Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor Goddess ❯ A Day With the Norns ( Chapter 10 )

Sailor Goddess

A Ranma One Half/Sailor Moon/Ah! My Goddess crossover Fan Fiction

By Michael A. Ivins

 

Ranma, and all of his/her friends and family are the creation of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own any of them, nor do I own any of the characters from Ah! My Goddess or Sailor Moon. I'm writing this for fun, not profit. I'm so poor that suing me wouldn't do you much good.

 

WARNING: This chapter has LEMON content. That means descriptions of sexual acts including incest. If these subjects offend you, stop reading.

 

Chapter 10

A day with the Norns

 

Akane commented, “She wanted to tinker with the TV. I almost had to physically restrain her to stop her.”

 

When Ranma entered the living room the black haired young goddess got up and hugged the taller redhead. Ranma hugged her back. “I was hoping to meet up with you but I wasn't really expecting to see you tonight.”

 

The younger goddess smiled. “I had some free time and wondered if you wanted to hang out. I had fun when we went for ice cream last week. I guess I should have called before I came. I wasn't expecting you to be this late.”

 

The redhead smiled at her friend. “I had to meet with some old friends from a really long time ago. In fact I knew them in a past life. They gave me some gadgets that might interest you.”

 

“Gadgets?” Ranma felt amused by the eagerness in her friend's voice.

 

She took off the wrist communicator and handed it to the young inventor. She looked it over. “Hmm. This is old, but still workable tech. I bet I could boost the range. I take it this is built into a watch for concealment, right?”

Ranma nodded.

 

“Well it's pretty bulky for a watch but you wouldn't want it any smaller because then the screen would be too small to see much of anything. Oh! I know. I could add a holographic projector. That way if you were somewhere you didn't have to worry about it being seen you could project it as big as you want. Hmm, I should be able to use this frequency to contact you.”

 

Ranma pulled the Mars Computer out of stuff space and handed to the young goddess. “I'm just borrowing it so if you take it apart you have to be sure you can put it back together. Right now this is a multipurpose scanner, recorder and computer. It can be used to analyze enemies and spot weaknesses, read ki and magic levels. It also can connect to the internet and can connect to the Silver Millennium Mainframe on the moon.”

 

That surprised the black haired goddess. “There's still functioning technology on the moon after twenty thousand years? Wow, they really built stuff to last.”

 

Ranma smiled and explained, “I was hoping you could either build or get hold of a computer I could carry that would do everything this one does but also access Ygdrassl.”

 

Skuld was surprised at this request. “You didn't get a computer already?”

 

“Was I supposed to?”

 

The black haired goddess verified, “Yeah. I guess that got overlooked with all the stuff they have you doing. I can get you your own computer easily. I think it would be easier to add the functions of this to one of our computers than to make something like this and upgrade it to the standards we use.”

 

“One of the advantages of being a system tech and debugger is I can get hold of all of the newest gadgets. There's a new laptop that's available that can morph. If you want it to it can look like any other laptop you could buy in a store here or it could look like this one. The configuration I like is where the keyboard is a holographic interface and the screens are virtual and can you can pop them up anywhere.”

 

Ranma grinned. “That sounds good. Would there be any problem getting all the scan functions added?”

 

“Nope, that's easy. If you let me borrow this overnight I'll promise that I won't take it apart. I can get this Mars Computer scanned and the features installed into one of those morphing units. You can come by the temple tomorrow to pick it up. When you do you can meet my sister, Beldandy. You'll like her; she's really nice. I also want to show you Banpei, my robot.”

 

The redhead asked, “Will Urd be there?”

 

“Yep”

 

“Good, I need to talk to her,” said Ranma. “You know, for someone who made such a fuss about being the one who was assigned to train me, I've seen almost nothing of her. Is she mad at me or something?”

 

Skuld looked thoughtful. “I don't think so. She's been organizing the training even if she hasn't been teaching you herself.”

 

Skuld gave Ranma directions so she would be able to use to transport herself there. Then, carrying the communicator and the Mars Computer she went to kitchen and left through a bowl of water.

 

“She's nice,” commented Akane.

 

“She's a good kid,” Ranma agreed. She sipped at the cup of tea her mother gave her and told about her day. She had to edit what she said as she didn't want to say too much about any Senshi secrets.

