Ijisai stumbled as she came to the chamber of her teacher and friend, Esu Son. She cursed lightly to herself as she almost lost the armload that was her burden. For some reason, Son-sama wanted everything from the last expedition to the hinterlands and everything that went with them.

It confused Ijisai greatly. To her knowledge, the scribes had finished putting everything to archive a few months ago. She could understand if Son-sama wanted to read through the archives, but why even bring the possessions box? The scribes were always more thorough than Ijisai thought they needed to be, but since they told the stories of everyone, she supposed they should be.

It all began two days ago when that strange girl was found a few meters outside the main gates. It had been Yonjisai that had found her and had originally thought it was a namagoroshi. The wounds were too fresh, however, and after Son-sama gave her permission, she was taken to the healers. The girl remained there, under the watchful eye of the healers because she still had not come out of the strange sleep that she was under.

Ijisai had seen her. She was quite beautiful in a way that Ijisai couldn't describe. Certainly not in the classical sense, like herself or Son-sama, but still stunning. Especially the red hair. Ijisai had only met one other person with red hair. Of course, that person was the main focus of the last expedition too. Ranma Saotome. That girl wasn't Ranma. Ijisai knew. Ijisai counted to twenty as she tried to regain her breath before knocking.

"Come in, Ijisai," a voice said from within.

Ijisai almost lost her load again and shook her head. She opened the door and made her way slowly to the low table towards one side of the room. Stacked high on the table were all the records from the last expedition. A journey of almost six months. And every day had been cataloged by the scribes in the most minute detail. Needless to say that the records for the time of six months were stacked to the ceiling.

"Oh good, you have the possessions box?" Esu asked, poking her head over a stack.

Ijisai would have nodded, but she didn't want to drop anything. Esu stepped over a smaller stack on the floor and lifted the small box from the top of Ijisai's burden. Ijisai began to stack the rest of the records in as much order as she could, while Esu took the box to a light.

Esu felt along the bottom of the box, holding it upright. Along one of the legs was a little nub that was the key to unlocking the box. She pushed the key and there was a slight pop as the lid lifted slightly. Esu set the box down on a clear section of table and opened the lid fully. One thing about the possessions box that never failed to annoy her was the smell. That musty smell that kept everything inside from rotting or decaying away. It still stank. Esu carefully set the little items aside, as she was looking for...

And there it was.

"Ijisai," Esu said, stepping lightly to the door, "Follow me."

Ijisai looked up from her stacking and was going to ask about the rest, but Esu had already gone from the room. Ijisai scrambled out of the room and down the hall after Esu. It seemed like they were heading for the healer hall.

"You found something, Son-sama?" Ijisai asked, not able to contain her excitement.

Esu said nothing in return, but handed a scrap of something back to Ijisai. She turned the thing over in her hands. It was like paper, but a little thicker. It was also shiny on one side and had strange writing on the other. Ijisai remembered what this was. Something Ranma had shown her after she first arrived. Something called a 'photograph'. Ijisai couldn't read the lettering though. It was in Ranma's language. Ijisai turned the photograph over and stopped walking.

It was her. The red head. Except, she wasn't red headed in the photograph. She carried a smile and seemed quite happy to be in the photograph to Ijisai. Ijisai looked up to question this, but had to start running to catch up to Esu, who was already far ahead.

"Son-sama, I don't understand," Ijisai said, beginning to run out of breath, "This was given to you by Saotome over a year ago, how could the girl-"

"Ijisai, I don't know myself," Esu said, almost at a run now, "But we've got to find out. I never explained why Ranma gave me that photo in the first place did I?"

Ijisai could only shake her head, trying to keep up. They rounded the stairs and came into the healer hall. The healers, having been warned not to stray too far from this girl, had taken up position outside her room.

"We need to see her," Esu told one of the healers.

"You're in luck Protectorate, she woke up not two minutes ago," the healer proudly announced.

Esu growled sharply and swung past the confused healer into the room. The girl had been helped to a sitting position and was looking around with wide eyes in fright. Esu came to the end of her bed and stopped. The girl shrank under the penetrating gaze of the eldest Sister-Protectorate.

"Ijisai, the photograph please."

Ijisai handed it to her and stepped back. Watching the girl, it amazed Ijisai how incredibly similar she was to the girl in the photograph, except, of course, for the hair.

"Just as I thought," Esu said, tossing the photograph onto the bed, "There's no question that, except for the change in hair color, this is Akane Tendo."

***

The trail split and headed towards the north from its more southerly path at that point. Ranma stopped and looked at the signpost. She couldn't read it of course, but the lettering and languages of this world seemed to hold some kind of odd beauty to her. It was very much like a song that she had heard in the past. Something that she might have heard when she had been a child.

