Chapter Six: To Challenge the Sun
Urd did a double-take when a warning appeared on her screen. She signalled an aide. "Go over to the Japanese pantheon and get me Amaterasu, now!" The urgency in the usually laid-back goddess's voice spurred the aide on, and moments later, Amaterasu, Japanese goddess of the sun, walked through the large double doors of the Yggdrasil control center.
"What is it, Urd?" the Japanese goddess frowned at being summoned without so much as a reason.
The eldest Norn turned her screen over to her Japanese colleague, letting her see the data streaming across it. Amaterasu shrugged. "Is that supposed to mean anything to me?"
Urd frowned. "Two words. Amatsu Mikaboshi."
"How…?" The Japanese goddess paled at the mention of her son's name. "I sealed her away myself!"
"Take a look again." Urd indicated at the screen. "If I'm reading this right, then she's not only awake, but back to full power."
"Her status?"
Urd frowned, her fingers flying across the virtual keys. "She's still designated a fallen goddess. We never bothered to actually strip her of her powers, since you had her under seal."
"Where is she?"
"Midgard, China, Quing Hai Province, Bayakala mountain range, Jusenkyo valley…Joketsuzoku," Urd read off, her eyes narrowing as the information scrolled past her eyes on the screen.
Amaterasu was on her feet and pulling on Urd's arm before the silver-haired goddess had a chance to add anything. "We've got to hurry. I'm not letting her try to usurp me again." The sun goddess's eyes flashed angrily. "This time, I'll finish her off."
"She's your daughter, Amatera-chan," Urd noted as she struggled with Amaterasu's iron grip as the eldest Norn was dragged through the halls of Yggdrasil. "You can't just kill your own daughter, especially not with the doublet system in effect!"
"That is no child of mine!" Amaterasu stopped abruptly, whirling around to face Urd. "I will not let her threaten me. Our last fight almost destroyed Midgard, and I barely managed to defeat her – I won't risk having her on the loose so she can try and take my place again!"
Urd's eyes narrowed further as she glared at the Japanese goddess. "I don't believe it! We're talking about your goddamn daughter here!" She yanked her arm free of Amaterasu's grip, unable to fathom how she could talk about killing her own child as if she were conversing over dinner.
"She forfeited her life the moment she turned on me." The sun goddess's reply was stoic, cold, and delivered in a tone that chilled Urd to the bone. The confrontation between the two had drawn a small crowd, but the onlookers were slowly backing up, not wanting to be caught in the escalating conflict of two of the oldest and most powerful goddesses.
Something clicked together in Urd's mind after hearing Amaterasu's last few words. "This isn't about her being a threat to Midgard, is it? This isn't about her endangering Yggdrasil, or anything…it's about you." Urd growled. "You're afraid that she'll come and try to take your place at the pantheon. Last time you barely got away, and now you're afraid you won't, aren't you?"
Not giving Amaterasu a chance to reply, Urd growled, jabbing her index finger at the sun goddess's chest. "What's the matter? Did I hit a nerve? I'm not going to let you kill her just because you think she's going to be a threat to you. And that's all she is, isn't she? Last time, the only one she went after was you, because she thought you weren't doing the right thing."
"I was! It's my pantheon, it's my country, and I can do whatever I wish with it! My word is law!" Amaterasu roared, energy beginning to crackle around her. "She is just a little insect who thinks she's my better, and I'll show her her place!"
"Your pantheon?" Urd sneered, no longer bothering to conceal the hostility in her tone. "It's not your pantheon, Amatera-chan." This time, the nickname lost all semblance of affection. "It's the pantheon of the people. Without the mortals on Midgard, we are nothing."
The Japanese goddess lifted a hand, collecting a sphere of magic that radiated light like a small sun. "You're wrong. Those mortals are nothing without us. We can do what we wish with them, and all they can do is live or die by their choices." A malicious grin spread across her features, "I don't care if their choice damns them to eternal suffering."
"That much is obvious," Urd muttered under her breath. "I'm not letting you down there so you can kill your own daughter! We don't even know what she's going to do, and I sure as hell won't let you kill someone else through the doublet system." The silver-haired goddess crossed her arms before her chest, jaw set in determination. "You want to go down there, you'll have to go through me."