 

While she was talking Nabiki got up from her chair and went to sit next to Ranma on the couch. After telling her tale, Ranma turned to the middle sister and began kissing her. Tofu was kissing Nodoka while Akane and Kasumi were kissing each other.

 

As they went to the spare bedroom Akane was pouting slightly that Ranma would not be spending her day off at home. Ranma offered to take her to the home of the Norn goddesses.

 

Shortly Nabiki doused herself with Instant Naniichuan water and the group adjourned to the spare room. This was the room that was going to be set up as nursery later, but for now they had futons laid out on the floor to accommodate three couples.

 

They started off with the pairings they'd settled into in the living room - Ranma with Nabiki, Tofu with Nodoka, Akane with Kasumi. As Nabiki positioned himself between Ranma's legs he said with a happy smile, “I've missed this, Ranma. Thanks for inviting me.”

 

The goddess answered, “You're welcome. I've missed this too.”

 

Nibiki grinned, “So, have you had a chance to fuck with some hot sex gods?”

 

Ranma studied her lover's face for a moment before she said, “Actually, yes. It was part of my training.”

 

When Ranma didn't say anything more Nabiki became a little alarmed. “You know I was just joking with you, don't you?”

Ranma smiled. “You know I love you dearly, but I've said this before. You talk too much. How about less talking and more fucking?”

 

In response to that, Nabiki grinned and thrust with his hips, burying his cock to the hilt in Ranma's pussy. The girl who was currently a man asked, “Better?”

 

Her expression happy, Ranma replied, “Much.”

 

Conversation stopped as Nabiki began thrusting his organ into the goddess' depths. He had done this before but at that time Ranma had not been a goddess. He was now trying to evaluate how this was different from sex with a mortal woman. He found that there was a difference, but not one he could put into words. All he could really say for certain was that it was much better.

 

After the men had time to recover from their first orgasms, they changed partners with Tofu going to Akane and Nabiki went to Kasumi. Ranma went to her mother.

 

The redhead grinned at her mother and said, “I learned a new technique I want to try out with you.”

 

Since most of the techniques Ranma learned were martial arts moves, Nodoka felt a little nervous. “What kind of technique?”

 

Ranma explained, “It's a sexual technique. Aphrodite taught me how to do this. Watch me here,” she pointed at her vagina.

 

With what was now practiced ease, the redheaded goddess channeled her magic and ki. In a moment her clitoris stretched until it was the same length, diameter and firmness of Ranma's male penis.

 

At Nodoka's startled exclamation the other couples stopped in their love making to look over at Ranma. Nabiki looked at the new protrusion from Ranma's anatomy and demanded, “What the hell is that?”

 

Ranma giggled. “This is my clit. This is a technique that goddesses can do to make it big enough and hard enough to use like a cock. I'm planning to fuck Mom with it.

 

Akane wanted to know, “Could you teach me that? I'd like to be able to be the one fucking you and Mama No-Chan.”

 

A look of sadness came to Ranma's face. “I don't know if I can teach it. It needs a combination of magic and ki to make it work. You've got the ki, but not too many mortals have the magic it takes.”

 

Clearly disappointed, but willing to accept her limit in this matter, Akane said, “Hey Tofu, get moving again. You're starting to go soft. I've been fantasizing about sex with you since I was thirteen. Don't ruin it for me now.”

 

The good doctor brought his attention back to what he was doing and began thrusting in earnest. Nabiki didn't have to do anything as Kasumi was currently on top. The oldest Tendo girl resumed her movements up and down while impaled on her brother's cock.

 

Ranma positioned herself over her mother and eased her big clitoris into her mother's pussy. Nodoka let out a deep sigh of satisfaction. “Oh, that feels wonderful. I had feared it would be months before we could do something like this together again.”

 

Ranma agreed, “It's wonderful for me too. Even big like this, my clit is so much more sensitive than my male cock. I swear it feels so good to fuck this way that if I didn't have other reasons for changing back I might stay female permanently.”

 

Now almost gasping from the thrusts of Ranma's organ into her pussy, Nodoka said, “Please don't do that. I love you in both of your forms but I would miss my manly son.”