"Well?" Ikari asked from behind.

Ranma turned and looked at the taller girl. She was a girl, not even older than Ranma. Ranma wouldn't have said that out loud though. Ikari was standing over Rei with her hands on her hips. She was getting frustrated with all the walking. Ranma couldn't blame her. It had been almost three days since they lifted the jade from the traders on the ship. Since the last time Ranma killed someone. Ranma walked slowly to Rei, who was sitting on a nearby log, looking over a map. Ranma took out her flagon from it's hiding spot near the back of her coat. She opened it and took a long drink.

The water splashed coolly down her throat. The humidity had been down in the last couple days, but the heat had increased. Ranma offered the flagon to Ikari, who waved it off with a slight smile. That seemed to cool off her attitude. Ranma handed the flagon to

Rei, who drank without raising her eyes from the map.

Ranma's thoughts once again turned back to the ship, which had taken up her dreams and thoughts in the last two days. Before she came to this world, Ranma would never have killed anyone. Disabled them, sure. Even broken bones in order to protect someone that she loved, absolutely. But to kill? Ranma had been sick with stress and hurt the first time she killed in this world. Rei seemed to almost enjoy it at times, which didn't set well with

Ranma either.

The first time may have been necessary, but that fact hadn't made it any easier. Since then, killing seemed to come easier, and unfortunately, more frequently. Bandits seemed to thrive up here in the high country. Something about the variety of edible plants or something. Ranma guessed that it would have been easier to live off the land in a place like this.

Ranma snickered slightly, earning odd looks from Rei and Ikari. She smiled and waved them off. Her father would have loved a place like this. Camping, training, walking and all of them constant. Of course, following what had occurred with Ranma, he would have been stuck in his panda form for the duration. Her father wouldn't have minded really, especially since it would have meant that he would've been able to eat more of the plant life. Also that he wouldn't have to cook.

Of course, he'd never cook anyway.

"Nope," Rei said finally, "We're still going in the right direction."

"But I thought you said we would be going more south," Ikari asked, "This is most definitely going into the mountains."

"I was holding the map wrong?" Rei said sheepishly.

"Rei...I..." Ikari began to fume.

"Ikari," Ranma said, "Calm down."

"But-she-" then a thought caught her, "How could we be going in the right direction if the trail leads north into the mountains instead of into the lowlands?"

"Cause I was also reading the map wrong?"

"Rei..."

And Ikari sputtered as she was splashed with water. Ranma plopped the top back in the flagon and put it away again.

"Stop that!" Ikari shouted at Ranma.

She huffed a couple of times and began back down the path. Rei had packed the map away into her sack and sidled back up to Ranma.

"I wish we could find some other way to keep her from exploding," Rei said as she adjusted her pack.

Ranma couldn't disagree. Sometimes, though, interrupting her thoughts with water made her more angry than letting her go. Less destructive in the long run, yes, but sometimes worse. Ranma had discovered that little trick early on after they had been captured by religious pilgrims and had been made to suffer through a sermon. Ranma wasn't affected, as it had been in Ikari's language. Ikari on the other hand, blew up. It helped them escape, but Ranma was recovering from burns months later. He had to think that it was because Ikari wasn't very religious. Rei and Ranma followed Ikari as she stayed ahead, letting her come down slowly.

The trail wound around the base of a nearby mountain, ever curling more towards a sharp crevice to the east side of the mountain. At the next stop, Rei found the crevice on the map and saw that a small mountain village lay about a mile into the pass, a kind of waystation before the badlands that lay beyond the pass. The magical capitol of the southern continent, Kellenel, lay far beyond the badlands and was their eventual destination. Ranma sighed because it was still many weeks off.

"According to the map," Rei said from her perch near the fire, "We should be able to reach Thetheren sometime tomorrow morning. It says that it's some kind of native village."

"I've never been there before," Ikari handed a stick to Ranma, "Couldn't tell you."

"What did you say this was again?" Ranma asked, looking at the blue meat on the end of her stick.

"Zeeifl," Ikari said, adjusting the remaining pieces in the fire, "Kind of a bird."

"Kind of?"

Ranma nibbled on it. It wasn't bad. It wasn't good, either. And no, it didn't taste like chicken. It was a good change from the molins of which Rei seemed to have an endless supply, though.

"I like mine raw please," Rei asked of Ikari, holding out her sword for her.

