Ceremony Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½.

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Finally the Tendo sisters had begun the ceremony to restore the shisa to their human forms. Each sister stood on the right or left side of a large circle outlined by twelve sentimental objects. Inside the circle, on either side of the path facing the temple gate sat Ranma and Akane. Kasumi and Nabiki had both closed their eyes and begun chanting.

The chanting of the two sisters lulled Ranma into a meditative state. He could hear Akane breathing deeply and slowly, her scent drifting to him.

As calm as he was his eyes still widened when he noticed the demon shadow sprite had returned. She wasn't alone, either. Several more shadow sprites, heedless ones, and a couple hulking forms of what had to be ogres were also at the gate.

Kasumi and Nabiki continued chanting, oblivious. Ranma's frantically looked to the side, catching Akane's look of alarm before the chanting took a hold of him. A profound sense of calm overrode his worry about the evil spirits, and he suspected the same was true of Akane.

The gathering at the gate charged forward only to slam into an invisible wall where the stone shisa stood. It was only then that Ranma caught the faintest whiff of their rotten scent. He also noticed that their entire attack and struggle was completely silent. A few of the heedless ones burst on impact with the barrier, but that didn't stop the others from violently thrashing to go forward.

A surreal feeling enveloped Ranma as the Tendo sister's chanting gained pitch; he felt his weight lifted despite not moving his feet from the ground. Light seemed to pulse through him and Akane.

The demon shadow sprite grabbed one of her fellows and shoved them, burning, into the barrier before her. Following the remains she rammed and squeezed her horns and leathery wings through. The demon sprite stood for a moment panting on the other side of the stone shisa, completely ignoring her comrades' struggle behind her. A malicious grin spread across her face.

Ranma felt the light shift his form upright, in the approximation of a human standing.

One of the ogres slammed his fist, shoulder and head through the gap the demon sprite had come through before becoming stuck as the hole closed around him.

Ranma felt as if he were floating, his form getting steadily higher despite the feel of the soil beneath his feet. He closed his eyes, the sound of chanting filling his head completely, and chasing out all other thoughts and concerns.

A shriek cut through his conscious. Ranma tried to blink but light filled his vision and forced his eyes closed. The scream became shriller and he realized it came from his side. Where Akane was. Just after the thought startled him he felt as if his head slammed into a stone ceiling. The force sent him crumpling to the ground, dulling the startled shouts of Kasumi and Nabiki.

As the pain receded Ranma shakily pushed himself upright with his front paws. Ranma looked downwards. His arms were still coated with fur and ended in large paws, the weight of his mane was still in place, and he could still feel a tail at the end of his spine. The ceremony had failed.

Quickly, Ranma glanced to the side where Akane was. Only she wasn't there. Nabiki stood just beyond the circle her face filled with shock and horror as she stared where her shisa sister had been moments before.

The sound of chuckling drew Ranma's attention toward the demon shadow sprite, which stood just inside the circle. "Only one shisa left? How convenient, The Mighty One must be favoring me."

As she spoke the ogre finally forced himself through the barrier and Kasumi yelped.

Ranma jumped to his feet, digging his claws in the soil and felt his fur rise. He had no idea where Akane was. A hollow, panicky echo was creeping into the edges of his mind. With that feeling fueling him he let out a ground shaking roar.

The force of his roar threw the demon sprite and ogre back into the barrier. Unprepared for a second impact with the barrier their bodies started flaming. Their comrades who had not made it through the barrier fled.

Before either the ogre or the shadow sprite could recover again Ranma charged and forced the demon sprite further into the barrier to smoke. The foul stench of the sprite filled his nose, but Ranma grit his teeth and shoved.

A cry diverted his attention. The ogre had recovered and was stalking the Tendo sisters. Nabiki was throwing the discarded items that had made the ceremonial circle at the ogre, trying to divert him from grabbing Kasumi.

Abandoning the demon sprite for now Ranma pounced on the ogre's back. Immediately the ogre swung around trying to knock him off. Ranma dodged a fist, and sunk his teeth into the ogre's shoulder. The arm went limp as the ogre let out a yell and Ranma jumped off, sure to keep himself between Kasumi and the ogre.

Ranma could see burns appearing where the ogre had previously touched the barrier. Roaring once again, Ranma sent the ogre flying into the barrier. Before he could do anything else, to his astonishment the burned demon sprite shoved the ogre the rest of the way through the barrier and followed in the temporary hole created. On the other side of the barrier the ogre crumbled to dust while the demon sprite took off not looking back.

Panting, Ranma swept the yard with his eyes. Other than the scattered items from their ceremony and Kasumi and Nabiki's shocked expressions, nothing betrayed the attack.

Akane was nowhere to be seen, either. Ranma, unconscious of what he was doing, began trying to catch her scent in the air, but he could find no trace of her. The empty feeling was growing, engulfing his senses, making them sharper and narrower.

