Chapter 14: The Day A Good Prince Died~
This is the last chapter of "The Legend of Drowning Girl". To be continued in "The Blood Prince"~
In the end, Ranma didn't have the fight of his life that he expected, but he did have to do the hardest thing that he had ever done.
Because that dark and terrible day,the day that Saotome Genma was Judas, the day that Prince Link died,was the day that Ranma became the ultimate warrior, and terror of the Underworld.
"Oh my God..." Cologne gasped, as they rode through the Gates of the Palace of Winds, high in the Mountains of Creation.
Ranma felt his breath totally snatched from his soul.
There in the center of the Palace, seated on a throne made from the skeleton of an eagle, was none other than the Goddess Farore herself, waiting expectantly, but not dressed for battle, for the Prince of Shadows.
Surrounding her, were legions ,upon legions, upon legions of pale warriors, dressed in plate armor made of golden bills, and in their hands were swords in the shape of the Key of Ra, the key to the Temple of the Sun, and of the Dead Which Never Saw Light, and upon their heads were not helmets, but golden hitaikakushi, the triangle head dress of the Dead .These are the Hell Money Dignitaries.
And at her feet was Genma, and about his neck was a giant golden coin, tyed by a red ribbon.
Legions ,upon legions, upon legions, of warriors, too many to stand in the courts of the palace, so many that they rose up on wings made of smoke, and they stood in the Courts of the Airways, and they were held in the Gates of the Wind.
Not to war, but to War Council.
~ "Hail, Prince of Shadows!" Farore called with a laugh.
"Ranma?!" Genma cried, as if in horror.
Link leaped down from his horse.
"WAIT?! AREN'T WE GOING TO FIGHT?!" shouted Ranma, royally confused.
Please...Not this...whispered Zelda into Ranma's mind.
"So ,..."Link laughed, looking around at all of the Dignitaries.
"I ride forth to War, and instead I walk into a Courtroom, a Treaty Parlor, as if the War was already over before it had begun. I am not the fool you take me for, Mistress. I know when I have been betrayed. Genma has sold us out."
"This is a War you cannot win, and you know it too, young Prince. Genma did the righteous thing, the noble thing...He knew that you were doomed. He knew that I am a patient and benevolent queen, and that ,unlike my sister Din ,I will accept servitude over destruction.
And so Genma has sold me the soul of his son, Saotome Ranma, in payment of his debts, as well as in tribute of the lives of your innocents, particularly Tendo Kasumi."
Ranma blanched, white hot with fury. Cologne and Ryoga immediately moved to his side, to defend him.
Link laughed, a shrill , mocking laugh, that rang off the marble walls, and the many pillars of wind, like the sound of steel.
"The Law dictates that only his Prince may surrender him to you. This transaction ,then, is not valid, unless I say that is valid." he replied, coldly.
"If you do not validate it, then I will be forced to wipe you all off the face of the Earth. For Genma has also sold me a great item he acquired in his many wanderings..."
Then Farore stood up, and her great white skirt tumbled to the ground with the sound of rushing winds.
And she held up a great scroll.
Link froze.
Farore laughed.
"You recognize the Book of Fate, Son of Ganon?"
"I do."
"The Book of Fate..." Farore laughed, giddily, "The very life's existance of every soul that ever was, since the High God made Adam from the clay...penned down in haiku. No war you could wage would ever be enough of a battle to gain mastery over what I am able to do now. By owning the book, I own the souls of all who live, and if I wish to win, I merely rewrite Fate, where none of you were ever born, or better, that you love me, that your souls are not your souls, that you bow to me...worship me...
I can make you all whores with the stroke of my pen. I can assure a good future for you, depending on how you serve me. Or I can assure you one too terrible for you to imagine.
Some fates are worse than Hell, young Prince. But...if you surrender the soul of Saotome Ranma, allow me to have him, to do whatever I so well please with him..." (she smiled sickly,and Ranma realized that this probably meant something pretty perverted too)
"Then you will share in the blessing and peace that Genma has ensured for himself, by his obedience..."
Link looked with rage at Genma,and shook his head,
"This fool has done a very serious thing, and put me in a very precarious position.
But ,alas, I cannot allow this transaction, and before you speak, Evil Witch, I shall tell you why.