She cut off another piece and stuck it on the end of the sword and Rei began to chew on the lighter end of the meat. Ranma gagged to herself, but maybe Rei could eat it that way since she was immortal. Ah well, it was food. One thing that made Ranma a little happier was that he could probably persuade Rei and Ikari to stop in the town and stay there for a day or two. It would ostensibly be to stock up and supply for the trek across the badlands, which they would need to do anyway. For Ranma, it meant a few decent meals and a warm bed. Ranma wrinkled her forehead as she suddenly thought that it would probably also be the best opportunity for Rei to take advantage of her.

Ranma didn't want to hurt Rei, but dammit, she wasn't going to be taken advantage of either. Besides, she didn't feel that way about Rei. In fact, the only person she ever felt that way about was Akane. And it had taken her almost all of two minutes to realize that when she first came to this world.

Ranma finished her piece of meat and set the stick aside for the night. She probably couldn't finish another. Blue shouldn't be the color of any kind of meat.

***

Kowaku looked in displeasure between the two brutes. Hisomu Hebi kept sliding in and out of phase as the light bent around him, his serpentine body occasionally visible while still not completely there. Kowaku adjusted the front of her robes and sighed lightly. Hebi circled around the other brute in the room, Gouka Kiyomeru. The big man snarled in response to a snake that Hebi had sent towards him. The snake gasped once and shriveled in the short blast of heat that Kiyomeru sent its way.

Gouka laughed the muscles in his massive chest heaving. Kowaku smiled. He did have a good body. Too bad he was such an arrogant ass too. Well, that and the flames dancing out of every orifice never helped in bed either. And fire proof sheets were too scratchy...

That chain of thought made Kowaku frown. Her lord and master Akuji was now in his chambers with that little bitch Renbo. She wasn't good enough for him. It confused her a little because Akuji had never before shown interest in Kowaku's newest recruit. She was sweet and innocent, something that all men wanted, but still so naive as to make her unusable. Kowaku thought that she could probably be good in about ten years or so, but now?

"I thought that Ten'imuhou-sama said no fighting?" a voice said from close behind her.

Kowaku turned slightly at the voice. It was Uragirimano. Kowaku smiled at his neutral mask. He lazed gracefully on one of the small benches that circled the room, his great sword leaning between his knees. He turned his sallow blue eyes towards Kowaku and her heart fluttered. Kowaku turned away. She didn't want him to see the blush that was rising in her cheeks. Well, not to mention in other places too. Kowaku cursed herself for the slip.

"You know what happens when you get these two in the same room," Kowaku muttered to him, "One boasts, then the other insults, then it just escalates into an all out fight. It's actually surprising that they haven't killed one another yet."

"I hope that this is a good mission," Jinjutsu said lightly, "It's almost getting boring back on the homestead."

"I could certainly help make it less so," Kowaku purred, not wanting to face him.

Jinjutsu clucked softly and before he could answer, a small explosion brought their attentions back to the fight. Gouka was forming small fireballs and chucking them past Hisomu, trying to bring him closer so that he could use his superior strength to fight him. Hisomu kept phasing through the blasts though and it was beginning to frustrate Gouka. A small, soft chuckle escaped Jinjutsu.

Hisomu growled in response to Gouka's challenge and slid quickly to close the distance between them, hoping to strike with his talons before Gouka could roast him. He raised on his hind tail and phased in fully in the blink of an eye, but pulled up short and stopped.

Gouka let his fireballs dissipate at the sight of Akuji's spear floating almost serenely between them. Gouka folded his arms across his massive chest and huffed at the lizard man. Hisomu cycled through his phases as the emotions warred with the bloodlust he felt at that point. He could taste Gouka tough, leathery muscles under his fangs, but he had to stay his hand. For now, at least.

Kowaku turned to the entrance and shrank back to stand next to Jinjutsu as Akuji stormed into the room. The look on his face said everything. He strode to his spear and took hold, as if taking it from an obedient squire. He pointed to the space next to Kowaku and Jinjutsu. Gouka and Hisomu reluctantly completed the half-circle, but kept throwing each other glances.

"I will overlook your stupidity for now," Akuji said slowly, "Because I have need of all of you. I have special missions for you to accomplish. And you will accomplish them."

The unsaid threat did not go unheard. Kowaku took a step nearer Jinjutsu, who she thought looked almost bored. She knew that it was just a mask however. He was such a man to control the emotions that Akuji could produce in people.

"Gouka."

"M'lord?" He asked, kneeling to his master.

"You will be the first to go after Shiro Daiou. She is approaching the badlands south of Kellenel. Take her and her companions out there. They will be entering the badlands within the next week, be prepared," Akuji decreed.

"At once, m'lord."

A wall of fire circled Gouka's feet and quickly consumed him. The fire dissipated to a cloud of smoke that Akuji waved off with a look of disgust on his face.

"Brimstone," he said sharply, "Kowaku."