Kasumi hesitantly spoke, asking her sister, "Wh-what happened? Where is Akane?"

Ranma's eyes snapped to Nabiki awaiting her response. When the middle sister could do no more than shake her head, Ranma swung around and began toward the Temple-Palace steps. It was time to get some answers, starting with where Akane was.

With each step the more determined Ranma became. His desperation grew and twisted to anger. Anger was better than the sick empty feeling in his chest. What had The Great One done? Ruining their lives piece by piece, changing their forms into foreign creatures to do His bidding, and then ripping Akane away from him?

Ranma began to run, ignoring Nabiki and Kasumi's yells behind him. Even if The Great One was not responsible for Akane's disappearance (which the rational part of his mind insisted) the God owed it to Ranma to bring her back. Guilt stabbed through the shisa leaving a bitter taste; if they hadn't attempted the ceremony at all Akane would still be with him. Anger chased guilt, The Great One had changed them into shisa, He should have expected them to try and return to humans and stopped them.

Half slamming, half ripping the door as he came to it, Ranma raced past startled high priests toward the center of the large room. He didn't notice that he had not frozen in the servers' presence. He barely heard their startled exclamations as he muscled through, or Arata's call of "The shisa is alive!"

Stopping just before The Great One, Ranma hissed, "Where is she?!" The male shisa failed to notice the subtle changes in the Godling's appearance; He was taller, His face leaner, and His eyes now held an otherworldly quality. He no longer looked like Ranma Saotome's identical twin.

When the Godling didn't answer immediately, Ranma continued, "Where is Akane?! You must know! Where did she go?!" The shisa ignored the arrival of Kasumi and Nabiki. In his agitation Ranma had started to pace and circle, keeping his eyes intent on The Great One.

"Male shis-"

"She is gone! I cannot find her! Where is Akane?!"

Someone attempted to pull him back, but Ranma shook him off growled at The Great One, "You have taken so much from me, do not take her as well."

"Ranma." The Godling's voice stilled the room. Ranma stopped stunned that The Great One called him by his name.

"Ranma. I tried to distract you. I would have returned your human forms if you had waited." Here The Great One cocked His head then closed His eyes. His form blurred, shrinking slightly, feminine curves forming and black hair turning red. Simultaneously, Ranma felt his fur recede, his limbs and spine reshape and the soft feeling of his shirt and trousers return until he stood before the Godling fully reverted to his human body.

Gasps came from their audience but he ignored them. Stunned Ranma only stared into the unworldly eyes of the redhead. Currently She was the same height as him.

The Godling continued, Her eyes piercing, "The ceremony you attempted sent Akane back to her physical remains, which would have been pushed by the tide toward the shore. I will need your assistance to recover her."

Ranma opened and closed his mouth, overwhelmed by so many emotions and shocks. He opened and closed his fists too, running his thumbs over his human fingers. "O-of course. What are we waiting for?"

"Unfortunately," the Godling's mouth twitched, "I need you in your other form to best find her."

Before Ranma could ask what She meant the Godling's form blurred again as She returned to male form once more and Ranma automatically shifted back into a male shisa.

Dazed Ranma just sat as The Great One proceeded to order the servers to prepare for His upcoming travel. He only shook himself out of it when Kasumi hugged him from behind, "It will all work out Ranma. You will find Akane and then both of you will be human again."

Looking his pseudo-sister in the eye, Ranma found tears and hope shinning. In sharp contrast, Nabiki behind them looked guilty and haunted. Unsure what to do Ranma just said, "I will find Akane." He wasn't sure if he was reassuring himself or the sisters, but he felt his determination grow once again.

….

Akane floundered when she found herself once again under water. Light shone down on her, orienting her to the surface. Her feet hit the bottom of the sea and she instinctively kicked off, jumping to the surface, hampered by weights around her ankles and one wrist. Despite the weights she surfaced and took a deep gasp of air before she sunk under water again. In her brief instance above water she had glimpsed a shoreline not far away. On her second jump to the surface she angled toward that shore. In this manner Akane hopped her way to the shallows where she finally caught her breath.

Gasping, Akane trudged toward the shore line, taking in her surroundings. She recognized the place; this was near where she had been sacrificed a month previous. She raised her hands, her human hands, before her face. She was human again. The weights that had hindered her were the chains she had worn when she was sacrificed, the cuff on her right wrist having already fallen off. With some wiggling, squeezing and scrapping she managed to slide the cuff off her left wrist as well. She did not know yet how she would remove the chain between her ankles. A shiver ran through her and Akane rubbed her hands along her upper arms as her teeth chattered. What had happened? Their ceremony had obviously sent her back here, but what about the evil spirits that had tried to enter? Most importantly, where was Ranma? What happened to him?

….

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