 

“Ah… You won't lose my male side. Like I said… Oh… I've got other reasons for changing back.” Ranma had to stop talking because she was getting close to an orgasm of her own. Lots of practice with Aphrodite had enabled Ranma to gain sufficient control that she could enjoy the orgasm, but continue to thrust into her lover's vagina while experiencing the orgasm. After getting through the orgasm, Ranma increased the speed of her thrusts.

 

In this activity Ranma gauged her progress by the reactions of her partner. After Nodoka had experienced three orgasms, Ranma stopped and turned to the others. She could see that they were finished.

 

Using another technique she had be taught, Ranma conjured water and heated it with her ki. She then splashed Nabiki with the water, reversing the transformation and making her female again.

 

Nabiki squealed as the water struck her and demanded, “What did you do that for?”

 

Ranma rolled on her back with her enlarged clitoris sticking up. She gestured for Nabiki to come closer. “I'd like you to come and sit on this if you don't mind.”

 

Nabiki's eyes got big as she considered that. “Mind? No, I wouldn't mind at all.” The middle Tendo sister walked over and straddled Ranma's body then began to lower herself. She paused a moment to get better positioned and lowered herself onto Ranma's shaft. When her pubic hair mingled with Ranma's she said, “Oh that feels nice.” She began to raise and lower herself.

 

When Nabiki felt she couldn't continue any more she climbed off Ranma with help from Akane and Nodoka. Ranma noticed that, while she and Nabiki had been busy, Tofu had made use of some instant Nyaniichuan to become female.

 

As a woman Tofu was as pretty as she was handsome when a man. She was tall and slender with medium sized breasts tipped with rosy nipples. Her hair was pink. She stepped up to Ranma somewhat shyly and asked, “Could I be next?”

 

Ranma smiled up at her doctor, friend and brother-in-law (or was that sister-in-law right now?) She said, “You don't need to be shy with me, Tofu. Come on, lie down and get comfortable. Let me know when you're ready.”

 

Shortly Tofu lay on the futon on her back propped up on her elbows with her legs spread. Ranma got on her knees between the outstretched legs, but didn't immediately move to insert her organ into the waiting woman. She said, “Since this is our first time together with you as woman I want it to be a little more special than just a simple fuck. First I'm going to eat you out. I want all the rest of you to come here and either lick, caress or otherwise touch this pretty girl. By the time we're done with her I want her to feel special. I want her to feel loved.”

 

The others complied. By the time Ranma finally stopped working Tofu's pussy over with her tongue the pink haired woman had experienced five orgasms. Only then did Ranma move to insert her shaft into the doctor's willing cunt.

 

While Ranma was busy with the doctor, the other women paired off again and engaged in other sexual activities. By the time Ranma and Tofu were finished the doctor was exhausted and the goddess was supercharged with energy. In fact Ranma was the only person still awake. She briefly considered teleporting Nabiki and the Ono's back to their homes, but decided to let them rest where they were.

 

At the same time she decided that she would need to learn that energy sharing technique for any future sexual activities with mortals.

 

She summoned her Senshi battle suit. From talking to the other senshi she had found out one major difference between her and the mortal Senshi. When one of the other girls transformed she got the clothing, the disguise spell, powers and magic. When they de-transformed they went back to being more or less normal girls. When Ranma transformed the first time the Senshi powers had been added to her goddess powers. However, when she had de-transformed it had only been a change of clothing. There was no power-down to “normal.” The Senshi powers now seemed a permanent part of her. The combination made her one of the stronger goddesses around.

 

She teleported a couple of streets over onto a rooftop. From there she headed out for another night of crime fighting as Sailor Terra.

 

The next afternoon Ranma and Akane exited out of a patch of dirt near to a building that had been a temple but had been converted into a home. The goddess and the mortal walked to the front door and knocked.

 

The door was opened by a beautiful tall, slender woman with an elongated diamond goddess mark on her forehead. She had long light brown hair and had an aura of peace that radiated from her. Both Ranma and Akane were reminded strongly of Kasumi.

 

“You must be Ranma. Skuld told us you were coming. I'm her sister Beldandy. And who is this lovely lady you have brought with you?”

 

With a bow the mortal girl introduced herself, “I'm Akane. I'm Ranma's wife.”