Silence fell over the two, even as a number of Valkyries arrived, called by Peorth to head off a confrontation. Finally, Amaterasu clenched her fist, dissipating the glowing orb of magic, and brushed past Urd. The Norn's hand on her shoulder spun her around as Urd spoke, her voice low enough only she could hear it.
"What you're doing is wrong, Amatera-chan. Don't do it."
Amaterasu shrugged the hand off her shoulder, never looking back as she walked out of the hall, leaving Urd to stare at her retreating back. The eldest Norn's jaw was clenched so tightly that Peorth thought her bones would snap under the pressure. The goddess of roses and de facto head of the Earth Help Center carefully placed a comforting hand on her friend and rival's arm.
When Urd turned to face her, Peorth shuddered involuntarily at the icy look in her eyes. There was a fire of passion burning that she hadn't seen in Urd in years. The Norn easily shook off her hand and removed her limiter earring with a spell, dropping it into Peorth's palm. Without another word, Urd clapped her hands together in a quick chant, teleporting straight through the barrier that separated the divine from the mortal plane.
Peorth and those around her were left to stare at the spot Urd had just vacated, shuddering at the raw power that had been released.
V--------------------V
Ranma fell into a defensive stance as the amazons around them froze in shock at the revelation. Amatsu smirked as she raised a hand, palm up. Energy began to coalesce in it, forming a bright golden orb. The air around the fallen goddess shimmered from the heat, and soon all those around had to shield their eyes from the bright light.
Amatsu looked introspective for a second as she gathered her power, then threw back her head as her eyes blazed with anger. "Mother!" Her scream seemed impossibly loud, reaching up towards the heavens as she twisted the title into a disgusted swear.
As if summoned by her call, a pillar of light arched down from the sky, expanding as it hit the ground. The light remained for a few seconds before fading, revealing a middle-aged woman.
A woman wearing her long, flowing black hair in a swordsman's ponytail, clad in an off-white version of the armor of the ancient samurai. A katana hung from the belt at her waist, and her piercing blue eyes fixated themselves on the fallen goddess.
"It has been a while, mother," Amatsu snarled at the woman that was unmistakably Amaterasu.
The Japanese goddess of the sun glared at her, her voice equally hostile. "It would have been better had you not returned, fallen one." Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword. "It would have spared your life."
"What life?" Amatsu's hollow laugh echoed around the village center. "Imprisoned by my own mother, floating in the abyss, watching as the gods grow decadent! And now, you would slay me? Sacrifice another's life in Nifleheim for your 'cause?'"
"I will slay you if I must. You are a threat to all of us. And you lost the right to call yourself my daughter the moment you chose to strike at me!"
Ranma had slowly backed up as the two began arguing, and the pigtailed martial artist and his group watched the verbal ping-pong match before them in morbid fascination. They were unsure of what exactly to do…none of them wanted to interfere in a fight between two goddesses, much less be caught in a fight with someone as powerful as the goddess of the sun. Still, Ranma wondered, he couldn't exactly let this drama before him unfold itself. After all, Amatsu had killed Ukyo, and had been the indirect cause of Cologne's death. Obviously, helping Amaterasu defeat her was the right choice…right?
Still, the sun goddess's tone as she spoke of killing her own daughter chilled him to the bone, and he could almost feel his mother gasp as Nodoka tried to stem the flow of emotions. He had long ago forgiven her for it, but she had not forgotten her foolishness with the seppukku contract.
His mind made up, he stepped forward, ignoring Shampoo's shocked cry, and raised his own battle-aura. The ki flowed around him, slowly stopping the blood from the cuts and bruises he had received earlier, and he marched forward, stopping between mother and daughter. He glared at the fallen goddess as his aura flickered around him angrily, changing from a rich golden color to an angry red.
"I'm not through with you yet," he hissed. "You killed Ucchan. For that, I'll have your head!" With a roar, the pigtailed martial artist lunged at Amatsu as his rage returned full force. The anger at seeing his childhood friend's body prone on the altar next to them, discarded like a broken toy, fuelled his attack as he struck out, his fist impacting with the fallen goddess's chin with enough force to spin her around.
Amatsu stood easily, holding up a hand to forestall any further attacks. Ranma paused, settling back into a ready stance as Amatsu shook her head, her eyes never leaving Amaterasu's.