She knelt in front of him.

"You will take Renbo-chan with you and set up shop in Kellenel, in the case that Shiro gets past Gouka," Akuji began, "If you fail to take her out, then at least make sure that Yoko is taken into her party. She will finish her."

"M'lord," Kowaku said, the flush rising in well hidden anger, "Young Renbo cannot do half the job that I could. She is too naive and cannot be trusted with such an important missi-"

"Enough Kowaku," Akuji said quietly, "The mission that Yoko has been given is to destroy Shiro from the inside out. You see, it's her innocence that makes her the perfect weapon. And I will hear no more of it. Now go."

Kowaku swallowed her words and flashed away in a shower of rose petals.

"Hisomu," Akuji turned his attention to the lizard man, "Take up residence in the woods north of Akamerajh. Keep in touch with the others, but remain there as backup."

Hisomu said nothing, but bowed and phased out until he completely disappeared. Akuji sighed slightly and walked towards the exit.

"Follow me, my friend," Akuji said to Jinjutsu.

Jinjutsu hefted his huge blade behind him and followed Akuji further into the depths of the castle. He liked the intimacy that Akuji afforded his old sensei, but something seemed to be coming between them recently. Jinjutsu scowled to himself. There was only one thing that ever came between to men who were good friends. Women. Or, more specifically, a woman. Jinjutsu knew that was where they were headed. Akuji spent more and more time in this damned room, looking at his phantom bride hovering so enticingly close, yet far beyond his reach.

Jinjutsu hated her. It would be just like a woman to do this to his friend. Jinjutsu stepped into the chamber as he followed Akuji down the three steps to her side. At the top step, Jinjutsu stopped and inhaled sharply at the sight before him. A man he knew from long ago was across the little glowing pool from Akuji. The man's eyes crinkled at the edges as something that passed for a smile crossed his face at the sight of Jinjutsu. His eyes flashed from the pale gold of concentration to the bright gold that Jinjutsu remembered. The flames around his crown puffed in excitement at the additional audience and Meijin smiled again.

Jinjutsu smiled back at the old bastard. He made his way down the three steps to stand next to Akuji. Akuji kept well back from the glowing pool, mostly in deference of the power that this girl seemed to radiate from her place of rest. Jinjutsu looked down upon her in disgust. He would just as rather drive his sword through her belly and be done with her. But that would displease Akuji. Instead, Akuji had probably made some kind of foolish deal with Meijin in order to free her, and the rest of them would suffer.

Jinjutsu leaned over the pool as Meijin lifted his hands from the fluid. Already, Jinjutsu could see that the flames had died away to a small degree. It would still take him a huge amount of time in order to dissipate it entirely, but it could be done.

"So what are you asking for this time?" Jinjutsu asked, "Perhaps just a continent of your own? Or maybe you have an eye on Kowaku? Hell, she'd probably go with you anyway, if nothing other than the idea that you might have power."

Meijin wrinkled his brow in annoyance at Jinjutsu and threw a glance at Akuji.

"The Tenmei," Akuji said in response.

Jinjutsu spun on his best student in shock.

"No," he said, "I-I can't allow it. The Tenmei is yours for the taking, are you going to throw it away for this...Creature?!"

Akuji raised a solemn eyebrow at his sensei and seemed to chew on what Jinjutsu had said.

"Jinjutsu-san, I have thought about this long and hard," Akuji said, stepping up to the edge of the pool, "I thought that I'd never be able to have her, but now I find that I can. This lifts my heart as I know that her power combined with my own will be more than enough to conquer any that oppose me. So what if I give up the Tenmei? It's a small price to pay for having her."

A rage burned in Jinjutsu that he had not felt in a great number of years. Who was this little fool to give up something so important for a woman? The mere thought that she would almost single handedly shift the balance of power on this world made his stomach turn. She was not worth it. She would never be worth it. Hell, she wasn't even FROM this world.

"Jinjutsu-san, I'm sorry," Akuji said, putting a hand on his sensei's shoulder, "I knew that you wanted to keep the power ours, but you have to understand, she has a greater power than even the Tenmei. She could even overthrow the Tenmei if she so wished. I've seen the power, I know."

Jinjutsu calmed, but still would not face his eldest student.

"Ten'imuhou-sama, I cannot accept that you're giving the Tenmei to Meijin. He will misuse it in order to keep the power his and we would never see it again. Eventually it would lead to our destruction," Jinjutsu muttered, leaning heavily on his sword, "If there is no specific mission you need of me, then I will take my leave of you."

Akuji paused. He knew that Jinjutsu was angry with him and it hurt to know that his sensei seemed to be colder than he. Perhaps that was the price of love, Akuji didn't know. Akuji thought for a moment before responding.