 

If she was expecting the goddess to be surprised, Akane was disappointed. Beldandy, used to the antics of sex deities, didn't bat an eye. She smiled warmly and said, “Ranma has excellent taste. Please come in. Would you care for tea?”

 

When they got to the living room Beldandy indicated a nervous looking young man (a mortal, Ranma could tell.) “This is my boyfriend Keiichi. I believe you both have already met my sisters Urd and Skuld.”

 

Ranma and Akane bowed to the others. “A pleasure to meet you Keiichi-san. Urd, could I have a moment?”

 

The silver haired goddess got up and led Ranma into the back yard. Ranma glanced back into the building and asked, “Why is Keiichi acting so nervous?”

 

Urd chuckled. “He hasn't had the best luck when it comes to visiting goddesses. New arrivals tend to make him nervous.”

 

Ranma nodded in sympathy. She turned her attention back to the silver haired goddess and said, “I would almost think you were trying to avoid me. You say you're going to train me and then I don't see you for days. I'm Ok with the teachers you've arranged, but was wondering if you were mad at me or something.”

 

“I'm not mad at you,” Urd insisted. “I've been busy with other duties. I picked the people from the ones who were volunteering to teach you. How is the training going?”

Ranma shrugged. “I'm a pretty quick study but they are throwing stuff at me at so fast that I can barely absorb it all. As it is it will take me weeks or even months of practice to master all of it.”

 

With a smile the silver haired goddess reported, “Your teachers assure me that they are matching the pace of the training to your learning level. They have all said they are impressed at how much you are learning and how fast.”

 

“Hump,” Ranma said grumpily. “I'm glad someone's impressed. That's not why I wanted to talk to you, though.”

 

The older goddess nodded. “What can I help you with?”

 

Ranma pulled the henshin rod out of stuff space and said, “I'd like to think you're my friend. For the moment I'm going to assume you didn't know about this in advance.”

 

The Norn goddess frowned. “Know about what? The way you talk about it sounds serious.”

 

“Serious?” Ranma said. “You could say that. Take a look at this.” She handed the henshin rod to the older goddess.

 

Urd examined the crystal rod. “Is this a magic wand? There's a lot of complex magic in it.”

 

Ranma considered that for a moment before answering, “Not a magic wand, but it does create a magical transformation. This is the henshin rod that turned me into Sailor Terra.”

 

The silver haired goddess handed the rod back to Ranma. “Why do you show me this?”

 

Ranma challenged, “You know what training I've had in magic. Am I well enough trained to modify magic of this level?”

 

The older goddess paused in thought. “You could modify it, but at your skill level, you'd probably just make a mess of it. I don't think you'd be able to make the magic do what you want.”

 

The redhead nodded. “That's what I thought. When I was given this stick it was made of a brown stone. I don't know how I knew, but the magic in the stick looked wrong somehow. I adjusted that magic so that the stick changed from plain brown stone to clear brown crystal. When it finished changing it still worked and changed me into Sailor Terra with the Senshi powers merged with my divine powers.”

 

“How did you…” Urd began.

 

The younger goddess shook her head. “I can only think that there was some kind of knowledge stuck in my head through magic or hypnosis or whatever so that I knew what to do with this. I don't appreciate having my head messed with. I want to know who messed with me and why. I also want to know if you knew about this.”

 

The platinum blonde looked uncertain. She shook her head and said, “If you were implanted with advanced magical knowledge I wasn't informed of it. I need to check into this.”

 

Urd went to the phone and placed a call. She spoke in low tones for a little while then looked at Ranma while continuing the conversation. After several minutes she hung up the phone and motioned for Ranma to follow her. They went into the older goddess' room. There she set a laptop computer on a table and activated it. On the screen Ranma saw a playback of the scene of her initial transformation to Sailor Terra.

 

Urd saw the expression on Ranma's face and hastened to explain, “When you entered the shrine grounds the wards there did more than just recognize you as a goddess and welcome you to the place. A signal was sent to Ygdrassl that a divine presence had entered the shrine grounds. This is a standard precaution. There have been times in the past when a god or goddess was in trouble and they could get help by going to a shrine. This was not set up to spy on you specifically. This is intended to let us know if there is a god in trouble and in need of help.”

Ranma nodded. “Go on,” she requested.

