Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Of Titans and Men... ( Chapter 75 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

"I'm home!" called Kurumi Tendo as she stepped in through the front door of her uncle's estate, removing her slippers as she momentarily set down the bag of groceries that she was carrying and looked around to discover who else was home at the moment.

"In here, Kurumi-chan," came the pleasant dulcet tones of her cousin Kasumi, "Did you get the soy sauce like I asked?"

"Hai," Kurumi said brightly as she brought her load into the kitchen and set it down on the counter, then sniffed the air and immediately brightened, "That smells so good! Sukiyaki?"

"We're trying a new recipe," said her Aunt Nodoka as she stirred the vegetables in a wok while Shampoo chopped more on a cutting board and Kasumi prepared the dishes, "Sweet and sour pork with cilantro and curry."

Kurumi made an approving noise and said, "I'm starving, when will it be ready?"

"You always starving," Shampoo sniffed in amusement, "There riceballs on table to keep bottomless pit from rumbling until dinner ready."

"Thank you!" said Kurumi brightly and all but dove for the tempting globes of preformed rice that were a special delicacy for the youngest member of the Tendo household when she needed to curb her eternal hunger in a hurry. She happily munched down three while the trio of chefs each paid her an indulgent look of fondness. Even Nodoka did not feel inclined to chide Kurumi for her greedy eating habits, or caution her against possibly spoiling her dinner…mainly because no one had ever seen the littlest Tendo girl lose her appetite for any reason.

"These are good!" Kurumi said cheerfully, "Did you make them, Oneechan?"

"Shampoo made those, Kurumi-chan," Kasumi replied, not minding that her youngest cousin preferred calling her 'big sister' from sheer habit, "She said they were a small price to pay to keep you out of her Ramen noodles until they are ready."

"Thank you, Cousin Shampoo-chan," Kurumi bowed to the purple haired Amazon, "They were delicious!"

Shampoo turned very slowly on account of her widening girth and gave Kurumi a mock-stern expression that she had copied from long experience with her great grandmother, "You thank me by no stealing Ramen until it ready or I tie you up with own hair ribbon, understood?"

"Hai," Kurumi adopted a particularly Kawaii expression as she looked back at the pregnant Amazon with such feigned innocence that Shampoo could not help smiling.

"By the way, Kurumi-chan," Nodoka remarked, "Where is your sister at? I wanted to see if she might be willing to help me run some errands later in the day…"

Kurumi lost her cheerful expression and said, "Uh…she…she's over visiting with that Kuno guy. I…didn't feel like coming along…"

"Oh, that's right," Kasumi brightened, "Tatawaki is home from the hospital today. I do hope he's feeling better."

"Just so he spend time with Natsume-chan and no try picking any more fights with Airen," Shampoo said crossly.

"Now dear," Nodoka gently chided, "Tachi's had it very rough these last few years, and who could possibly blame him for the way he has been acting? I really blame myself for not keeping a better watch on that sister of his. Kodachi always was such a handful…" she sighed tiredly, "But who would have suspected that she was secretly feeding her brother the drugs that were making him act so unstable?"

"I'm sure her intentions weren't meant to cause him any harm, Auntie," Kasumi said in her reassuring manner, "Kodachi may have been high spirited, but she was never truly malicious. Now that she's off somewhere with her friend Keiko, I'm sure she'll have time to reflect upon her actions."

Kurumi was not so certain of this, having formed the distinctive impression from their one brief meeting that the Kuno sister was, if anything, more of a nutcase than her addict brother. It never failed to amaze her how kind-hearted and understanding Kasumi could be, one reason everyone seemed to like her so much, including Kurumi.

In all truth, Kurumi felt very uncomfortable about her sister's obvious and growing attraction to the Samurai wannabe who had been harassing Natsume for three consecutive days before his eventual collapse. Sure, the man was out of the hospital and had appeared to be acting more sober when she saw him that morning, but he still looked like trouble, the kind her big sister was usually so good at avoiding. In fact, it was entirely unlike Natsume to fawn so much over any guy, like she was under a spell or something. It made Kurumi feel distinctly nauseous seeing the two of them looking moon-eyed at one another.

In many ways it was pleasing to find how much Shampoo agreed with her private assessment, just one of many things Kurumi liked about the purple-haired Amazon who was their cousin by marriage, odd though it sounded since the one she was married to was her real cousin, Nabiki.

