The Dragon Within
Ranma Fanfic by Seras4545
A/N: Whew, school really kills all my free time! Hope to be able to get all my stories up to date before starting the next few stuck in my head. Hope that I stop thinking of new stories or I may have to start asking other well known authors to take them up for me. Anyway, Hope you guys like this chapter!
Chapter Six: New Life, New Fiancée, New Ranko
"Hmm... Where to begin." Ranma said, scratching the back of his head in thoughtfulness as Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane waited for his tale. Ranma thought for a minute on what exactly he should tell them, then decided that what he had told Nabiki earlier would suffice for now. No use disclosing all of his secrets...
Thirty minutes later...
"... and so here I am." Ranma finished watching his audience. Nabiki seemed bored, disappointed even. Akane had a look of surprise and some disbelief. Kasumi seemed to take it in stride, even the info that she and her sisters were part elven and that Tofu himself was part elven. Ranma smiled at her lack of any radical reaction. Nothing seemed to faze her and he liked that about her.
Akane was a different story however. "Hey, wait a minute here. You're telling us that not only are you not even fully human and bonded to the soul of a dragon GOD, but you are also telling us that we're not even human either? Come on!" She looked to her sisters for support, confident that they would have the same reaction. When she saw that they seemed to believe every word of it her confidence deflated and she doubted herself.
Ranma kept his face dead serious. "Everything I said is the absolute truth Akane." Maybe not the whole truth but all of it is the truth. Ranma thought as he watched some emotions wash across her face.
She shook her head. "C'mon Ranma, this is a bit much."
Ranma sighed, then thought of a different approach. "Look, Akane, what if I taught you magic? Would that convince you?"
Akane thought it over a bit, not quite sure what to make of the situation. Then she realized that he had offered her that ability to control something which not many get the opportunity to learn and control. Besides, if what he had said was true, then mostly only non-humans could use magic on this plane. After working this out she nodded, accepting his offer.
Ranma grinned once again. "Good, we'll start with the air control technique first."
He nearly laughed as he saw the look on Akane's face. "You mean, it's not a martial arts technique?"
"Nope, that was magic."
First she frowned, realizing that Ranma had hidden the truth from her when he had told her he would teach it to her. Then she smiled, deciding that he had his reasons. "Great! When can we start?"
Ranma smiled an eager smile. "Right now. But first I must ask Nabiki a favor." He turned to Nabiki who gave all her attention to him. "Could you possibly arrange to have the female Ranma Saotome labeled as deceased?"
Nabiki blinked, obviously surprised at his request. "Well, yeah, I could. It wouldn't be too hard. But why would you want to do that?"
Ranma grinned and Nabiki could swear she could feel the evil in it. "I've got a plan. How do you think Kuno would react if I showed up claiming he had killed my dear twin sister?"
Nabiki got some of the plan but still could not see where he was going with it. "Well, first he would deny it, then he would attack you for claiming that he did such a thing. His family will be able to cover up most of the evidence. Oh, and if you seriously hurt him the Kunos would feel no remorse in suing us for all we have."
Ranma nodded, thinking his plan through even further. "You wouldn't happen to have a tape of that particular incident would you?"
Nabiki nodded, though she was frowning as she did so. "Yeah, but it got fried in that little lightning storm that Kuno threw at you."
Ranma blinked, and then waved it off as if it were a minor problem. "That's no problem, I can restore it. So long as it caught enough of the incident to incriminate Kuno."
"That's not going to be enough, Ranma."
He smiled at her now. "Would the badly burned and charred body of my sister be enough on top of the tape and the witnesses from school?"
"How..." Nabiki began before it dawned on her. "You're going to create the body of your female half with magic?" Seeing his nod and his proud smile she felt warmth suffuse her body. Then she thought of a problem. "Can you make it have the same DNA as your female half? Also you might need to find a way of hiding it's magical origin, else Kuno or his relatives may find a way to discredit it."
Ranma thought this over, realizing the amount of work he would have to put into his little plan for revenge. "Yeah, I should be able to. It'll take a bit more effort than I had previously thought though. Anyway, could you kill my female self and enroll my male half please?"
Nabiki looked a little put out. "What about the lessons in magic? I want to learn too you know." She said, slightly childlike.
Ranma smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry. I'll give you a private lesson if you want. I need to spend more time teaching Akane however as it will take her longer to learn than it does you."
Nabiki frowned at him, but decided to do what he needed her to do. Though she was determined to turn these private lessons into something more 'entertaining' later. She grinned with that thought and walked up the stairs to her room.
