens."
"Do you know what it is?" he knew she wasn't omniscient, but sometimes she acted like she was and that infuriated him. It wasn't as if he could do anything about it, though.
"No, reading the future is difficult, it's always in motion." she frowned.
Baron folded his arms. "I thought you could see the future by looking at the energy of the now." She nodded.
But she said, "The energy of the now is in such flux it is difficult to see." She closed her eyes, he could see a little bit of light shining from around her eyelids. He looked around, making sure nobody else noticed.
"I see someone about your age who is about to have a great responsibility placed on his shoulders," she said, eyes still closed. "I see another, she is young but not young and she already carries a great weight upon hers. I see a man, cloaked in darkness, caught in a trap of his own making. A young girl, your age, in love, she will need to make a decision that will change her life and there will be no going back. Another, a boy, your age, he is directionless, his fate cannot be known, yet I see him playing a role in what is about to happen. Another, he is a man, but he is also a monster, his role is not clear."
She opened her eyes, looking physically drained. "Vague imagery, nothing was perfectly clear. Whatever is going to happen we need to be there."
"Fine," he acquiesced. "But if things go sideways in a big way I'm getting us out of there." He had to protect her, not that she needed protecting, but if anything happened to her it would also happen to him.
She looked him straight in the eye, like she was peering into his soul, and Baron felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, "If this goes badly, there won't be anywhere to run to."
To be continued...