DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, Oh! My Goddess, or any other property which might show up. What I do own is the idea for this story, the concept of the Flower Knights (but not the individual characters who become one), and story elements unique to this tale.

That Old Time Punishment:

Opening of the Eyes

It was raining, naturally. Although for once a certain pig tailed youth didn't mind the rain. It wasn't triggering his transformation any longer. Which was a good thing. And the biggest irritant, wet cloths, was no longer an issue either. Despite the pouring rain Ranma's cloths were bone dry. He still wasn't quite sure how that worked.

Up ahead was the school. With a sigh the pig tailed youth approached. May as well get this over with. There was Kuno, as usual. He was already starting in on his latest speech slash death threat. Ranma wondered when the idiot would ever figure out he's not good enough to win. Prob never. He's too deluded.

"Hey Kuno, ya want to know the secret of the 'pig tailed girl'? Pay close attention. If ya attack me, or even stop focusing ya will never learn it. And if ya do attack me, or try to grab her ya'll never see her again."

"I, the Blue Thun..."

"Kuno, shut up and pay attention," Ranma interupted.

The faerie boy focused on his body, and let the change come over him. He slowed it down though, giving Kuno plenty of time to witness the metamorphosis. Instead of the split second it normally was, he extended the transformation to about thirty seconds. Any longer, and his experiments showed the change began to actually hurt.

"I AM the pig tailed girl. There is no separate person. It is me, Saotome Ranma. It always has been." Even as he spoke the change back to male began. "I ain't no 'foul sorcerer'. Don't know any magic. I picked up a curse in China. Until recently I had no control over it."

A glance at the 'blue thunder' showed that he was stuck mid rant. Takawaki's mouth was open, his katana was raised into the air. The fact he'd brought live steel to the school was alarming. The fact he'd done it during a thunder storm was astounding. The Saotome boy backed up for safety. Even he knew what could happen when carrying metal during a storm.

"If ya kill me, ya kill the 'pig tailed girl'. If ya date her, ya date me. We are the same person Kuno. Everyone in the school knows. Hell, everyone in Nermia except you and Kodochi know. And ya both saw me change several times. Even the blind duck boy knows."

To illustrate the point, and try hammering it home Ranma willed himself to change from male to female and back several times. Each time he held the gender for ten seconds before changing back. Since the delusional swordsman still hadn't moved, Ranma decided to get to class. Guess I broke him.

XxXxX

The bell rang, and Ranma jumped out a window. Oh great, Akane's coming my way. Probably has some toxic food for me to eat. With a grim determination he approached the Tendo girl. He knew she'd try forcing whatever biohazard she'd cooked up this time down his throat. And if he refused, or got sick she'd knock him into low earth orbit. Again.

Before she could speak Ranma interrupted. "I'll try your cooking Akane, but only on one condition. You have to share it with me. That means you have to eat it too. And no crap 'bout how it must taste heavenly so you don't gotta taste it yourself."

For the first time he noticed a shimmering near Akane. It felt familiar. A glance to his left showed Ranma why. He had a shimmer like it near him. The shimmer was exactly where he normally reached into 'stuff space'. A useful technique he'd learned after many fights with a certain nearly blind amazon. Did she have such a storage pocket too?

"Akane, where do you get the spices you use when cooking?"

The short tempered girl blinked. "I just reach for them, and they're there. Why?"

He reached out for the shimmer near Akane, and found his hand vanishing. Huh, he thought. When he withdrew his hand, Ranma was holding a box of rat poison. Again and again he reached into the shimmering. He withdrew a bottle filled with what smelled like gasoline, a bottle labeled 'pan galactic gargleblaster base', a bag filled with 'powdered goblin toes', a box labeled 'nightshade', a rack of faerie spices, and other objects. Most of which he knew were extremely toxic. The rack of spices Ranma set aside from everything else.

"Are these what you use when cooking?" he asked.

There was already a large crowd by now. Rumors had been spreading all morning, and without Nabiki to buy information from, the rumor mill had started to stall. So everyone decided to come to the source, for once.

"Of course," Was Akane's declaration.

"Then I take it back, you wont be eating whatever you made. Now pay attention. This is not a cooking sauce, it is gasoline. People buy it to fuel their car. It is flammable, and toxic to eat. This is a poison. People use it to kill rats. It will kill a human too. See this skull and crossbones on the box? That tells you it is dangerous.

"Did you read the label on this bag? It is not a spice. It is used to cast lethal curses. Right here in big bold words it says 'ingesting may cause internal organs to be consumed in hellfire'. Use this in cooking, and you are trying to kill whoever eats it. These are razor blades, they cut. They are not crouton or anything else you cook with. I'm not even sure what half this stuff is, but almost all of it has warnings not ta eat them.