Ranma was slightly disturbed by Nabiki's smile as she left, though he couldn't quite put his fingers on why though. He turned to Akane who was also looking in the direction her sister had gone with some surprise and confusion. He got up and cleared the area he would need for her lesson as she watched him.
"Now, time for the lesson in magic." Ranma said and Akane watched entranced as Ranma traced several symbols of light in the air. She saw a feather materialize in the air before her and float down to the ground and also saw that Ranma now held a stick of what appeared to be chalk.
"What's that for?" She asked, curious.
"The feather is for a target for your magic" He said as he got up and began tracing symbols on the wooden floor in a circular fashion. Akane was instantly furious that he would write on the floors of the house and when Ranma saw her anger he gave her a look that told her to keep her silence and watch. He knew what he was doing.
When he finished and stepped inside the circle and connected the first and last symbols she saw the circle flare with light and then settle to a soft glow. He sat across from her and smiled.
"Good. Now that" And he pointed at the circle. "Is a barrier. It not only keeps things out, it also keeps things in. You are to not practice any of the arcane arts outside of this barrier."
"What about Nabiki?" She asked.
"She does not need this particular precaution. Because of her link to me, she will find that she will automatically know how to control her magic and keep it from spilling over and harming the area around her. Now, you have learned how to meditate right?" She nodded and he continued. "Well, this is close enough I suppose. Close your eyes and empty your mind. Think of nothing and feel nothing. Breathe in for a count of seven, hold for a count of seven, and breathe out for a count of seven."
She did as he asked and Ranma called out the pattern for her. She soon entered a trance and Ranma observed as a surprising amount of power welled out of her and filled the barrier, with her as the nearly too bright to see center. Ranma leaned forward and traced a symbol over each of her eyelids and then leaned back.
"Now, open your eyes." Akane did so and when she saw the aura around her she gasped and nearly lost her concentration. She regained it quickly and the glow of her power steadied.
"What is it?" She asked, her voice filled with wonder.
Ranma smiled. "That, Akane, is your magic." He stayed silent as she continued to look at her magic in awe. When her attention finally came back to rest on Ranma he was satisfied to see that she kept a firm grip on her anger. She really is something else. Seems as if her anger problem had dissolved over night. Her concentration is nearly unwavering. Even Lethander would have been impressed with the amount of control she has, she nearly makes it seem effortless to keep up that state.
"Now, I want you to attempt to pull in your power, to contain and concentrate it. Try choosing a shape or object that appeals to you the most and pull your power into that object in your mind. Be that object."
Unquestioning, she closed her eyes yet again and he could see her at work. He watched in amazement as her power slowly but steadily reigned in. When she was done he saw that her power had taken the shape of a rose. He smiled at that, figuring that she was much like a rose, beautiful yet with a sharp tongue and short temper as her thorns.
"Good, now watch me." Ranma said. When she had opened her eyes and refocused on him he was again amazed that her power did not even show any sign of flaring out or losing control. She watched as he gathered light to his fingertips and traced a symbol in the air that did not fade this time and noticed that she barely even saw a flicker of his own power, though she did get a feel of the depth of his power and was frightened of it. Though she could feel her own power as a previously untouched raging inferno within her, the amount of power she felt from him when he traced that symbol was mind boggling. He made her own power feel like a candle flame in the middle of a tempest.
"Now, gather only a little of your power to your finger tip to create the light and trace that symbol in the air. As you do so pay attention to how you guide your magic, you'll know what I mean when you do it."
Akane had a little trouble this time and struggled to regulate the flow of her power. First the light was too bright and then it was too faint. She slowly increased the power until her light matched Ranma's then slowly drew the symbol in the air in front of her, only having minor trouble and mistakes. As she did so she felt pulls on her power and she could feel the general direction her power was being aimed. She nudged it over to aim at the feather and finished the symbol as she did so. Suddenly she felt slightly drained as a small vortex of wind appeared above the feather and instead of levitating it as she wanted, it tore it to shreds.
Before the vortex went to find a new target Ranma made a slashing motion and Akane suddenly felt most of her energy return to her. The vortex wound down and then disappeared. Akane looked at Ranma expecting to see disappointment but instead found pride and a smile on his face.
"That was really good Akane. A little too much power in the spell but otherwise very good." He stood and rubbed out a part of the circle and the symbols flared once more and then dissolved into dust that was quickly picked up by the wind.
Akane stood up and felt like a boiled noodle, her body felt weak and unbalanced. She staggered a bit but then caught herself. Is this going to happen every time I cast a spell? Akane wondered and looked to Ranma who was watching her with a grin on his face.