"Keep an eye on Renbo-chan," Akuji said, turning back to the pool, "If she fails, kill her for she is no use otherwise. If she fails, kill Kowaku as well for failure to properly train the young one. Otherwise, you may take your leave of me."

Akuji heard his elder pick up his great sword and walk heavily from the room. A slight change in air pressure told him that he was alone. Well, except for the smiling Meijin across the pool. Akuji scowled at Meijin and stomped from the room. He needed some air.

***

Esu looked at the girl, who fingered her hair absently while examining the photograph. The setting sun was beginning to shine through the window out in the hall. There was no windows in the sterile rooms, but the light still filtered in from outside. Her red hair was something important, but Esu had no idea what it meant.

Akane Tendo had black hair. Raven black, like Ijisai's. This girl had the same length. Her body build was the same, her gray eyes, everything. Even her smile, when she smiled earlier at a small joke that Ijisai said. Everything, except her hair. Esu had consulted with one of the female healers that had attended the girl and had been told that, yes; she was a true redhead, which meant that her hair had not been simply dyed.

Another thing bothered Esu. The girl knew her name. But it wasn't Tendo. It was Munesanzun. Mikan Munesanzun. She'd never heard of the name of Tendo. Nor Saotome either. She had no idea who Ranma Saotome was. She had explained her past life to Esu, that she had been born in the village near the city of Xixl in the east. How she had grown up in the city, the daughter of a middle class fishing family. But she had no idea how she got to a nunnery half way across the next continent.

All she remembered was the creature that attacked her. She also knew it was a kettert, which Akane Tendo should not have known. Of course, kettert's didn't normally attack anyone human sized either. The little buggers kept to themselves for the most part. The vicious cuts and gashes across her face and body were healing nicely though.

So, as the sun set away, the mystery unfolded more as Mikan explained herself to Esu. Esu had been classically trained, so she took everything that Mikan had said at face value, yet reserved her opinion until the whole story could be heard. Which Mikan had just finished.

Mikan turned her gray eyes to Esu, who had closed her own in an attempt to straighten things out in her head.

"Um, Son-san, I do have two other sisters," Mikan said.

"Do either of them have black hair?"

Mikan shook her head.

"I'm sorry," Mikan muttered, looking back at the photograph, "Hanasu has blonde hair and Kakuji has brown hair. But brown, like rokeroot, not black."

Mikan handed the photo back to Esu, who placed it in the folds of her robe in a small pouch there.

"Well, Mikan," Esu began, "I don't think that all this is a coincidence. But I don't think that we'll be able to work it out without Ranma. She is the vital key-"

"Uh, wait. She?"

Esu nodded.

"I was supposed to be engaged to a she?"

"Well Mikan, it's a long story," Esu smiled at her, "She's not really a she, but that's a whole 'nother story-"

An explosion rocked the building as running and screaming could suddenly be heard outside.

"Son-sama!" Ijisai screamed into the room.

She carried the large staff of the protectorate to Esu with fear rampant in her eyes. Esu could see that Ijisai had her own staff at hand as well.

"It's the namagoroshi, isn't it?" Esu said, adjusting the large egg-shaped globe on the top of the staff.

The globe flashed red as if it objected to being touched. Esu ignored it and continued with her ministrations.

"Ijisai," she said calmly, "Stay with Mikan and make sure she remains safe."

Ijisai nodded to her as she began to adjust her own staff. Esu began to run down the hall, stripping off her outer robe. Esu had known that the namagoroshi would be back tonight and had dressed accordingly before coming to see Mikan.

If she had stopped to seriously think about her outfit, she would have blushed to the tips of her toes. Her top, separate from her short skirt, was just supportive enough for fighting, while the skirt left her free to run, either to or from the fight. And while the robes of the priestesshood were more becoming for a person of her status, they were a detriment in a fight. To her credit, Esu had never been all that modest, especially in a fight and it helped.

She stumbled again as another explosion ran through the building. What the Hells were those explosions from? The namagoroshi didn't have enough intelligence for using weapons of any kind. The familiar banging could be heard in the distance. Esu knew that sound all too well. They were too stupid to figure out a locking mechanism, so the door could hold them, especially since Esu would soon be wiping them up by the dozens.

Esu whipped into the courtyard and dove forward to miss a swipe by a nearby claw. The poor creature looked to have been female at one point, but was now thoroughly gone. Esu felt her dinner rising in her stomach, but forced it back down and chanted a slight healing word. She knew it was the magic of the namagoroshi. Esu brought herself up and held out her right hand. The egg on the staff flashed and the molecules in front of her hand released their energy in a bright beam of light that swept the hideous beast away.