"Leave, mortal. My mother tends to get a little…destructive when we fight." She smirked without humor as she held out a hand, summoning Perfume's discarded broadsword to her palm. The runes on the blade glowed their usual blood red for a brief instant before turning golden. The metal of the blade melted away, the runes sinking in and disappearing as the steel vaporized from the intense heat. When it was gone, she was left holding the hilt of a sword, its blade replaced by a glowing bar of light.
Behind Ranma, Amaterasu smirked as she crossed her arms before her chest. Amatsu arched an eyebrow at her. "What's the matter, mother? Afraid?" She grinned as she mocked her.
Ranma's eyes narrowed at the fallen goddess's arrogance, and with a savage yell, the pigtailed young man launched a ki-blast that glowed with the red of his anger at her. Amatsu looked up in surprise as it impacted with her chest, driving her back. Her penetrating gaze turned to Ranma.
"Leave it be, mortal. This does not concern you."
"It's damn well my concern if you kill my friends," Ranma spat as he braced his feet, firing three more blasts at his opponent. His eyes widened in surprise when the fallen goddess deflected them with her blade, and a part of his mind took note that all of his attacks were redirected into the sky, where they dissipated harmlessly.
Ranma blinked in surprise when his opponent staggered forward. Amatsu cradled her head, whipping around and to the side to avoid the follow-up strike, and brought her sword up, slicing through Ryoga's umbrella easily. The lost boy leapt back, tossing what remained of the shaft at the fallen goddess, causing her to bring up her blade to deflect the debris.
Shampoo took advantage of the opening as she leapt through the air, her twin swords flashing in a complicated pattern, high and low, as she sought to penetrate Amatsu's defenses. With an expressionless face, Amatsu flicked his blade towards her, only to stumble forward as Ryoga tackled her legs.
"This is for my great-grandmother," Shampoo snarled as she jammed one of her swords to the hilt into the falling woman's torso. The two leapt back, eyes never leaving their opponent. The fallen goddess rose, her free hand taking hold of the hilt of the sword in her chest and pulled it out without effort. It clattered to the ground, much to Shampoo and Ryoga's wide-eyed surprise.
Ranma's eyes narrowed, taking a golden tint as he jumped towards the fallen goddess's unprotected back, his hands flashing out as the ki claws of the Neko-Ken formed. The attack cut deeply into Amatsu's shoulder and back, and to the pigtailed boy's satisfaction, the ki-inflicted wounds lasted longer before healing themselves.
Amatsu turned to face him, and behind the fallen goddess, Ranma could see Nodoka holding back both Ryoga and Shampoo who wanted to jump her at the perceived arrogance. Ranma hissed, crouching low and solidifying the ki claws on his hands.
"My quarrel is with my mother," she told the pigtailed martial artist slowly, as if lecturing a child. "She has been abusing her position as the patron goddess of Japan, and what has happened over the last milennia? The gods have grown decadent, arrogant in their power, uncaring of mortal fates." She glared over Ranma's shoulder, at Amaterasu. "Don't you see? They should be there to help mortals grow, we should be aiding and creating, not sitting on our hands watching as everything goes its way. The gods no longer care if mortals live or die, all they care about is keeping their power!"
Amatsu smirked at her mother. "Isn't that true, 'mother?' The only reason you're here at all is to stop me from taking your position as the head of the Japanese pantheon, isn't it?"
Amaterasu's reply was a dark smile and a quick word in the language of the gods.
Ranma felt rather than heard the blast of energy screaming in from behind him, and his eyes widened. His leg muscles propelled him into the air, but even the split second it had taken him to react had been too long. He twisted in mid-air, facing the incoming attack and summoned his ki, hoping to somehow survive the blast. It washed over him in a blinding white light as the power of the sun seared across the ground, scorching the earth and melting it to slag.
Ranma uncrossed his arms, surprised to find himself still in one piece, and blinked as his eyes recovered from the blinding light. Standing before him and the crowd of amazons behind him was Urd, her long silver hair fluttering in a non-existent breeze as her magic surrounded her. The shield she had used to cover them from Amaterasu's blast dissipated as quickly as it had appeared, and the eldest Norn glanced over her shoulder. "You all right, Ranma?"