 

The platinum blonde tapped a few keys on the computer and the view pulled back and changed to looking down on the scene from above. Urd pointed and said, “What do you see in the bushes here?”

 

The younger goddess frowned. “Those are Sailors Pluto, Uranus and Neptune. From the fact that they're hiding, may I assume they are planning something bad for me?”

 

Urd nodded. “I think that is a safe bet.”

 

The redhead's frown intensified. “Then why did they leave without doing anything?”

 

The older goddess thought for a moment. “I don't know, but I'd guess they were there to witness your transformation to Sailor Terra. If the Senshi powers had replaced your divine powers, that would have made you weak enough for them to hurt or even kill you. When the new powers were added to your existing powers, you were too strong for them to confront and they left.”

 

Ranma's expression was grim. She said, “That would make sense.”

 

Before Ranma could say more, Urd told her, “I found out what was done to you. When the goddess transformation was done on you the knowledge of how to modify the henshin rod was implanted in your mind. Your heritage as Sailor Terra was known and prepared for. If you had used the henshin rod as it was first given to you, it would have powered you down from goddess to Senshi and left you vulnerable. By changing the magic in the rod, the Senshi power was added to your goddess powers and made you stronger. In effect, the implanted knowledge saved your life.”

 

The younger goddess nodded. “It makes sense. This fills in gaps in my knowledge. It would seem that when Sailor Pluto wasn't able to confront me directly, she came up with a plan to interfere in my past. She was going to prevent the accident that caused me to be the father of my own babies. That plan blew up in her face when the gods anticipated the attempt and took away her Time Staff. In effect she has been relieved of her duty as Guardian of the Gates of Time. The only option left to her is to try and make friends with me in an effort to get her job back.”

 

The platinum blonde nodded. “Yes, that would make sense. The questions to ask at this point would be, has she learned her lesson and if she did get back control of the Time Gates could she be trusted to not go back to her old ways?”

 

“Humph,” Ranma grunted. “I can understand why Peorth told Pluto that she would have a divine `advisor' during the time she was given to train her replacement. More like divine watchdog, I'm thinking.”

 

She paused. “Ok, I think I can forgive Kami-Sama for implanting the knowledge in my head for how to modify the henshin rod. I don't like the method used, but it did save my butt. I do want to know if any more of those little `safeguards' have been implanted.”

 

Urd pursed her lips for a moment before replying, “I anticipated that you would ask that question. I was told that was the only such implant. Or at least the only one that the goddess I spoke to knew about.”

 

“What are we going to do about Pluto?” Ranma said, “She's asked that I pass along a request for a hearing to appeal her dismissal from the post of Guardian of the Gates.”

 

The older goddess rested two fingers on her chin as she thought. After a moment she said, “Even the worst criminal deserves a hearing to state her side of the story. I don't think Sailor Pluto is evil, just misguided. She has this goal she's been working toward and has been a little too single minded in her pursuit of that goal.”

 

Ranma agreed, “She strikes me as an `end justifies the means' sort of person. She's been focused on her goal for nearly 20,000 years. That's how long she's been the Guardian.”

 

“Wow,” exclaimed Urd. “Even gods don't stay on a single assignment that long. I'd say your friend really needs to take a century or two off or at least work at something different. People who stay on one job too long can loose their edge, get sloppy. Experience on a job is a good thing but only so far.”

 

“Yeah,” affirmed Ranma. “Say do you know someone who could look at my past lives and tell me if I really was Meiyoh Setsuna's husband.”

 

“Sure, I know lots of people who can do that. I'm not sure why you would want to, though. Now that you're a goddess you could remember all of that stuff anytime you want. It's just a simple meditation technique.”

 

Ranma's eyebrows went up. “Can you teach me this technique?”

 

Urd nodded and said, “Um… I could, but I think Beldandy would be better at it than I would.”

 

“Ok, I'll ask her. Uh… Urd?”

 

The platinum blonde responded, “What?”

 

“Well, it's just the subjects I'm being trained in. I mean, I like all the martial arts training, but it seems a really strange mix of stuff for a sex goddess. I think I'm getting a lot more martial arts and combat training than I would think a sex goddess would get. What's going on?”

 

The other goddess looked troubled. “I noticed that too. I've just been setting up the schedule for the training that I was ordered to. When I asked about why this was being ordered for a sex deity it was just told that it would make sense eventually.”