She steeled herself and began to wade into the group that had somehow made it into the courtyard, blasting as quickly as she could.

***

Ijisai wasn't doing too well. Mikan had backed up in the room to avoid the few flying bits of creature that occasionally bounced into the room. Ijisai scrambled to blast creature after creature as they packed the hallways outside. She wondered if the sterile room doors would be enough to hold them until the protectorates arrived.

To that end, Ijisai was trying to build up a wall of namagoroshi parts in the hallway, and it seemed to be working. Well, that was until the wall behind Mikan disappeared.

A low shudder and then a sudden lurch brought everyone, including the namagoroshi, to the floor. Mikan began coughing as the dust and rubble began to clear. A cold fear ran through her as she looked out the wall to the...Thing that was outside. To Mikan, she couldn't even comprehend the enormity of the creature outside. Mikan backed herself up against the bed and whimpered in impotent fear.

Ijisai pulled herself up and looked quickly to the broken wall. A huge eye was staring back into the hole, the rot clearly visible on the leading edge of the huge eye. Fear welled up inside Ijisai at the thought of what the creature might be, but it was definitely clear that whatever it was, it was now namagoroshi.

Ijisai shot herself backwards as a claw swiped at where she had been. Mikan watched as the eye moved past and she could see the rot all along the skin of the creature outside. Mikan backed herself up as some other roughly humanoid namagoroshi slid into the room from the back of the huge creature. Ijisai flipped herself onto the bed and kicked at the door. Unfortunately, the beasts had pushed bits of others into the doorway and Ijisai couldn't get the door closed.

She swore loudly at the group as a blast of heat rushed out of the molecules an inch from her hand. The beasts rushed in from all sides and it wasn't until she turned to Mikan did Ijisai realize. Mikan screamed and for Ijisai, all went white.

***

With another shout, the last of the namagoroshi in the courtyard passed away with a horrid, greasy smell. Esu allowed a small sigh escape. She wondered for half a second how a dozen of them got into the compound. The other half of the second was busy collecting her mind again when the wall to her right blew itself open. Esu was blown to the ground and she heard several of the other protectorates cry out as sections of wall went everywhere.

The smoke cleared and Esu gasped. A huge diamond shaped head laboriously came through the remains of the wall and roared once in triumph. Esu could feel the fear hit her like ocean waves, strong and unstoppable.

The dragon stepped over the bottom half of the wall and stumbled slightly when it crumbled under its weight. The dragon stopped, as it seemed to look into the destroyed section of wall, then began to move forward again. Esu could see once-human namagoroshi jump from its back into the sections of wall that remained standing.

"Good Gods! Ijisai!" Esu shouted as she realized where the dragon had broken through.

She never sensed the namagoroshi that tackled her from behind. The air rushed from her lungs as she hit the ground and her staff clattered away. Several namagoroshi picked her up and held Esu as another faced her. Esu screamed in pain and fear as the one in front of her drove its claw into Esu's right breast.

Esu could feel the pain slowly numb as sections of her began to die in greater and greater numbers. The blackness spread from her breast upwards and downwards as she could feel the last pulses of life fade from her. Her last thought was of Ijisai. The young girl had so much promise. Too bad really.

Somewhere on the edges of her senses, as she lost all consciousness, she heard Mikan scream in her mind. The edges of light all around what remained of her sight crinkled and exploded outwards in a blinding rush of white light.

***

Flowers in a field.

Flowers I'd never seen before, strange insects buzzing around them. Pollinators. The sun is bright overhead. The green spread out before me in a happy rolling way that reminds me of the times I spent in the high country when I was a little girl.

Flowers that I know for some reason. They are not strange to me, though I'd not seen them before. A voice from behind me.

Flowers that sway in the light summer breeze. I know the man who called to me. I feel…

Flowers that feel soft under my fingers and against my bare legs. This man, I know. He is special to me. Joy. For him, I feel…

***

The ground rushed to meet Esu with a loud thump. She blinked her eyes, trying to clear the fuzz that surrounded her consciousness. What had been occurring rushed back to her and Esu whipped her head around to find her enemy.

The courtyard was empty. The namagoroshi that the protectorates had blown to bits were gone. The namagoroshi dragon was gone. Even the ones that had ambushed-

Her hand jerked up to her breast. She was whole and alive. The front of her top held tight against her chest, just as it should. She could see that there were five holes in an arc across her right breast.

"It wasn't a dream, then," Esu said to herself.

She then pulled up short when she realized that it was no longer approaching night either. The birds chirped from the nearby, half-trampled garden, picking clean the vegetables and fruits that remained. She could see the other protectorates across the courtyard as they picked themselves off the ground and stared in confusion. The sun was climbing to its zenith, high overhead. Already bringing the noontime heat to the small mountain valley in which the nunnery rested.

