Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or

concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:

The Annals of the Heroine Akane, and the Dreaded Demon King. A Tale of the Mirrorverse.

Chapter 22: When all seems lost, sometimes salvation lies in the darkest of shadows.

Ranko bit her lip as she practically dragged the unresponsive young woman behind her. She didn't fully understand what had caused her to stay with the woman. Chance after chance had presented itself, yet she had stayed. Even more than that, her two closest companions had stayed behind as well. Ostensibly, it could be that they had decided to risk themselves to buy their King more time.

But Ranko was certain other reasons lay behind those decisions.

What was it about these three that caused such conflicting thoughts, and prompted such unreasonable actions? What was it that made them all risk themselves for the people that were their greatest enemies?

Ranko shook her head as she pulled harder, and stumbled into where their flight would seem to end. The only entrance to the large room that had not collapsed and sealed itself was the one they had come through. There would be no more running from this point. And, she was reluctant to reveal her true form, to return to what was her real self. It would end this, whatever it was for good.

It would mark a point where everything changed once again.

Ranko shook her head as she turned to face the Hero… No, her friend Akane. The sound of a hand striking a cheek resounded in the room, for a moment louder than the sounds of battles being fought below them. A dazed Akane met the furious eyes of a tear-streaked Ranko.

Akane reached up and touched her cheek then stared at the furious, crying woman before opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Ranko.

"Is this all they meant to you? Are the sacrifices that all four of them have made worth so little to you? We have to fight! How can we go back and save all of them otherwise?" Ranko said hotly.

Akane bit her lip then shook her head. "You're right. There's no way I can face them after this if I just sit here and cry like a little girl."

Ranko nodded as she pulled out her knife, and wished for her sword once again. Not that she could control it in her current form. The blade, or more precisely the ravenous spirit it contained, would not submit to Ranko, but bowed to Ranma. So, Ranko smiled the best smile she could and made herself ready.

They did not have long to wait, as they heard the high-pitched cries of the goblins as they forced their way up past the stairs that Nabiki had trapped. The screams of pain were mixed with crie of joyous worship, and in that moment Ranko knew that not only was there a horde of fanatic goblins coming for them, but orcs and at least one priest of the Dark Goddess. She felt that sinking feeling settle into her belly like lead, a heavy weight that would drag her down. Combined with what they had said earlier, it was now even more clear that someone in the Church had decided to remove her, to remove Ranma, from the throne. And they must know of her secret, and intended to use it to their best advantage. She was sure that they were bringing one of the Shards to slay her. Amusingly, it was useless against her as she was, now. But to her true form? It would rend his very soul and essence asunder with but the merest scratch. It's very presence could drain him of his strength.

The one trump card that she could use, if it became dire enough, would almost certainly lead to her defeat. The irony of it did not escape her. No, they would fight as they were for as long as possible.

Then there was the matter of her true form being the Demon King, and Akane being the chosen Hero, anointed by the Goddess of Light to slay him.

Ranko had no more time for reflection as the first of the singed and bleeding goblin fanatics rushed headlong into the fray.

Akane readied herself and made sure that Ranko was squarely behind her. She shifted her grip on her sword and shield as she set her feet and settled into her stance. A slow breath in and out, then she rolled her shoulder as her shield slid the small amount to deflect the first lunge of the goblins as the distance closed. A quick slash removed the head from the goblin that had charged in behind the first. A quick pivot and the rim of her shield caught the first goblin clean in the back of its neck. The crunch of bones breaking and the thump of the little body hitting the stone floor is lost in the mayhem as Akane pivoted back to face the next group as they rushed headlong into the fray.

Ranko stared for a moment at the majestic woman who faced what seemed like a neverending flood of goblins, while the priest drove them on to attempt and overrun them by sheer weight of numbers.

Ranko steeled herself and moved to assist Akane as best as she could with her lesser physical condition. She was only a mortal woman, after all. But she had started to see some of the benefits of this form. She was smaller and more agile, and marginally quicker. It was possible that as time passed and she trained more, the advantages of this form would grow.

Of course, they would have to live through this first.

Ranko moved low and fast, like Akane and Nabiki had taught her. Quick strikes, then pull back. Let Akane be the wall the waves of attackers break against, while she is the quick sting. Aim for the throat and the belly. Avoid the chest, let Akane cleave through the little armor some wore and the bones.

Ranko thought that they could do this, even though they were growing weary and bleeding from numerous minor wounds. Akane's shield was damaged, but her sword seemed undamaged so far.

The seemingly endless tide of goblins slowed, then fell back and Ranko felt that they had a chance. They had endured, and broken the enemy. Then she saw the grim look on Akane's face, how her hand tightened on the hilt of her sword and she adjusted what remained of her shield.

Of course the goblins were falling back. They were meant to wear the pair down before the orcs and the priest moved in for the kill.