"Don't worry, you'll get stronger and a little more used to it. It will affect you less and less the more efficient you become at controlling how much power you put into your spells. Once you put only enough into the spells to do what you want then it won't affect you at all." He reassured her.
As he passed her on his way out to the dojo he gave her a beaming smile. "You should be proud of yourself. You nearly mastered in a couple hours what takes most a week at least to learn." Akane felt pride and a sense of accomplishment well up within her. "… Even me." She heard faintly as he walked outside, and she knew that Ranma was containing his jealousy at how she had apparently learned this faster than even he had.
She felt her pride fill her nearly to bursting and she had to do something to put her newfound pride and confidence to use. Hmm… I know! I'll cook some dinner for Ranma! I'm sure that Kasumi would let me help at least a little. Having decided on a course of action she proceeded into the kitchen with a smile on her face.
Not knowing the potential doom that Ranma would soon face, he walked calmly near to the dojo, enjoying the feel of the sun on his body and taking joy in the beautiful blue sky.
He chose a patch of grass that appeared softer than the rest and was a little way from anything else and sat down in the lotus position. He closed his eyes and regulated his breathing…
If one approached Nabiki's room one could hear the sound of furious typing. Nabiki was currently creating a file for the decease of Ranma's 'sister' . When she finished she let out a sigh of relief and satisfaction leaned back in her chair, looking at her handiwork. "Finally. Took longer than I thought it would. Now, I wonder what Ranma had in mind when it came to the body." She just had to see this little trick. She was sure that Ranma and Nabiki were done with the lesson since she could no longer feel the barrier that Ranma had erected.
She had noticed that lately she was becoming more and more sensitive to act of magic and even recognized the type of spell and magic being used at times, like with the barrier. It's almost instinctive to know these things. Must be an effect of the bond between us. She thought, and smiled at how easy it would be to for her to learn what Ranma knew of magic. She had an almost ravenous need to gain knowledge and the power that comes with that knowledge. Ranma would give great knowledge and power indeed.
She got up and crouched next to her bed and pulled out a box from under her bed. She pulled the lid off and searched through the piles of tapes revealed to be within it. When she found what she needed she pulled out a partially melted tape that most would have thrown away as impossible at trying to recover the data from it. But she had kept it as a reminder at the least. Now it would serve a useful purpose.
She left her room after putting the box away again and went down the stairs. She looked around and saw a little bit of dust on the floor and a small mark on the wood. She leaned closer to investigate and saw that the dust was very light and was being blown away quickly. That's the remainder of Ranma's barrier. She looked closely at the mark on the wood and saw that a small gouge had been made by something that was spinning very quickly. Was this what Akane did? She's always so destructive and violent. Hope she learns better control when she gets stronger or we may not have a house or dojo soon.
She looked into the kitchen and saw her sister Kasumi cooking contently, seemingly unaware of what had gone on inside the dining room. Then Nabiki groaned silently as Akane stepped into view. Oh no! Hope she doesn't screw it up again, otherwise we'll have to call hazmat and takeout again.
Then she felt a power rise from behind her and she nearly cowered from the sheer amount of it being exuded by whoever controlled it. She turned and walked outside and saw a sight that nearly set her heart to beating in panic.
Ranma was floating above the ground, surrounded by a nimbus of blue lightning that arced across his body and flared out at his surroundings. She nearly thought he was being struck by lightning again but saw that it was radiating from his own body and it wasn't causing any harm to him nor his surroundings. She let out a sigh of relief.
She took this opportunity to examine him and marveled at how well muscled he was and how cute his face was even when meditating. He also was amazed at the sheer amount of power he was exuding just from meditating. Then she noticed that he wasn't exactly meditating and that the lightning was doing something after all. She watched as a small amount of lightning drew up some dirt and stone and piled it all in front of Ranma. Then a small sliver cut a tiny piece of flesh from Ranma, the hole sealing itself soon after. Then a new arc of Ranma's power created some water in midair which floated down to and was absorbed by the pile of earth and stone along with Ranma's flesh and blood.
The pile began to writhe as if alive and reshaped itself into a female human form and began to glow slightly. Nabiki could just barely make out the features at first but as they refined on the slowly forming body she recognized the body as that of Ranma's female half.
When the body had fully formed Ranma's eyes shot open, though they weren't his normal eyes of sapphire hue. They had turned a dark thundercloud gray and the pupils had turned to slits, like those of a cat.
She could hear Ranma chanting under his breath and the chant seemed tantalizingly familiar to Nabiki, like the word that was just on the tip of one's tongue but forgotten in the moment.