Esu brushed herself off and picked up her staff. She examined the egg and was confused further by the lack of activity within the gem. It was the captive demons that gave the protectorates their powers and occasionally they would have to change them out. It was a simple enough procedure, but quite necessary. The gem on her staff was strangely dull and silent. Esu would work on it later though.

She walked to the crumbled wall and looked up. Mikan smiled from the opening and waved to Esu. The dragon was nowhere in sight, even though the marks on the wall and the damage remained; every scrap of namagoroshi was gone. And Esu thought that Mikan was the cause. She had hoped that she wouldn't have to go on any more of those damned quests, but now it seemed that Esu had no other choice.

***

"What kind of a shitholemphpmph-"

Ranma huffed around Ikari's hand. The taller blonde just smiled weekly at the guide standing across the stable. Ranma yelped slightly as Ikari squeezed. Ikari let go and just glared at Ranma. Ranma didn't know why they had to rely on this old pervert to help them across a bunch of sand. True they needed to take certain precautions, but that didn't preclude having to pay for a guide. Tsute Dokusatsu made no efforts to hide his pleasure in looking each of them over thoroughly.

When he got to Ranma, she almost laid him out, but a firm hand from Ikari told her to stay her anger. Kellenel was still far off and Rei had insisted that they'd never make it across the badlands without a guide. And since Thetheren was the last outpost, they had little choice in guides.

Rei had made some discreet inquiries and found out that Tsute was the best guide to get them to Kellenel. That he had been plying this part of the desert for almost twenty odd years. Rei thought that his track record was most impressive, so she overlooked his…Lack of social graces. Ranma hated feeling like a piece of meat.

"So will you do it, or not?" Rei said, from the back of one of the pecaricos behind Tsute.

Tsute turned and regarded her coolly, as if sizing up his prospects with any of them. Ranma began to steam again.

"Yeah, I suppose. Yuubi seems to like you, and that goes far towards your credibility," Tsute said, stroking the head of the animal Rei was on, "My pecars are very sensitive to that kind of thing."

Did he just say pecker? Ranma thought suddenly.

Rei slid from the back of the giant lizard and picked up a nearby handful of hay. She fed some to Yuubi, which earned her a friendly nuzzle, as well as one from her mate, who Tsute called Jooji. Rei seemed to have a connection to the pecaricos, which made Ranma wonder, but not for long. A person who regularly put herself back together ought to be more in touch with nature.

"Okay," Rei said, "Half the jade in exchange for the trip, supplies and no questions asked."

Ranma had never before heard the sound of a cash register going off quite as loudly as it did when Tsute heard that. The thought of about six pounds of jade seemed to make him more excited than getting any one of them into bed. Ranma shook her head and walked out. At least they would get to Kellenel with more jade than they needed. They still had a journey to the northern continent, but Ranma could work that off on the trip over.

Thetheren was a small village located on a bluff above the badlands. The back of the village quite literally dropped off into thin air about two hundred feet and it was only by a huge platform that people, animals and supplies were ferried between the village and southern lands on one side and the badlands on the other. Tsute had said that they would travel by night and sleep in the day. Ranma didn't like that either, but she saw the necessity of it, especially when travelling in the desert.

Ranma walked back to the inn at which they had checked in. A nice, family run place that had already provided Ranma with one of the best meals she'd had since coming to this crazy world. She didn't want to know exactly what it was, but the roast had been so like home, she suddenly knew why Soun would always cry with Kasumi's cooking.

A sudden thought came over Ranma outside of the inn. She backed up into the vacant street and looked up. Sheer vertical cliff led upwards into the waning daylight to the towering peaks above. It made Ranma slightly nauseous with vertigo, but it confirmed a thought. There was nothing keeping an avalanche of rock or snow from burying this tiny hamlet. Ranma turned around and looked at the other side of the crevice, which except for the mountain beyond, mirrored its cousin.

Ranma shook her head and decided that she'd try and work it out in the bath. They weren't the bath that she had been used to, but then she hadn't taken a decent bath in almost two weeks too. Well, if you discounted the number of times she'd been dunked in water since then.

Each room had been equipped with a large stone tub set against one wall. Ranma assumed that the plumbing was internal, but knowing this crazy land, it was probably magic. The soap was something lye based; similar to what she had when she was a kid in the south of Japan. After the whole thing with Ukyou.

Ranma looked up from the water. Ucchan. She wondered if time passed the same here as back home. If so, then it had been two years and most people had probably given both she and Akane up for dead. Of course, Shampoo had followed them for almost three years, not to mention the problems before the aborted marriage.