Of course she should have realized that. It was how her army fought. It was the tactic that allowed them to preserve the more capable parts of their forces by expending the weakest and most numerous.

It was how things had always been done. As Ranma, it had never been questioned. Now, though, as she saw the carnage and wanton destruction such tactics brought? If she survived this, then Ranma would change things.

But they had to live first.

Akane grit her teeth as she watched the orcs move into the room. The two warriors were going to be a problem as she was now. The priest… She wasn't sure she could handle him. And the warriors were moving straight at her as the priest skirted around the edge of the room. It seemed he wanted to flank her, or he wanted to engage Ranko.

Neither was something she could allow to happen.

Akane knew that they were herding her, forcing her away from the corner where she could protect Ranko fully. These were not like the usual soldiers, or even the leaders she had faced before. These were chosen champions of the Dark Goddess, and each was nearly a match for her without the full weight of the Goddesses blessing.

But anything less than the Demon King himself was so far below the Goddess of Light's notice that the latent power would not stir.

Akane shifted again, and barely blocked the lunge that the orc on the left launched in response, then she had to step back and to her left to avoid the heavy slash that the opponent on the right delivered. Akane realized too late that she had been separated from Ranko as the bard was forced to scramble out of the way by the orc that had been in Akane's right. The pair looked into each other's eyes helplessly before they each had to scramble to reorient themselves once again.

Ranko slid into a defensive position as she found herself facing not just a Champion, but a High Priest as well. In her current form there was no way she could defeat them, much less escape. And besides his holy Kash, the priest held a dagger made out of a piece of obsidian, dark as night. A Shard, the demon-slaying blade of their Mistress.

At an unspoken command, the Orcish Champion turned back to engage Akane, and left her to the tender mercies of the High Priest. He sneered at Ranko and gave her a mocking bow.

"My Lord… Or should I say my Lady? Not that it matters, since I will kill you here. It's just a matter of how. Do you choose the slow death of the last, or the quick death of the Shard?" The High Priest said in Daemonic, a cruel twist to his lip.

Ranko glanced past him as they circled each other, and looked over the bloody form of Akane. Of her companion. Of the woman that she had started to feel things for that she should for no human, much less the Goddess of Light's Chosen.

The woman she had fallen in love with.

There really was only one choice to make, really. To get out of this alive, they needed the might of the Heroine. They needed the divine wrath of the Chosen warrior of Light.

"Are you so hungry for power that you would hunt me like this?" Ranko said as she tried to stall, to get into the correct position.

"Power? Why would I seek power in the mortal realm, and I would not wish to attract Her attention. No, I am content to be a vessel of Divine will. To carry out Her wishes and further Her plans!" The High Priest said proudly. "So, what do you choose, oh sacrificial lamb? How do you die?"

Ranko smiled a grim smile. "I will not die by your hand. You are the ones that die this day, so give our Mistress my regards." Ranko said, then gazed deep into the polished blade of her dagger and willed the change.

Akane had been steadily pressed back. Her blade always retained it's magic, so at least it would not dull or break, but the rest of her gear was not so fortunate. She bled from an ever increasing number of wounds, and her strength and stamina were slowly waning. She couldn't fail, not here. She had to get back to her sisters.

She had to protect Ranko.

Akane grit her teeth as she pushed on, through the pain and the lethargy that had started to try and drain her strength and speed even more. Through the blood loss and damaged tissues. She had to fight on. She shifted her grip in her sword and what remained of her shield as she once again parried a combination of attacks from the two champions. She tried her own counter, a feint high as she rolled her shield to block a strike from the one on her left, and a quick reversal to drive her blade down and sliced into the leg of the one on her right. She stepped back, glad to have delivered another strike on them. They were bloodied as well, but she couldn't keep this up forever, and she would lose this war of attrition before they did.

At a sound, she looked up worriedly at where Ranko had stood a mere moment ago. Who she saw was not her companion, her friend. The person she had come to care for, maybe, just maybe, even love.

No, who she saw was the Demon King himself. There, no more than a dozen or two feet from her. She felt the divine wrath as it settled over her, the power flowed into her from her Blessing. She stood straight as her armor mended itself, and turned a silvery white. Her shield reformed, and bore the crest of the Goddess, of her champion. Her burning gaze fixed on her sworn enemy and she grit her teeth. She would vanquish all that stood in her way to get to her target. To her foe.

So that she could slay him.

Ranma felt an ache in his chest even as he tightened the grip on his sword and watched the high priest intently. He could feel the power of the Shard as it fed on his strength already. Now, he had to just last until the Heroine made it to him.

So that Akane could try to kill him herself.

He met the burning, hate filled gaze of the Heroine Akane and smiled.

"Come get me, Heroine." Ranma said with a sad lilt in his voice.