"Stupid Rose girl may no be responsible for her actions, but she still must answer questions when she come back to Nerima," Shampoo was stating as she finished chopping up some garlic into very tiny pieces, "Maybe Shampoo cousin make see error of ways. Great Grandmother think Cousin already make Kuno-sister see error of ways. We know if Cousin keep word and return her, along with Red and Red's mother like she promise."

"I don't know if I feel very confident about that," Nodoka frowned, "Nabiki wouldn't get too specific on the details but she hinted that this Lao person was a very rough customer. I'm not sure if I approve of Kodachi associating with someone of less than sterling character."

"Hah," Shampoo snorted, "Is Cousin I feel sorry for. She spend enough time with Black Rose girl she be very happy to get her back home. Maybe Kuno make sister feel sorry she behave so sneaky, maybe let police have her answer questions. If so, then I feel sorry for Akane, who like Rose girl for some reason."

"Ah," Kasumi seemed on the verge of saying something, when she thought better of it and instead remarked, "Speaking of Akane, she has been working very hard on her bride training ever since father agreed to let her be engaged to Ryoga."

Both Shampoo and Nodoka exchanged knowing looks while Kurumi thought that matters had been a bit different from what Kasumi had just described when Akane confronted her father and told Soun Tendo flat out that she wanted to be engaged to Ryoga and no other. To say that Soun had "allowed" the match would have been to ignore several hours of intense shouting in which her Uncle had flat-out forbidden Cousin Akane to have anything to do with Ryoga Hibiki, and he had listed a number of perfectly valid reasons (or so he considered them) for not permitting any sort of relationship with the aptly-named Lost Boy.

In the end he had caved in to Akane's relentless insistence that she would marry Ryoga and no one else, a declaration that had-Kurumi vividly recalled-taken Ryoga himself by surprise and left him to sit there stunned for five full minutes just absorbing the implications. Akane's case was-oddly enough--given support by Genma, who declared that Ryoga was the heir to a lost branch of the Anything Goes school and so should be given a chance to prove himself as a worthy suitor for Akane's hand in marriage.

Everyone else had been stunned at the panda-man's assertion, and it did not take Kurumi long to discover why, as further experience indicated to her what sort of character the elder Saotome male was, in many senses a startling contrast to his son, Ranma. That he would take a stand in support of Akane was by itself amazing, and yet his voice had helped to decide the matter. Soun had given in to the logic used by his old friend and fellow student of the Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu. Some later voiced the suspicion that Genma had ulterior motives for supporting the union, but Akane was infinitely grateful, and Ryoga had declared himself honored to have someone speak on his behalf in such a forceful manner.

Kurumi privately liked Ryoga very much and thought him a good match for Akane, who acted like a girl in love whenever the long-toothed boy was in her presence. Considering how depressed Akane had been of late, moping over the absence of her two closest friends, Kurumi was glad to see anything that could cheer up her cousin, who was in many was as close to her as a sister.

Kurumi often wished that there was some way that she could make Akane feel better herself, having formed an instant bond at their first meeting. The odd thing was that anytime she said this to her dark haired cousin Akane would just look at her and smile in a very odd way, then shake her head and mutter something about being careful that Akane did not take her literally up on her offer…

Kasumi looked up suddenly, distracting Kurumi from her internal reflections as she said, "Oh my…I think I hear the mail being delivered."

"I'll get it, Oneechan," Kurumi volunteered, wanting to do something to be helpful to her family, now that she had a family to help, which was a thing she had come to treasure in a surprisingly brief time. She hurried to the mail box on their front porch and came back a moment later with several cards and letters in hand, mostly junk mail and bills, which were usually handled by her absent cousin, Nabiki.

One envelope, however, stood out from the others in that it was engraved with old lettering in Chinese characters that Kurumi had trouble reading, in spite of the regular tutoring she and Natsume had been receiving from the ever-helpful Hinako-sensei. She decided, from the look of it, that it was probably for Shampoo and so came back into the kitchen holding it out as she said, "Can you make this out for me, Cousin? Is that your name on the side? I don't see a return address…"

Shampoo was busy washing her hands in the sink when she caught sight of the envelope, and then something in her manner changed abruptly as she snatched the thing out of Kurumi's hands with damp fingers.

"Is it important news from your village, Shampoo-chan?" Kasumi asked the Amazon, taking notice of the purple haired girl's unusually pale complexion.

"No," Shampoo replied as she grabbed a knife and sliced the top of the envelope open, "It to Airen and myself. I recognize handwriting though…" she paused as she studied the letter she had unfolded, then said, "This is from my cousin, Lao. She say she coming to Nerima and bringing others with her."

"Oh?" Nodoka asked, "Does she say when?"