 

Ranma sighed deeply. “I hate it when people get mysterious. I guess I'll have to wait to find out what's going on. I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me on the butt.”

 

Urd shrugged. “You'd better get used to people being mysterious in Heaven. It's sort of a way of life for the older gods to never give a straight answer to a straight question.”

 

Ranma nodded sadly. “I'd better go see what Akane is doing.”

 

The silver haired goddess laughed, “Likely my little sister is boring her with stories about her inventions and computer stuff.”

 

Ranma chuckled. “I guess we'd better go rescue her. Besides, Skuld was taking care of some stuff for me.”

 

“Oh?”

 

Ranma explained, “She was going to get me a computer with access to Ygdrassl.”

 

Urd pulled up short. “I'm sorry, Ranma. I was supposed to get you a computer to access Ygdrassl. I forgot.”

 

“No problem,” Ranma said. “I needed something a little customized. Since I'm now a Senshi too, I also needed something that could access the Moon Kingdom Mainframe.”

 

That was a surprise to the older goddess. “The Moon Kingdom Mainframe is still working?”

 

“Yep,” Ranma confirmed. “Sailor Mercury uses it all the time.”

 

They went back to the main room. Skuld looked up and said, “Ranma, I got that computer for you. Come to my room.” She got up and headed off with her robot following her. Banpei looked a little bit like a snowman with legs. Ranma followed.

 

The young goddess picked up the wrist communicator off the worktable and handed it to the redhead. She asked, “You Senshi can teleport to any planet in the solar system, can't you?”

 

“So they tell me, but I haven't done it yet. Mostly they have to do it as a group. Pluto can teleport by herself but she's sort of locked out of that right now. As a goddess I can teleport anywhere.”

 

Skuld nodded. “Ok. Anyway, I've boosted the range on this so you can communicate from any point in the solar system to any other point in the solar system. It uses a subspace relay system so there is no speed of light time lag. The relay system is also Silver Millennium tech that has been in place for 20,000 years, but it still works.”

 

“Cool.”

 

“Yeah, I thought so,” agreed the young inventor. “I put in the holographic emitter like I said so you can project the video image bigger. It's better to do that if you're are somewhere that ordinary mortals can't see it.”

 

“That's great!”

 

The black haired goddess picked up the red Mars Computer and handed it to Ranma. “I only did one thing to this and that was to add a memory chip. There was an open socket for it. It was a little tricky to find a divine chip that was compatible. This computer now doesn't need to access the Moon Mainframe. A friend of mine was able to download the entire Lunar database including the secure files.”

 

She looked thoughtful. “My friend told me that the mainframe on the Moon wasn't in the best shape. There are some huge sections of the memory that were offline. He said it looked like there hadn't been any maintenance done on the system in thousands of years. It's amazing it even still works. He said it was a testament to the quality of the construction that things continued to function on any level after all that time with no maintenance.”

 

“So what did he do?” Ranma wanted to know.

 

Skuld explained, “He was able to remote activate the self repair system and get the maintenance droids working. He had to charge up the power cells and clear a lot of moon dust off the solar panels to keep power flowing. It took a couple hours to get everything working but the whole system is running now. If my friend hadn't done his little bit that system would have shut down for lack of power in another year. Apparently the computer was one of the few areas that didn't get damaged in that last big battle.”

 

“Wow.” Ranma was impressed. “How long was it like that?”

 

“Probably about ten thousand years,” the younger goddess speculated. “That wasn't such a big deal because nobody was using it. The system was in `sleep mode' for the longest time. It was only when the Senshi became active again that the computer became active again. Even then it was so starved for power that only part of the memory could be activated at any one time.”

 

Curious, Ranma asked. “How much memory are we talking about?”

 

The young inventor shrugged. “I didn't get an exact number, but a lot.”

 

“And all of that is copied to a chip on this?” Ranma patted the Mars Computer.

 

Smiling happily, Skuld confirmed, “Yes, all of it.”

 

Ranma paused in thought for a moment. “Do you have any more of those chips?”

 

“You won't need one,” Skuld told her. “I've already got the whole thing saved on your new computer.”

 

The redhead shook her head. “I was thinking of the other Senshi. I'm pretty sure Mercury doesn't have one of those chips and Pluto might find it useful.”