The pigtailed martial artist nodded, glaring at Amaterasu, who was looking more disappointed than regretful.
"This is going too far, Amaterasu. I don't care if you're going on a power-trip, or just want to blow something up, but you're not going around killing innocent people," Urd hissed.
Ranma swore he could hear Shampoo whisper behind him. "Maybe it that time of the month for her?"
He quickly tuned his friend out and turned to face the fallen goddess behind him. "You talk about helping us and preserving life…you know what? Spare me the bullcrap sermon. You're not going around saving lives. You killed Ucchan, and because of you, they killed Cologne, and who knows how many others!" Ranma's eyes flared with anger. "You're just trying to rationalize your own greed, like your mother is. You know what?" Ranma spat at her. "Nothing sickens me like a hypocrite."
Amatsu's red eyes lit up in anger, her lips twisting in a demented smirk. "Yet, you cannot possibly tell me my mother has been good to you mortals? I bring back change, chaos, rebirth; things that have been lost to both gods and mortals for eons, because we've become too complacent. What has my mother done since my imprisonment? Tell me, mother. Tell them what you have been doing. Did you answer the prayers of the mothers of dying children? Did you do your duty as the goddess of the sun, your duty to bring life to Midgard? Answer me!"
"I answer to no one!" Amaterasu roared, her aura exploding around her. "I have no duty to the mortals, but they to me! They are mine to do with as I will! If I want them to die, they have no choice but to obey and die. It is only by my will that they live. It is my pantheon, my country! Their lives, however worthless, are mine!"
Ranma's gaze fixated on the angry sun goddess, the anger in his own blue eyes bleeding into his aura as it turned from its usual gold to a deep reddish-black. He opened his mouth to respond, but Urd beat him to it.
"You're wrong, Amaterasu. You're wrong. You're not all-powerful, you know. Not even Father is. Not even Father can fix the destiny of mortals, not even he can decide when it is time for someone to die." Urd's voice dropped to a harsh whisper. "Not even Father can break their spirit."
The sungoddess laughed coldly. "You must be joking. All that time you spend on Midgard must have dulled your wits, Urd." Her cold smile turned unpleasant. "What would you expect from a failed goddess whose weakling sister falls in love with a mortal? If I wanted to, I could take your sister's happiness right here and now, and nothing these mortals around us could do would stop me. Your sister is weak, and so are you. We can crush Midgard with a mere thought. These insects are nothing to us."
Urd snarled, but a hand on her shoulder turned her around, her green eyes fixing on blue-grey ones. "First things first, Urd. We have to make sure she," Ranma jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Amatsu, "doesn't get away first. Then we can deal with the rest." The pigtailed martial artist glared at Amaterasu, and stepped aside, pulling Urd with him.
The Japanese sungoddess took the opening, and a burst of raw sunlight streaked across the ground, only to slam into a defensive barrier as her wayward daughter spun her own blade around herself.
Ranma pulled Urd back towards Shampoo, Ryoga, and Nodoka, always keeping an eye on the lightshow before them. The amazons around them had long since backed off, staring in horror at the display before them even as they tended to their wounded. Once Ranma reached his mother, he swayed and collapsed to his knees. Nodoka's eyes opened wide in fright, and she knelt next to her son, tearing strips off her kimono to bind the numerous cuts.
"We've got to be careful," Urd advised as she charged a shield spell around their small group, while Ryoga and Shampoo eyed both the combatants and the amazons around them warily. "Last time they fought, they sank Atlantis."
"An entire continent?" Ryoga nearly choked on the goddess's statement.
"One way or another, we have to find a way to end this quickly, before they start bringing out the big guns." Ranma stood, bracing himself against his mother.
Urd narrowed her eyes as she cast a quick healing spell on him. "This isn't like anything you've faced before, Ranma. Those two aren't Saffron, or Herb, or even Firkraag. Amaterasu is a goddess first class, unlimited, and so is her daughter. Add to that, they both draw their power from the sun, which means Amaterasu packs almost as much raw power as the Allmighty himself." The platinum-haired goddess put up a hand to silence Ranma's protest, and continued. "Saffron is strong, but he's only a Phoenix, a fire elemental demi-god. Firkraag was a demon first class, but when you fought him, Yggdrasil was down, and so were his regenerative abilities and his potential for channelling power. If he hadn't been trying to crash Yggdrasil and reset reality, he would've done himself a big disservice by bringing down the system."