First off, the soul of Saotome Ranma is not this Fool's to sell.
And secondly the Book of Fate cannot be written in , and the enscription actually change the course of Fate,save that it is written in by the blood of the Accursed One. By my blood. Whatever is written with my Blood, will take permanent effect, and so become the only Fate that truly exists. The Blood of the Accursed One can only belong to one master."
"Then I have already won..."laughed Farore.
"No, you didn't let me finish what I was saying!" Link shouted, and the tone of his voice shut even the arrogant goddess up. Ranma felt like he may be on the verge of a heart attack, knowing where this was going.
"I do not belong to you, because you stole my life. The Master of the Blood can only be the one to whom I give my life. This one must assist me when I commit seppuku. By doing so, he will the Master of my Blood, and so be the only one who can truly command Fate.
Therefore, I call upon King Enma, the Judge of Destinations, to witness my transaction!
For I hereby succeed my blood into the hands of Saotome Ranma, who shall be the supreme warrior of all legends, the Warrior of Time, for I have seen him through the annals of all Time ,while I wove myself into the Curse, and I know that he is worthy..."
Link turned to Ranma ,who had turned chalk- white.
"Wh-what? I don't...I don't think I get it?" he said.
Link nodded.
"You will." he whispered, sadly.
Just then there was a furious wind from the heavens, and the sound of loud shouting and anger .Down out of the sky, astride a great white tiger, road Enma, the King of the Underworld, who chose if mortals go to Paradise or the place of Damnations.
"Who is this that dares disturb my rest?" cried the King, furious.
Link cleared his throat, and held up the hand bearing the Golden Power.
"Hail, King Enma! Permission to speak,Sire."
"...By heaven..it is the Cursed Prince of Time!...Good meetings!...And what is your request, noble warrior?" asked the King of Fury, and even his rage-hideous face smiled kind and graciously at the honorable prince.
"Permission to end my Life, Sire."
There was a silence that shook Time to its core.
"Pardon, young Prince Link? What is your request?"
Link cleared his throat.
"Permission to terminate my spirit, Sire, and so end the Curse, at the last. Permission to die in honor, to commit seppuku, at the end of the Master blade ,that Saotome Ranma will hold the hilt of , and so name him the Prince of Time's Own Blood. To make him the Prince of Time, but not of the Curse. For no one can bear my terrible Curse, your lordship.
Permission to die, in the end, your lordship, and so be ,at last, at peace.
For the only request of Link ,who was the son of Ganon, is a wish for Peace."
The King of the Underworld paused deep in sad thought.
"What you are asking,...is hard to ask...dear prince. For a soul can never entirely be removed from the fabric of Reality. Least of all one whose blood has become the Blood of Time.
If you were to destroy yourself via my granting,destroy the Curse...you will be in fragments. To put you together again, would be almost an impossible thing. This...is ...a Fate worse than the ultimate Fate of losing yourself to your Curse.
This is too much to ask of anyone, Prince Link! Too much for you to dare to ask of me; too much to expect of yourself."
"Yes, I know that it is. But I ask out of absolute need. There is a Judas in our midst. Farore now owns the Book of Fate. But Ranma is ready to face his demons. He is the warrior I could never hope to be...
We always knew this day would come..."
The King of the Underworld shook his head, violently.
"I chose HEAVEN for you, Link! PARADISE!"
"I thank you, but I cannot accept it. Not when my people are destined for Hell!"
"But you are asking me for a fate that is WORSE than Hell! Link, you are my friend! I cannot do this for you!"
"Then do it for Tendo Kasumi, in whose body dwells the light of Nayru's star, and who shall be corrupted by a perverse change of fate, should Farore have her way! Do it for Kasumi, and for Nayru, and for the innocent ones! Do it for Zelda ,my sister, who died when she was just a girl, because of the wrath of gods, and treacherous kings. Do it for Impa, Queen of Hylia.
Do it for Saotome Ranma, and Hibiki Ryoga ,his guardian, who will prove themselves to be the greatest protectors that ever roamed the Earth!
Do it for them, and remember me... And let me go in peace...for I will have my honor again.
If I could but have peace ,for the one last moment I exist, before I am shattered across Infinity, and so become the Phantom of the Hourglass...Then that would be worth the Fates that are worse than the Hells...