 

“Oh, I didn't think of that,” the younger goddess confessed. “I'm pretty sure my friend kept a copy. It shouldn't be a problem for him to make up another one or two.”

 

“Thanks, that would be great.”

 

The younger goddess picked up a computer that looked like a virtual copy of the Mars Computer. The main difference was the case was brown in a woodgrain pattern. When Ranma took it in her hand the case felt as if it had really been crafted of a hard and fine-grained wood.

 

Watching Ranma rub the case, Skuld laughed and said, “That's not real wood, but made to look and feel like it. Open the lid.”

Ranma did so. On the bottom part where the keyboard was the Earth symbol was rendered in a silver metallic finish on a corner. Skuld directed, “Touch the Earth symbol and think your name.”

 

After Ranma had done this Skuld informed her, “This computer is now keyed to you and your thoughts. Now try this. While touching the symbol, think your name and the command `Configuration: laptop one.'”

 

Ranma gave the mental command and under her finger the computer expanded to a generously sized full laptop computer with a wide screen and full sized keyboard. The wooden look and feel of the computer case remained the same. Now next to the Earth symbol were the words “Terra Computers in stylized romanji letters. The computer looked like one that would be completely at home on any desk in any office in the world. It appeared to have slots for things like DVD's and all of the other things one would expect on an up-to-date laptop computer.

 

Skuld commented, “There actually is a `Terra Computers' company in America and the logo looks like theirs. My friend thought it was appropriate for the Senshi of Earth. To change it back to the original form, touch the symbol and think your name and the command `Configuration Terracomp one.'”

 

At the command the computer resumed its original shape. Ranma nodded. “What else can it do?”

 

The young inventor grinned. “Try this one. The command is `Configuration Virtual one.'”

 

This time the case disappeared. The keyboard expanded to full size but took on a look of transparency. The screen now looked like a hologram floating in the air. Ranma thought she had seen something like this once in an anime.

 

“This is the most flexible configuration. You don't need a table to set it on or even your lap. The keyboard will stay wherever you put it in midair. To move it just grab both sides of the keyboard and place it where you want. When you let go it will stay put and feel as solid as any table”

 

“You can change the size of the screen by grabbing either two sides or two corners. Pull to make bigger, push to make smaller. To move the screen lay your hand flat on the surface. It is a touch screen so you can interact with it by touching with a fingertip. You can type or speak your input and commands. You can also communicate directly by telepathy. Have you got to telepathy in your training yet?”

 

Ranma shook her head.

 

Skuld gave a short nod. “Ok, you'd better not try that interface mode yet. To get any kind of useful work out of the system in telepathic interface mode your thoughts need to very disciplined. Otherwise a stray thought could send the computer off in directions you don't want it to go.”

 

The redhead nodded. “I'll stick to typing for now. When I'm more familiar with it, I will use voice. The thinking mode I'll save for later. What about scanning modes?”

 

“In all configurations this system will have all the same scanning functions as the Mars Computer did and a few that the Silver Millennium tech people didn't think of. There is one other thing. I never even knew anyone was working on this. This computer has been upgraded with a time scan capability.”

 

That was a surprise. Ranma asked, “Time scan? Do you mean like Pluto's Gates of time?”

 

“In a way,” responded Skuld. “In that scan mode you can view past, present and future the same way you could with the Gates. You can view alternate timelines and get a read on how probable or improbable. You can run simulations of how a change to the past would work out. The major difference is that this computer won't let you travel in time or interfere in any other way. It is strictly an observation tool.”

 

Getting back to a problem that had been on her mind, Ranma asked, “Could I use this to view my past lives?”

 

Skuld thought about it. “Shouldn't be a problem. You just need to set the parameters of your search. I think this should be able to track a soul. I don't know how right now.”

 

Ranma thought about it. “If I had a name, a place and a general time frame could the computer find the person then?”

 

“That would be easier.”

 

The redhead said, “Urd told me about a meditation technique that would let me remember my past lives. If I could learn that I could get the information to target a search with the computer.”

 

The black haired goddess smiled, “That would work. I think Beldandy knows that technique. She could teach you.”