"And I'd love to know where you got an entire rack of faerie spices. They can have... unusual effects on food. As well as any human that eats the food. Sure does add to the flavor though. Mixing them however is a very bad idea. Last time I saw someone do that, the stew climbed out of the pot and attacked me."

With that Ranma added the rack of spices to his own 'stuff space'. He'd have to look through them later to see what types Akane had. The safer once he decided might be fun to use. Not to mention having foods that he actually thought tasted good again. But no matter. He could see Akane's temper rising.

Her blazing red battle aura sprang into existence, and Ranma blinked in surprise. He could see magic woven into the aura, waiting to be triggered. Powerful magic that he'd seen previously during his training of the magical girls. The shape of her aura hinted at what the magic would do. Her battle aura looked like a bird. Then she started to charge the pig tailed youth.

"WHY YOU SQUAWK!"

It had happened again. Akane's form vanished, and her cloths fell to the ground. Nearby, the strange event seemed to finally bring Kuno out of his state of shock. It had taken all morning for what Tatawaki had seen to finally sink in. Even still he was having trouble integrating the revelation into his world view. A man just could not become a woman.

The evidence of his eyes was irrefutable. Kuno did his best to refute it however. The foul sorcerer must have cast a spell. Ranma knew no magic. He must have used magic. Ranma is a martial artist. Ranma is a sorcerer... Kuno's mind still tried to dispute what his eyes claimed. "Everyone but you knows"

It made no sense at all. The pig tailed girl couldn't be a boy. It was impossible. It was...Since when is the fierce Akane a parrot? The foul sorcerer must have... Kuno's mind boggled when his nemesis calmly gathered up the stricken girl's cloths.

"Come on 'Kane, let's get you home. Geeze, this is the eighth time this week. I'm startin ta think it's yer temper causin ya to change."

As the pig tailed boy carried a parrot away Kuno finally started to move. Nabiki will know something. But the merchant has not been seen in weeks. Coming to a decision, the misinformed teen stalked towards the nearest classmen. Kuno didn't know her name, nor care. After all, one didn't need to know the names of the hired help.

"You," Kuno declared, "will tell me everything you know of the pig tailed girl."

The girl narrowed her eyes at him. After working for Tendo Nabiki, there were three things that could alarm her. Kuno Tatawaki was not one of them. She reached into a pocket, and turned on the tape recorder she habitually carried. I've seen what happened to Tendo-San. No way I'm gonna risk that.

"Or what?" The girl asked in a calm voice. "In case you haven't noticed, information on Saotome Ranma is no longer for sale. Neither are pictures. Although I'll give you a hint for free. You'll have to find some other way to fuel your obsession over his curse."

Saotome... curse? No, it is not possible! That foul sorcerer must have spirited her away! Enslaved her with his evil magic! Kuno overheard the science club plotting to sabatage the sprinkler system. Why would they do such a thing? To 'trigger that wonderful curse of Ranma's' it seemed. Everywhere Kuno went he overheard people talking about it.

The boys for the most part discussed plans to force the curse's transformation. A few girls had similar plans. Most however were more concerned about keeping Saotome out of the girl's bathrooms and shower. Over and over he heard talk of Ranma and a curse. Had the palace always had such talk?

That afternoon the famous (in his own mind) Kuno Tatawaki returned home. It was strange. He'd not seen the lovely Shampoo lately. Or that demon cat which held her captive. When he entered his room, Kuno frowned. A red head he didn't recognize was standing by the bed. She wore a gown of leaves, and a silver tiara.

"I know you, Kuno." The woman stated. "Time and again you have wronged my people. My gifts you abuse for selfish goals. My subjects you assault in mind and body. You see yet refuse understanding. You know, yet deny truth. From this day forth you shall see things as they truly are. Your insanity will no longer be a shield against truth."

With that proclamation the woman held out a glowing hand. The green light enveloped Kuno Tatawaki. It became brighter and brighter. Finally the light coalesced on the teen's left arm. It became more and more solid. Finally Tatawaki was left holding a leaf shaped shield. It seemed to be attached to his arm somehow. No matter how hard he tried, the Kuno son couldn't remove it.

"What hath thy done, queen of faerie?" He asked, blinking.

The woman's eyes went wide in shock. This had not been her intent. Her mystic sight told her exactly what had happened. She had attempted to purge his insanity, leaving the idiot to face the harsh reality. Instead she had turned his insanity into a physical shield, while giving him True Sight. She'd never intended to give the idiot the ability to pierce all illusions and see the true nature of anything he beheld.

"I am not a queen," The woman said curtly before leaving. Am I?