A Ranma ½ Fanfic: Nightmares of the Heart.

Written by Lucious Coulter.

Ranma ½ does not belong to me, but Rumiko Takahashi. Oh well…

Chapter 1: Abduction.

Ranma and Akane slowly walked home from school. Each thinking along the same lines. 'What is this cold feeling?' Ranma hopped down from the fence to walk beside Akane, his eyes scanning the area, looking for anything to explain it. Akane didn't mind him beside her. In fact it made her a bit calmer. 'Ranma will protect me. I mean, he always does. Wait a minute, I don't need his help! I can take care of myself! Still, this feeling…' She moved a bit closer to Ranma as the feeling grew worse. All of a sudden, Ranma stopped and gently grabbed her arm.

"What is it?" She asked nervously. Ranma didn't answer. His eyes were sweeping the entire area. Suddenly Akane noticed just how quiet it was. There were no sounds of cars, people or even insects or birds. There was total silence.

"What's happening?"

She asked in a whisper that sounded like a shout in the empty air.

"I don't know." He said in a nervous voice. Her feeling grew worse. 'Ranma's nervous? Things are worse than I thought.' She said to herself. Then his eyes abruptly snapped up. She looked too and gasped. They sky was a whirling mass of purple and black clouds. Then a vortex of the vapors swirled in the air and descended to the ground. Out of them came a boy. He was floating in the air above them as if he was in a lounge chair. He was robed in black and sashes of purple. His hands were in black gloves and his spider like fingers were crossed in his lap. His face and hair were as pale as the snow, and his serpent like eyes glowed violet. Both Ranma and Akane flinched as his freezing aura enveloped them

"Who are you and what do you want!" Ranma yelled at the boy. He pushed Akane behind him as he glared at the being. For some reason, this entity filled him with the feeling of dread and fear. The boy smirked at him and replied in a cool velvety voice,

"My my. Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Emperor. The lord and God of the Land of Dreams, Nyxalia. You are Ranma Saotome, and you are Akane Tendo. Now as for what I want, I want you to hand Miss Tendo over to me, little man." His eyes glowed with amusement as he saw Ranma's face contort in rage.

"Well you're going to have to get through me first!" He yelled shielding Akane behind his back. The Emperor chuckled.

"As if you could stop me child. But if you insist, I will have to reprimand you." He then raised his hand and pointed two fingers at Ranma.

Ranma collapsed as images ran through his head, horrible images. There was the Tendo home completely destroyed. Kasumi in the kitchen, burnt to death in the oven, Nabiki in her room, ripped into pieces, Soun with a katana through his head, Genma floating in the pond, and Akane screaming for him to help her, but he couldn't move. He reached out to her to try to save her from whatever was hunting her, Her screams were joined by others and others until his whole head was full of nothing but screaming and pain. Then he came out of it. He was on the ground and his face was covered in tears. He looked up to see the Emperor carrying an unconscious Akane by the neck. The Emperor looked at him and smiled an amused smile.

"If you want your precious little fiancée back, come to my palace of dreams. There we will see if you are truly worthy to have her. No one else shall come with you. If they do, Miss Tendo will die. Use this to come when you feel you are ready." He threw a black jewel at Ranma. He caught it and looked back at the Emperor.

"Why?" Ranma choked out.

"Why do you want her so bad?" The God smirked at him as he began to fade out.

"That is none of your concern at the moment. The ancient power of the Earth will soon be mine. I fully expect you to entertain me with your child like ideals of affection. I don't expect to be disappointed. Until then, little man…" his voice echoed as he faded from view. The clouds swirled away and the noise and warmth of the everyday world came back in a rush. Ranma looked at the spot where they disappeared, then where Akane had been. He clenched his fists as he started to cry tears of self-loathing, hatred and loss. 'I will get her back!' He thought furiously. 'She is my fiancée and no one will take her from me. Human or God.' He gripped the black jewel and started home. He would rest and then would travel to Nyxalia. 'And may Kami have mercy to whoever gets in my way!'