Shampoo nodded very soberly then looked at them all before whispering her reply, "Tomorrow…"

"Here it is," said Hercules as he indicated a forested area just off from the school grounds adjoining city limits, "This is the place indicated by Heph's gizmo."

"Are you sure?" asked Urd glanced at the spot indicated, "I don't feel anything unusual…"

"Probably have to look a lot closer," Hercules remarked, taking note of the obvious trail as he added, "Looks like this is used for cross-country jogging, a little off-campus exercise leading to that park area I imagine."

"So what's so great about exercise?" Urd asked with a sniff, "Mortals go to so much trouble trying to stay in shape, it's like an obsession…"

"Holy Mother of Creation," Hercules halted in his tracks so suddenly that Urd almost collided with his shoulder, "Wonder what did this?"

"Eh?" Urd asked as she glanced around his broad back to find the scene of mass devastation that was in evidence in a very contained area, which caused her to lift a pale eyebrow, "You're right…it looks like you went through here or something."

Hercules ignored the comment and studied the device in his hand again, then once more started forward, "The thing I'm looking for is here…in fact…right at the base of this sinkhole--correction--cave that somebody partially collapsed. I think I'm finally going to get to the bottom of whatever it is that has Dad so worked up."

"Maybe he lost some souvenir pictures and he's afraid Hera might find them?" Urd suggested.

"Harde-har," Hercules snorted as he put the device away then said, "Wait here while I investigate."

He jumped down into the pit while Urd stood by the edge frowning slightly. She glanced around herself as if to try and shake a peculiar feeling, then to cover her sudden nervousness she called out, "Find it yet?"

"I found something all right," Hercules replied in disquieted tones that did not sound like positive confirmation, "Only I think we're too late. I don't know how to say this, but I think we're in big trouble."

"Nani?" Urd exclaimed, then floated down into the pit and raised a hand to summon up a light that could dispel the partial darkness, "I don't see anything so…big?"

She amended herself silently as she saw what Hercules was looking at, which was some manner of egg-shaped object with a very large hole punched through one side, as if something had burst out from the inside.

"What did that?" she wondered tonelessly.

"I don't know," Hercules said very soberly, "And that's what has me worried. Bring that light closer over here…I think I see some writing."

Urd approached the egg-shaped object, and the moment her glowing hands came closer to the writing it flared to life as if reflecting her magic.

"Typhon?" Hercules gasped, "Oboy! So that's what had the old boy white as a sheet! Figures he wouldn't tell me about a thing like this and let me find out the hard way."

"Typhon?" Urd frowned, "Who's Typhon?"

"Not who," Hercules replied, "What, and unless I miss my guess…" he slowly turned around and pointed, "The thing that hatched here went in that direction."

Urd followed his gaze and saw what he meant as she took in the freshly made exit through which a very large object had burrowed out of the side of the pit at a very steep angle. With increasing nervousness she said, "You think so, huh?"

"Call it a hunch," Hercules snorted, "Come on, let's try and catch up with it before it upsets the neighbors…"

"Mind if I ask you something?"

Beatrice favored her companion with a smile, "You just did."

"I mean seriously," Nabiki said, "What is it between you and the redhead anyway? I'd like to know about the sort of company my sister is keeping these days, and please don't avoid the question. I think I'm entitled to an answer."

"Perhaps you are," Beatrice leaned forward on the bench they were sharing at the moment and stared at nothing for several long moments, "I just don't know how to answer you. It's not an easy subject, and…the answer will probably surprise you."

"Try me," Nabiki said dryly, "You've got no idea what passes for normality in my life."

"Very well," Beatrice sighed, looking down for several more long seconds, then she looked up and began with a question of her own, "Tell me something, Tendo-san…have you ever hated anybody?"

Nabiki arched an eyebrow and this time it was her turn to hesitate before responding, "I've…known a few people I haven't liked very much…"

"That is not the same thing as hating them," Beatrice shook her head slowly, then stared off again as she resumed, "I mean have you ever hated one person with an all-consuming passion that obsesses your very being and becomes the driving force of your existence? I mean, have you ever really, truly hated anyone with a force so intense…that it was almost like love?"

The last part she asked looking directly at Nabiki, who sat back in surprise and said, "I'm not sure I understand…"

"Then that makes two of us," Beatrice stared off into space again and leaned back on the bench with her hands to support her, "It seems a lifetime ago that it first happened…the two of us became rivals and started a feud that Alison soon forgot all about but which I remembered vividly when we met again over a decade later. It happened about seven months ago near the beginning of the last semester, she came back into my life all over again, and something terrible happened…"

"What?" Nabiki asked, intrigued now beyond measure.