Ranma got out of the tub and dried off. The feeling of cleanliness was something that she'd taken for granted back home. Now it was a luxury. Ranma shook her head again. So much had changed. Ranma sat down on the edge of the bed and began to brush her hair. She laughed to herself. That was something else she never used to worry about. Of course, with the dragon whisker in, her hair was never an issue. But now that the dragon whisker didn't work anymore, she had to actually take care of it.

Ranma kept her hair short for numbers of reasons, mostly because it reminded her of Akane. Something to connect them. Something, anything. Ranma tied the soft red robe around her and continued with her hair. The gaslights had been lit outside as the final waning light set in the distance. Ranma figured that Ikari and Rei had already gone to bed. They seemed to sleep better in the early evening, while Ranma couldn't get to sleep until later. Ranma thought that was due to the dreams she had though.

The strange nightmares that seemed so real. It seemed like she was able to do anything and go anywhere, except to her. She had conversed with Kasumi and Nabiki. Trained and killed her father, beat Soun in numerous games of Shogi and flew above the streets of Nerima in the blissful nighttime sky. But every time she tried to see Akane, the white light would flash forth and she would wake up. And, after two years, it was really beginning to piss her off.

There was a knock at the door. Ranma opened it and Rei entered. Rei closed the door behind her and stood there. Ranma didn't know what to say or do. None of the girls in Nerima would have been this bold. Rei floated gently to Ranma and lifted the brush from her hands. She put the brush on the table and untied her own robe, letting it fall to the floor. Rei wrapped her silken arms around Ranma's neck as she kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Rei," Ranma began, "I can't. I'm sorry, but I love Akane."

A finger to her lips stopped the rest of a protest that, to Ranma, seemed more whiny than it should. Rei smiled easily, almost catlike.

"And is she here to comfort you?" Rei whispered, kissing her cheek, "Is Akane here to love you? Is she willing to love you?"

"But Rei…I'm a woman," Ranma said, trying to push Rei gently away.

She didn't have much luck.

"So?" Rei purred, "So am I. And I don't care what form you're in, I'll love you just the same."

Rei gently placed her lips on Ranma's. The gentle touch melted into a full kiss as Ranma closed her eyes, trying to block out the sensations with which Rei assaulted her. Worse of all, she was all together unsuccessful. Rei's mouth was cool against the heat that Ranma could feel flowing from herself.

Akane would never have kissed him like this, in any form, let alone in Ranma's female form. There were times that made her think Akane despised Ranma's female form. It hadn't been her fault, after all. And Rei didn't seem to mind the gender thing. And she was so tender and gentle as she caressed Ranma.

But…Akane…

Ranma gently pushed Rei out to arms length and lowered her head. She couldn't stop the sobs that came. Rei stood there for half a second, then she folded her arms around Ranma, but this time, in a tender, almost sisterly embrace that made Ranma want to cry more. Rei lifted Ranma's head to look at her and Ranma could see that tears had been streaming down her own cheeks. Rei reached up and gently kissed Ranma on her forehead.

"I will always be here for you, my love," Rei said.

Rei quickly gathered her robe, wrapped it around her and left. Ranma climbed in bed a few minutes later, as she tried to sort through the warring emotions that left her feeling raw. Ranma loved Akane. She knew that, she admitted that to herself several minutes after she realized that Akane had been taken from her. It was now readily apparent to her that Rei also loved her, but in a different way from any of his other fiancées. It felt like a friendship love. What she felt that she could have had with Ukyou had Ranma never met Akane.

The bed was soft and comfortable. It eased Ranma's thoughts into a restful sleep that for some reason was not interrupted by dreams for the first time in months. It didn't stop her from crying herself to sleep though.

***

Akuji clucked to himself. The column was almost complete and the latest chapter in this saga left him with a curious sense about him. Shiro had resisted the girl, who was quite tempting in Akuji's eyes. Something unknown had helped her resist and Akuji was curious about what it was. He wondered if it had anything to do with the girl. He also wondered if she may, in some way, simply be reaching to him, and if there was any way to block it if she was.

And he wondered if it would be strong enough to counteract Yoko's special magics. Akuji doubted it, though. Yoko could be quite persuasive when she tried, no matter what Kowaku might say. It didn't matter to Akuji, really. Just a side persuasion. Akuji hopped lightly down the first two steps and sat down, his back to the newest column. He watched with eternal fascination and interest as Meijin continued to work, pulling the fire from the liquid and dissipating it around him.

Soon she would be his and Shiro would be dead. The Tenmei he could take from Meijin after incorporating her power. And then Akuji would rule…

Forever.

***