"What?" Ranma and Ryoga spun to face her.
"Don't be surprised. Every immortal has a certain level of regenerative abilities coded into their being by Yggdrasil. If the system hadn't been down, Setsuna's attack would've done little more than scratch Lenneth, and you would never have been able to overload Firkraag with raw energy."
"That means…"
"As a goddess first class, unlimited, well…you saw what happened when Shampoo stabbed her." Urd pointedly glanced at the discarded sword.
Ranma clenched his fists as the battle of wills before them intensified, the light from both the beams and the shields almost unbearably bright. "There has to be a way. We've got to do something before they start blowing up half of China."
"There's nothing we can do, kiddo. I'm not even close to their power levels, and as strong as you are, neither are you. If either of us get involved in there, it's going to be a quick, painful death."
Ryoga snorted. "If we don't do anything, we're all gonna die, anyway. How did Amaterasu get her last time?"
Urd frowned as she struggled to remember. "I'm not really sure. Something blocked their powers, and then she hit Amatsu with a sealing program embedded in an arrow."
"This one?" Nodoka helpfully offered said weapon, and the goddess of the past stared in surprise as she recognized the seal on the arrowtip.
"Yeah. Where did you get it?"
"Her temple." Ranma snarled as he watched the two goddesses trade energy blasts. "I think she also left a message behind. What did it say again? Something about it being dark?"
"Since they draw their power from the sun, it makes sense," Urd mused, "but what can block out all of the sunlight? It's got to be something special, or she'd loose her powers at night."
"Can't you just look it up in that computer of yours?" Ryoga offered out of the blue. The lost boy shrugged as everyone stared at him. "What?"
"It's classified information. Only Kami-sama has access to that." Ryoga's face fell.
Ranma growled. "What do you mean? You're a goddess! Just go up there and pull some piece of rock in front of the damn sun or something!"
The silver-haired goddess glared at him in return. "Do you know how hard it is to affect celestial bodies? Only Kami-sama can do that, and it's not like I can just go up there and ask him to move a moon for me!"
"Why not? It's not like the fate of the world depends on it, you know," Ryoga added sarcastically.
"It's not that," Urd told him, her tone softening, almost apologetic. "But Amatsu is right, in a way. The gods have become more distant from the events on Midgard with every passing moment. Times have changed, we are no longer actively involved in what occurs here, and some don't want to be. They don't care anymore, kiddo."
"What do you mean, they don't care?" Nodoka bristled.
Urd sighed. "The gods…well, most of us don't think mortals are really worth it. Only a few, who've really lived here, seen the things you can do, seen the miracles you can perform, know what you're truly capable of. Most just think they're so far above you that whatever happens down here isn't their concern. I'm afraid to say even Amatera-chan only really cares about her station anymore." The goddess shrugged in resignation. "They spend more time squabbling amongst themselves than they do anything else."
"How come?" Shampoo wondered. She was seeing her tribe's matron goddess first hand, something that only a few years ago she would have felt honored to see. Something she would have killed to see, but those times were long over, and her admiration for the goddess of the sun was fading with every passing moment.
"Way back when," Urd chuckled slightly at the fairytale-ish beginning, "the gods would walk the Earth. They would have their favorite people, and watch over them, making sure they fulfilled their destiny. Some would just come down and live here, just to be around them. We used to celebrate with them, live with them, love and marry them. We'd fight along them, and they along us. Back then, there were demi-gods, born from the union of a god and mortal, who would be so strong they earned their ascension into our ranks. There would be people who were just so strong, without any divine blood, that they could rival our strength on the battlefield. They would hurt us, and we would retreat to heal, just like the other mortals. But they were there, and they could challenge us, if they so wished."
The silver-haired goddess smiled softly in remembrance. "That time is long since gone. The time of warriors has passed, and as much as culture and technology progressed, humans lost that strength, lost the will to fight for what they now perceive to be theirs by right." She shrugged. "Face it, kiddo. Most humans couldn't even last a millisecond against a god these days."
"So," Ranma concluded, "we need a miracle, and we can't get one?"
"'Fraid so, kiddo."