Please, King Enma...this would be a better choice than heaven for me...For only by doing this can I rest in peace..."
And to the surprise of everyone present, Link fell to his knees, pleading for an ending too terrible to imagine, to save them.
Enma bowed his head, and there were great tears on the wrath- twisted face.
"Then I must make the hardest choice I have ever made, in all my years as the King of the Underworld. Rise to your feet, Link, Prince of Shadows."
Link obeyed.
"Now surrender your sword to Ranma, Prince of Blood."
Ranma gasped.
"N-no! I don't want to - I can't!" he cried.
Link pressed the hilt into Ranma's hand.
" Do it for your honor, Ranma, and prove yourself the greatest of warriors."
Ranma shook his head.
Honor was the most important thing to him. And the lives of his friends...
But...
"But this is wrong..."
Link smiled, sadly.
"When I am dead, and the Curse is broken...Then the Golden Power that was in me will pass to you, and to the one I have chosen to be the Guardian of the other half of my piece. You will then have Zelda's power of Wisdom, and mine of Justice...And so you and Ryoga shall set aside your rivalry for all Time, and become who you were born to be,..."
"But YOU will be DEAD!"
Link bowed his head.
" Please..."
Ranma held his breath.
This...this was insane.
"I can't...I won't!"
"I'm not asking you to kill me, Ranma..." Link said, softly.
And suddenly he had the voice of a small, broken boy. A Lost Child.
" Then...what am I s'pose to be doing here?"
"A favor..."
"HOW is this a favor?"
"My sister...is the other half of the Coin of Your Fate. As you wander farther into the Universe, you will understand the system of Hell Money, and all the sickness that your father has dealt in, a sick and twisted system that Farore created. Please ...Ranma...By destroying my Curse, by becoming the Prince of Blood, of my Blood, you will literally be the Master of Time. You will understand better later on...But...Please...you cannot imagine how much I love my sister. All of this has been for her...To save her..."
" Link!" begged Zelda, inside Ranma's head.
Ranma was shaking his head ,violently.
"I ...can't!"
"Please...Ranma...My sister. Just save my sister. Then... and only then, can I truly rest in peace..."
"This is stupid!" Ranma began.
But Link clutched the hilt of the sword, tight around Ranma's hand. And Ranma didn't try to let go... Couldn't allow this, but couldn't stop it either.
But on his honor, he knew, that somehow he would have to save Zelda. Somehow...
And with a swift and sickening jab, Link drove the Master sword under his ribs, and deep into his heart.
The Shadow shrieked like legions of demons, so loudly as to shatter the windows of the Palace of Winds. A great storm came out of the East, and sucked the Curse up out of Link's body.
The Golden Power shattered, and sprinkled like glass in Ranma and Ryoga's faces. It stuck in their cheekbones, one under Ranma's right eye, and the other under Ryoga's left in the form of Golden Tears.
" LINK!" shouted Zelda.
" Pl-please...sis..." Link gurgled, as his blood began to drip over his lips...
" Link?"
"Please...r-remember...me..." Link whispered.
And then his eyes turned the color of bright stars...filled with his spirit.
And as stars fall from heaven, so did Link weep his spirit, into the Abyss. Two silent tears of flame falling down his cheeks, as he ceased to be.
He smiled, one last time.
And then his body turned into an oragami statue of a man, made of the same golden paper as bills of Hell Money are made...
It was an absolutely beautiful sculpture... One with a smiling, youthen face. And something about it was just so twisted.
"THIS IS FREAKING WRONG! ALL OF YOU GODS BETTER LISTEN! I SWEAR ON THE SPIRIT OF LINK, I WILL SETTLE THIS!" Ranma shouted to the winds.
The Oragmai Prince caught fire then. One beautiful ,bright, snow -white flame.
That was the day that Enma King of the Underworld burst into blubbering tears.
That was the day a good prince died...
And when white ashes settled, and sapphire smoke cleared, and everything was left in a still ringing silence, Ryoga stepped up.
"Hand the book over!" he demanded of Farore.
Ranma looked up at Ryoga in wonder, as he gathered one of his thunder cloud black moods.
Ryoga turned to Ranma, with a grim smile.
"Today we put our differences aside...We have a common Enemy now, Saotome."
~THE END~