 

The redhead played around with the virtual form of the computer for a while before changing it back to the Terra Computer and storing it in stuff space. She stood up and gave the startled young goddess a hug. “This is more than I had hoped for. I'm glad you're my friend.”

 

Skuld blushed for a moment before saying, “You're welcome, Ranma.”

 

After a bit more thought Ranma asked, “If Pluto can't get her job back, do you think you could get another computer with the time scan built in?”

 

Skuld nodded. “I'll have to ask my friend in tech services. He enhanced this unit mostly because he owed me a favor. The time scan isn't generally available, it's too new.”

 

Ranma shrugged. “Could you ask him about it but don't tell him to do anything yet? I don't know if Setsuna would be willing to have the ability view time without the ability to manipulate it. It might just remind her of what was taken from her.”

 

“Oh, I didn't think of that.”

 

Ranma said, “I'm not going to tell her that I can scan time. I'm going to wait until I find out what happens with her appeal. If she gets her job back the Time Gates would make this look like a toy.”

 

“Good idea.”

 

Ranma got up and left Skuld's room. Akane was chatting with Urd and Beldandy. She approached her wife and apologized, “I'm sorry for bringing you here and leaving you. I've had business to take care of.”

 

Akane smiled. “It's Ok. Beldandy is very nice. She reminds me a lot of Kasumi.”

 

Beldandy laughed and commented, “Someday I'll have to meet this Kasumi I'm being compared to.”

 

Ranma smiled, “You'd like her. I wonder if you could help me with something.”

 

“How can I help you?”

 

Ranma explained, “Urd told me that you know a meditation technique that would help me remember my past lives.”

 

“Oh yes. I could teach it to you.” Beldandy offered, “Come to my room.”

 

The two goddesses went off to Beldandy's room.

 

Akane looked after her husband/wife and said with a sigh, “Ranma seems so busy all the time these days.”

 

Urd replied, “That's not likely to change for a while. I'm not sure why but the higher ups seem to want Ranma trained way beyond the scope of what a sex deity would normally need to know. Kami-Sama always has a reason for what he does, he just doesn't always share what that reason is with others.”

 

Akane looked worried. “I hope Ranma isn't getting into something she can't handle. Sometimes she's got more confidence than is good for her.”

 

Urd nodded sympathetically. “I've noticed that. On a lot of people I'd call it arrogance but she has the ability to back it up.”

 

Akane didn't look reassured. “That doesn't mean she can always take everything you throw at her. Part of the reason she's a goddess now is because she was overwhelmed by the accident at the fertility clinic on top of all the other weird stuff. If she had taken it in stride like she does with so much other stuff she wouldn't have said her prayer that got her the Wish.”

 

Musingly Akane continued, “Ranma's strong and lots of the time can bend where other people would break. But there are limits. Just because she's a goddess now, doesn't mean she'll be able to handle everything. I hope your people aren't pushing her too hard.”

 

Urd nodded. “I hope so too.”

 

The conversation turned to cheerier topics.

 

A half hour later Ranma and Beldandy emerged from the latter's room. Ranma looked a little dazed, but otherwise alright. She looked a little shaky as she sat on a couch.

 

Noticing the concerned looks she was getting Ranma told them, “In 20,000 years I lived a lot of lives. There's a lot of memories. Right now the memories are pretty much of a jumble and it's going to take some work to get them organized enough to be any real use to me.”

 

She thought for a moment. “People have said I'm immature. Once I get a good handle on those memories I think that won't be true anymore. In a lot of those past lives I lived to a ripe old age. I've been men and I've been women. I've started some of those lives rich and some poor but most I was rich by the end. I was always smart.”

 

“In one lifetime I was a martial arts master who lived to be 150 years old and work on perfecting the Art most of those years. I knew techniques that have since been forgotten. Some of them are really deadly. I'm going to need to spend time in meditation to get the mess sorted out.”

 

She looked at Akane and said, “I hope you mind don't me taking you away from your new friends, but I'd like to go home and lie down. The memories currently swirling around inside my head are making me feel a little dizzy. I need some time to sort them out.”

 

Skuld offered to take them back and her offer was gratefully accepted.

 

Author's Note: Sailor Pluto's request for hearing has been delivered. The question remains, if Pluto does regain control of the Gates of Time, can she be trusted? Stay tuned to find out.