Urd was about to continue when the light all around them dimmed. Staring up into the sky in wonderment, they watched as a large shadow crossed the sun, moving into its path high up at zenith, until all that was left was a brilliant corona of light shining around the moon.
"What the-" Urd's gaze fixated on the two fighting goddesses before them even as their magic dissipated harmlessly into the air. "Someone up there heard your prayers, kiddo. Hurry and take the shot!"
Wordlessly, Nodoka handed the arrow over to Shampoo, and the amazon expertly notched the arrow and took aim. "Die," she whispered as let go of her bow's string, and the arrow whistled through the air.
Alarmed by the sudden loss of their powers, mother and daughter had leapt apart, their swords held at the ready. Amatsu turned at the sound of the arrow's release, narrowly dodging to the side. The arrow's tip grazed her ribs instead of piercing her heart, and she spun around, her blade held before her defensively.
Ranma charged at the fallen goddess with a roar that shook the ground, Ryoga and Shampoo only a step behind him. The pigtailed martial artist twisted around Amatsu's slash, delivering a devastating spin-kick to her back as he passed. Ryoga followed with a shoulder charge that took her by surprise and slammed into the fallen goddess with the force of a freight train. Amatsu tumbled back, rolling on the ground to recover her footing when Shampoo struck, the twin bonbori she had retrieved from hidden weapons space lashing out at her.
The ground exploded into shrapnel from the force of the amazon's attack, but Amatsu had already rolled to the side and to her feet. She didn't have much time to recover her breath, however, when the ground in front of her exploded, and Shampoo vaulted over the crouching Ryoga as the lost boy recovered from the Bakusai Tenketsu.
With a savage yell, Shampoo threw herself at the fallen goddess, using Ryoga's back as a springboard to propel her forward in a high somersault that carried her just over their opponent's head. Using the opportunity to strike, Shampoo hammered down her bonbori, only to have Amatsu bring her blade about to deflect the attack. Landing in a crouch, Shampoo was about to charge again when the fallen goddess was driven back by a massive, red-tinted ki blast.
Ranma dashed into her defenses, opening up her guard with a cry of "Moko Kaimon Ha!" The kick hit its mark, driving Amatsu back further. The pigtailed martial artist pressed his assault, rushing forward while she was off-balance.
A sickening crack echoed around the village square, along with Ranma's whispered voice. "Moko Kaimon Ha, revised: Seikyo no Toguchi."
He released the arms of the fallen goddess, having wrapped his own around them as he tore them out of their sockets, and removed his knee from where it was embedded in her throat as he pulled her forward into his attack.
The sword she had been holding clattered to the ground noisily, and the silence was broken. Urd rushed forward to begin a sealing spell, leaving Ryoga and Shampoo to help a tired Ranma away from the makeshift arena. The two shuddered at the look in the pigtailed boy's eyes; it was haunted, as if he had come close to insanity and just barely managed to hold on.
"No! Wait!" Urd's startled shout drew their attention back towards the goddesses, and they watched in horror as Amaterasu drove her katana through her daughter's prone body. The daughter of the sun disintegrated in a flash of light as her soul was returned to be reborn and her powers returned to the sun.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Amaterasu?" Urd shouted into the elder goddess's face. The Japanese goddess merely smirked.
"Why, Urd, I simply took care of a problem. She will never bother us again, and Midgard is safe once more." The mockery in her tone was unmistakable.
Ranma gritted his teeth and swallowed a nasty reply. This was, after all, the outcome they had sought. The fallen goddess was gone, Cologne and Ukyo's deaths avenged, and the world was safe once more. He snorted. Yeah, right. But it's not gonna bring back Ucchan and granny. An idea floated into his mind. That's so crazy it might actually work. He glanced at Amaterasu. That is, if she actually cares. If she doesn't, I'll make her care.
The pigtailed boy stepped forward, pushing past Urd as he moved to stand in front of the goddess of the sun.
"What do you want?" Her tone wasn't exactly friendly, either.
"Bring them back." Ranma hissed. "Cologne, Ucchan, Perfume, everyone who died. Bring them back."
Amaterasu merely smirked condescendingly. "And what makes you think I have that power, mortal?"
