A Ranma ½ Fanfic: Nightmares of the Heart.

Written by Lucious Coulter.

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

A.N: Just to let you know that Mt. Phoenix is where the final battle between Ranma and the God Saffron takes place. That being said, let's continue.

Chapter 3: The Forest Of Silence.

Ranma stared at the place where the note had been before taking a look at his surroundings. The sky was a gray color and seemed to blend in with the greenish-gray foliage of the plants. There was total silence. His breathing sounded like it was a loud fan in comparison. There were fuzzy particles in the air, and when he smelled them, he was reminded of the feeling of being lost in the woods and freezing and starving. 'Man. This is too creepy.' He thought nervously. The cold feeling was everywhere. In his skin, his mind, and his heart. He then remembered the trouble Akane was in and set out at a fast jog along the narrow trail. He then noticed as he was running that the tree branches were moving, but making no sound. He stopped and surveyed the area. 'I wonder…' He then picked up two pebbles on the ground and smacked them together. They made a loud cracking noise as they split. He then took the remnants and threw them at a tree. They made no sound whatsoever. 'I see now. The only thing that can make sound in this place is me. That means someone could creep up and I…wouldn't…even…..know….it………' He ceased all rational thought as a hard blow to the back of his head sent him unconscious.

Meanwhile, in the palace of the Emperor, Akane was still unconscious. She was encased in a black crystal all the way up to her neck. A middle aged man appeared at her side. He was about six feet tall with a black mustache and dark hair. He wore a dark blue robe and one half of his face was bathed in shadows. He went to her face and put two fingers on her eyelids. She stirred from her sleep, mumbling incomprehensible words.

"Ah you finally wake." The man said in a warm voice.

"Hold still and try not to move. You'll just make the nausea worse." Sure enough her face turned green as she fought to keep down what was left in her stomach.

"You've had quite an experience young lady, and I will be happy to answer as many questions as I can. At least once you stop ruining the floor." He said with a good natured chuckle as she lost her battle with the nausea. The man immediately snapped his fingers and the mess disappeared. Akane then focused her eyes on the smiling man.

"Who are you?" She mumbled. He looked surprised for a moment then laughed again.

"Well, that might be a good start. My name is Orion. I am here to make sure you are protected and that you can not escape." He continued smiling as if this sort of thing was said all the time. Akane's eyes narrowed at his words. She glared at him and said a little more forcefully,

"And where would I try to be escaping from?" He continued to smile as he said,

"Why the Emperors palace of course. This is the land of dreams, Nyxalia." He then paused as if listening to something, then gave her a short bow.

"If you'll excuse me there is a matter of business I must attend to. I shall explain more later." And with that he disappeared. She stared at where he had been, and then looked around. She appeared to be in a dungeon like room. It was completely dark except for a bunch of torches that burned blue and purple light. Their light just made her seem colder than she already was. She struggled to move her body at all, but the crystal held tight. She fought the urge to scream, as that would probably serve to amuse that stupid 'Emperor.' 'Who does he think he is! Kidnapping me like this! Once Ranma gets me out of here, I'll kick his royal ass!' She blinked for a moment. 'Why did I think of Ranma like that all of a sudden? I don't need him! I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself! I…I…' She slumped in defeat and hung her head as she whispered the five words no one thought would ever hear from her mouth.

"Ranma I need your help…"

Ranma groaned as he tried to stand up. A pounding was going through his head and he wished it would stop. In fact the pounding was through his whole body. He stood up, and gaped at what he saw. He was in a large clearing in the woods, and little creatures were pounding on drums. They were horribly ugly things. About four feet tall with wood for skin and moss for hair. They were chanting some sort of song. He then noticed that there was an abnormally big blob in the middle of the clearing. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was a huge plant bud. He then understood what the creatures were saying. It wasn't a song but a name.

"Sectrum Mantra! Sectrum Mantra! Sectrum Mantra!" They then stopped suddenly and stood still, looking at the bud. It started to move. Luminescent vines shot out of the top and bottom of the creature. The creatures were long gone; having fled the moment it started moving. The bud then opened up exposing that the whole creature was a giant flower. It was bright crimson in color, and little pollen stalks were standing in the middle of it. It was still for a moment, and then the pollen stalks slowly rose up to reveal a grotesque head. It was dark green and there seemed to be maroon veins pulsing underneath its skin. A mouth opened up revealing foot long needlelike teeth. It the sent a shriek up in the air that chilled Ranma to the bone. He was staring at this abomination with a look of revulsion and fear on his face. 'What the hell is that thing!' He screamed in his head. 'Worry about it later. It looks like it's about to attack.' But one of the strange creatures ran by heading for the trees. Apparently it forgot to run away early. Ranma grabbed it and brought it up to his face.

"What is that thing!" He yelled in its face. The thing smiled in his face and said in a deep reedy voice,

"Sectrum Mantra eat you now. Master will be most pleased. Gives us rewards. Lots of rewards." It then laughed in a high voice and Ranma threw it away. It ran to the trees in a vain attempt to escape, but was too slow. A glowing vine shot out and wrapped onto the creatures leg. There was a flash of sparks as the creature was immediately electrocuted and dragged to Sectrum Mantra. It lifted the creature up and tossed it in its gaping mouth. It chewed and crunched on the creature before swallowing it. It the let out a deep rumble that sounded a lot like a laugh. It then shrieked and shot its tentacles out toward Ranma who got out of the way just in time. 'If those tentacles touch me, I'm plant food!' He continued to dodge the vines, all the time making his way to Sectrum Mantra. When he got close enough he flew at the head in an attempt to decapitate it. But it immediately shut the bud closed, protecting its head while the vines continued their assault. It then gave another rumbling laugh. 'That is seriously starting to get on my nerves. How the hell am I supposed to kill it if I can't get to the head!' He looked at the plant closely, trying to figure out any weakness. Just when he was about to give up, he noticed that the bud was being supported in the air by a couple of non glowing vines. He immediately leapt toward the pale vines. As if sensing what he was about to do, Sectrum Mantra screamed again and all of the vines went shooting at him. He got there just in time. He quickly severed the vines holding it up. The whole plant fell to the ground with a sickening splat. The bud opened up revealing the head. Ranma dashed toward it as fast as he could before the plant had a chance to recover. The head tried to bite him, but he easily avoided the gnashing teeth and severed the head, finishing Sectrum Mantra off for good. The head thrashed around, screaming its death cry and spraying green liquid everywhere. It then exploded in a blast of purple vapor. The bud thrashed as well before it lay still, the dark vines still twitching. Ranma slowly got up slowly and looked at the mess. 'I…did…it…' He thought wearily. Except for a couple of scorch marks from the tentacles, he wasn't hurt too bad. Though avoiding vines all the time did become tiring. He then felt a vibration in his pocket. He took out the stone and saw that it was glowing. 'Here we go agaaaaiiiinnnn!' he thought as he got pulled into the stone once again. He was now one step closer to rescuing Akane, and destroying the Emperor for good.