Nabiki watched, paralyzed both by the power Ranma exuded and by her own curiosity and fascination, as the lightning arcing around Ranma's form coalesced into a ball of condensed blue energy which Ranma took into his hands and placed over the chest of the body then seemed to press down on it. The energy was quickly absorbed by the female's form, infusing it with vibrant color and life as it spread throughout her body.
The color and texture of the earth gave way to soft pink flesh, lungs began to rise and fall as she took in breath for the first time, her eyes opened to show intelligence and knowledge and cunning behind the piercing blue iris'. She was female Ranma, given life and a soul.
Ranma's eyes slowly returned to normal and when his eyes refocused on his work he smiled with pride and some emotion Nabiki couldn't interpret. Nabiki had no idea how to react or respond to the situation. She had not expected in her wildest dreams that Ranma would create a living being with apparently it's own mind and soul.
When a breeze flowed through the yard and the girl shivered Nabiki was brought back to herself and she went to the clotheslines that Kasumi had hung early this morning and grabbed some of her own clothes and brought them back to the girl.
She looked up at Nabiki with a curious gaze then seemed to remember something and smiled.
"Thanks Nabiki. It is kind of breezy back here isn't it? Besides, I think Ranma would be more comfortable if I put some clothes on."
Nabiki nearly dropped the clothes but the girl grabbed them before they could leave her hands and she looked over at Ranma.
He did indeed seem nervous around the nude girl and had turned a light shade of red, averting his eyes from her. Nabiki was both amused and jealous. Why is he embarrassed? She is his creation isn't she? Made of his own flesh and blood? Why did he even create a living person in the first place? And how did she know who I am?
Nabiki also noted how the girls voice sounded like Ranma's when he was in his cursed form, though it was lighter, less rough and more sophisticated, more natural.
She walked over to Ranma who was watching her while the girl dressed. He smiled at her in gratitude.
"Thanks for lending her some clothes Nabiki."
Nabiki looked at him closely and noticed that he seemed pale and was covered in sweat, as if he had run a few hundred miles and fought a fierce battle at the end of it. He leaned against the wall of the dojo and was breathing kind of hard.
"Ranma, are you alright? You seem kinda beat."
He looked at her and grinned.
"I'm fine Nabs, just gotta catch my breath a bit. That took more outta me than I had thought it would, but Lethander wouldn't leave me alone about it."
"About what Ranma? What is she? Who is she? Tell me, please, before I die of my curiosity."
Ranma drew in a wearied breath. "Well, it's a spell that Lethander had created, but had never had the chance to practice himself. One that creates a brand new life, building a body for it and housing a soul within it. Though this was slightly modified, though I don't know how, he didn't explain exactly what he changed about it. And, as to who she is, I have no idea. She will decide that herself."
The girl, finally finished dressing, walked up to them with a knowing grin on her face. Suddenly she leaned forward and kissed Ranma full on the lips. Nabiki's eyes widened in anger and jealousy, while Ranma's widened in surprise and shock.
The girl withdrew with a wide smile on her face, a satisfied one Nabiki noticed with growing anger.
"The name's Ranko, and you are mine, Ranma."
Before Ranma could respond to this, Nabiki finally exploded on the impudent girl.
"What do you mean he is yours! He isn't something you can own! Besides, he is engaged to me!" Nabiki shouted.
The girl looked briefly surprised. Then she gave Nabiki a measuring glance. "Is he now? Well, I guess that does complicate things a bit." Then she smiled as a thought hit her. "How about we share him? I'm not too opposed to that idea."
Nabiki was about to respond when she was interrupted by a loud thump from the side. They both looked to see Ranma face down in the grass. What alarmed them was the fact that he wasn't moving at all.
They both rushed over to him and turned him face up. Nabiki sighed in relief when she felt a pulse and could feel his breathing. She glanced over at the girl on his other side.
"Let's talk this over later, agreed."
Ranko smiled at Nabiki. "Sure, agreed."
"Good, now help me get him inside."
They both dragged the unconscious Ranma inside and up the stairs as the sun set on the second day of his stay at the Tendo's...
A/N: Well, hope you like it. I kinda rushed this chapter a bit, but I feel it came out all right. Hope you enjoyed this new twist in Ranma's life. (BTW: Ranko is a creation of Ranma's but is not genetically related to him. She just took the form from his cursed side and a few other thing's from him. She is essentially unrelated to him except having been created by him.) Well, I think that I will start on other projects now, so I hope you like them when they come out as well.
Seras Out. Till Next Time!