"Cut the crap, will ya?" Ranma glared at her angrily. "You're Amaterasu, you're the goddess of life. So give life! Give it back to them! It's because of you they're dead in the first place!"
"Even if I had the power to do so, don't you think that there's a little problem?" She pointed up, where the moon was slowly moving out of the way of the sun. "My powers are still sealed."
"Then we wait for you to get them back, but you're gonna bring them back!"
A cold smile slowly spread across her face. "And what makes you think I care, mortal? I need not heed your commands. I need not obey you, but you me." She gestured as the shadows lifted with her words, and the sword Nodoka had been carrying floated up, settling in Ranma's startled hands.
"That is, after all, a sword offered to me. I have given it my blessing, and in return, its wielder obeys my command."
The pigtailed boy clutched the blade in a death grip. "I don't care. Bring them back." Tears of anger and frustration began leaking from his eyes as he tried to stare her down.
"I have no duty to you, mortal." She turned around, walking away. A primal cry of outrage from behind her turned her around, to stare straight into the incoming blade of the sword she had just put in the pigtailed martial artist's hands.
The blade passed through her torso harmlessly, and she extended a hand, blasting sword and wielder back a dozen feet.
Ranma rolled to his feet, swaying slightly as pain shot through his chest where the blast had left the flesh scorched. He glared at her angrily, his aura flickering to life around him. Amaterasu merely smirked.
"Impressive, isn't it? That blast should have killed you, yet that sword you are carrying is imbued with a part of my power. Power that has kept you alive and protected you until now. Attacking someone who is so clearly your superior is nothing but a foolish enterprise, boy." The sungoddess sneered. "You have no choice but to obey me, for that sword binds your life to my will."
"Oh yeah?" Ranma snorted, gathering his ki around him.
"Yes." Amaterasu smiled as she extended a hand. A bright beam of light extended, encompassing the pigtailed martial artist. A look of utter concentration passed his face, and then he began to scream.
"Give up, boy. You cannot possibly resist my will. You will do as I command."
Ranma writhed as he rose into the air from the magic surrounding him, pain searing through his mind as Amaterasu forced her will onto him.
You will obey me yet, boy, he heard her voice echo in his mind, impossibly loud as it droned out all other thoughts. My word is your law. My will is your command.
He screamed, but never heard his voice. His aura burned around him, warring with the magic, but he never saw. His flesh began to burn, but he never noticed the smell. I will not surrender. No one can force me to do anything. No one!
You are mine to do with as I please.
I'm not! You can't control me!
I'm a goddess, foolish boy. You have no choice.
I'm not letting you!
It matters not what you believe. What matters is that I have strength that you do not.
I'm not letting you!
If you will not let me control you, then I shall break you.
I won't be broken, I won't be beaten!
I have broken countless men stronger than you, boy. You are no different.
I never loose!
You are like all mortals. Clinging to that foolish thing called hope.
I…
Your hopes are in vain, mortal.
…don't…
You will do as I command, or you will die.
…LOOSE!
The light surrounding the pigtailed boy imploded violently, disintegrating into motes of light as the beam was interrupted. Ranma slumped to the ground in exhaustion.
"You all right?" Ryoga's voice caused him to look up, and freeze in shock as the lost boy stood in between him and Amaterasu, brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to ward off her mental assault.
"Ryoga you idiot, get out of the way!" Ranma tried to shout, but all that left his throat was a weak croak. The lost boy understood him anyway.
And he smiled. "Not gonna happen. We gotta stick together and show her who's boss, right?" The strain on the lost boy grew stronger, and it was showing. He was forcing the words through clenched teeth, and sweat was pouring down his face. His muscles heaved as if carrying a great load, and he shivered as the goddess continued to probe his very soul.
Ranma rose to his feet, taking hold of the sakabato that had served him so well. Stepping towards the goddess of the sun, he held it out in front of him, causing Amaterasu to interrupt her attack as she glanced at him curiously.
"It was only a matter of time, after all," she smirked. Her smirk widened as she noticed Urd's shocked look, and Nodoka's angry scowl. "He is but a weak mortal. What can he hope to do?"
"This." The voice was quiet, almost a whisper, and the word went almost unheard. The metallic snap that came after it, however, seemed impossibly loud in the silence that followed.
Ranma tossed the broken halves of the sacred sword at her feet. "That is what I think of you and your 'divinity,'" he spat, clenching his fists. "Your daughter was right. You're all a bunch of arrogant, egotistical bastards who care for nothing but themselves."
"How dare you!" Amaterasu threw a blast of energy at the pigtailed boy, only to stand in shocked surprise as it passed through him harmlessly.
"Surprised?" Ranma whispered. "Your goddess powers can't hurt me. You can't hurt anyone who doesn't believe in you. You think you're strong, you think you know all, you think you can control us, but in truth you're nothing without people who believe in you and worship you. You're nothing if you can't force people to sacrifice to you and pray to you."
Amaterasu hissed in anger and left in a flash of light.
Once she was gone, Ranma sank to the ground. "Dangerous game you're playing there, kiddo," Urd noted as the group gathered around the pigtailed boy. "You're right in that her goddess powers can't hurt you, but her magic still can."
"There's a difference?" Ryoga asked.
"Yeah." Urd nodded briefly as she cast a healing spell over Ranma's newly acquired wound. "Careful, kiddo. I'm not sure you want a potion for that." She chuckled at his face. "Just kidding. Anyway, there's two kinds of magic we goddesses can control. Our own, innate divine magic, and the raw power we can channel into spells. The latter comes from various sources. For Amaterasu, it's the sun. Zeus over in the Greek pantheon uses lightning, and Raiden and Fujin get their powers from storms. It's kinda complicated, but that's basically reserved for the more powerful gods that have their own domains, like the sun, storms, and death."
The platinum-haired woman shrugged as she adjusted her robes. "Divine magic was designed to create and defend life. It can never harm anyone who doesn't believe in the gods anymore. It's kinda hard to explain, it's like it affects only those who actually believe that it can affect them, you get what I'm saying?"
"Sort of. It's kinda like you thinking you're going to get hit, just because she's a goddess and you can't do anyhting about it, right?" Ranma sounded dejected as he sat, staring at his hands listlessly.
"Yeah. But be careful, especially of those domain gods. They can draw a tremedous amount of power from their sources, and arcane magic can blast just about everything. So don't get too confident."
Nodoka placed a hand on her son's shoulder. He glanced up, and she pulled him into a tight embrace. "It'll be all right, son." The Saotome matriach extended her hand to Shampoo, and the amazon thought for only a moment before abandoning her weapons and joining the three-way hug.
The three remained like that for a long time, sharing comfort as they finally allowed the thrill of battle to fade away and the grief over the fallen to surface.
V--------------------V
"They were more than just great fighters. They were friends, family." His voice, albeit shaky, carried clear through the evening air as the sun faded behind him, and the assembled Joketsuzoku Amazons held their silence in respect to those whose lives had been lost.
"Ukyo was my first friend. At times, she was my only friend. Turns out she was more than that, more than I realized at the time. She was the sister I would have loved to adopt. She was funny, at times, even when she was mad; she had this…this determination to see things through, just to spite you and show you she could do it. She never, ever gave up."
Ranma took a moment to compose himself. "And Cologne, excuse me, Khu Lon," he started again in accented Mandarin, "when she arrived, all I saw was this three-hundred year old mummy. She proved me wrong, really quickly. She showed me that despite her age, despite the frailty of her body, if the will is strong, so are you. She never gave up on me, either. She challenged me with tasks that seemed impossible, and she taught me that the impossible is merely something no one has ever tried before. She was a teacher, at first. An annoying one at that, but I respected her for that."
The pigtailed boy paused for a moment. "But she was more than that. She treated me like an equal. A young child who had much to learn, but an equal nontheless. It's something no one did at the time, and I'm forever grateful for her faith in me. She believed I was able to learn everything she threw at me, and I'm proud to say I have been her student. She was a friend, as well, and probably as close to a grandmother as I'll ever have." He cleared his throat and released the hold he had on his aura. It was its usual deep, rich amber color, only this time it was tinged with a hint of crimson, making it the color of red gold. It flowed around him, gently outlining his body as he spoke.
"They gave their lives trying to protect others. For that, we honor them, and we return their bodies to the flames of passion and life that burned so brightly in both." With a roar, he launched a ki-blast at the small pyre that had been erected in the village square, setting it ablaze.
They stood, watching silently as the flames consumed all.