Beiko smiled a bittersweet smile and said, "I fell in love. Her name was Celeste, but everyone called her Ceiko. She got that name in the same institute where we first met at the age of five, if you can believe it. I think it must have been some manner of joke among the researchers, giving us nick-names of Aiko, Beiko and Ceiko, but I suppose even Nerds must find their jollies somewhere."

"I see," Nabiki replied, "And this girl you fell in love with?"

For a moment Beatrice's lovely face lit up with an inner joy at a memory that made her look more alive than at any time since their meeting, "She was laughter and life to me…the first time I saw her my heart reached out and started fluttering like a bird. I went mad with the desire to be her friend and to have her with me…some people who knew me back then will tell you it was not a very long descent into madness…" she smiled at the irony of her own statement, then she sighed again and said, "The only problem for me was that Ceiko already had a friend, and her name was Aiko."

"You mean she and this Alison…?" Nabiki started to say, but Beatrice cut her off with a snort of amusement.

"No, I'm afraid their relationship wasn't quite that intimate," she assured, "Aiko regarded Ceiko like a sister and sometimes acted as her guardian protector. I was terribly jealous just the same, and I'm afraid I lashed out at Alison in a misguided attempt to force the two of them apart so that I could have Celeste all to myself. You must understand that I was not in full possession of my faculties and had little idea just what sort of a mess I was creating. In effect I was totally clueless."

"I have some idea what that's like," Nabiki mused aloud, thinking privately how little her new companion behaved like her memories of Kuno.

"Aiko remembers those times a little too well, I'm afraid," Beatrice sighed again, "The way I attacked her almost every day, trying to crush her to get at Ceiko, coming up with one mad elaborate scheme right after the other and generally making myself into a royal nuisance. For four straight months up to the very end of the semester we were fighting almost daily, doing more damage to our school campus than to ourselves in the process, all to no avail…" her voice fell almost to a whisper as she concluded, "In the end neither one of us wound up with Ceiko. She went home with her mother and that should have been the end to the entire matter. With no one to fight over, Aiko and I were suddenly without a reason for all our fighting."

"Then you and Aiko are martial artists?" Nabiki asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Beatrice replied sadly, "I've had some training in Combat Ballet, while Alison is a practitioner of Amazonian Martial Arts…"

"Amazon?" this time Nabiki arched both eyebrows.

"I'm afraid so," Beatrice replied, "A four thousand year old school of female combat distantly related to Grecian Pankratia, handed down directly from mother to daughter over several generations. Added to that is another school known as Klughor, which is practiced by her father…"

"Wait a minute," Beatrice frowned, "Four thousand years? I thought the Nyuchiczu School had only been in existence for three thousand."

"You are thinking of the Chinese branch of the Amazons," Beatrice smiled, "Alison's people were Sythians, the same people who once dominated the Slavic lands of Romania and Turkey before the Huns invaded their lands after the Romans conquered the province."

"You mean the original Amazons of Greek legend," Nabiki replied.

"As opposed to the Libyan branch, which came even earlier," Beatrice replied, "At any rate, to return to your original question, once Celeste disappeared, a very strange thing happened to Aiko and me…we stopped fighting…just like that. Suddenly the great cause of our rivalry was removed and we were left without a clue of where to go from there. It was very disconcerting…one moment I'm hating her with every fiber of my being…the next thing I know I have no desire to continue. It took me a while to figure out why, and the ultimate answer turned out to be with Ceiko."

"You mean the jealousy was the source?" Nabiki asked.

"Not just jealousy," Beatrice corrected, "Something about Celeste that was affecting both Alison and me and intensifying our feelings of rivalry beyond where we would have been merely resenting each other without her presence. The missing clue turned out to be the institution we all three attended. You may recall that I said that I was there to be studied for my unusual intellect, while Alison was there to be studied for her…physique. Celeste, on the other hand, had abilities of her own far more subtle and less direct, which even she did not realize that she had, the ability to influence people on a subharmonic level…"

"You mean she was a natural charmer?" Nabiki remarked with a sardonic smile.

"More than you are thinking," Beatrice replied with her own sardonic smile, "It turns out that Celeste's ancestors deliberately engineered into her line the ability to broadcast her influence on a subconscious and emotional level. This is a latent psionic talent that she possesses that affects people in a very positive way, making them feel good whenever she's happy, and bad whenever she is unhappy or under distress. She also secretes pheromones that make people amenable to anything she suggests…you simply cannot say no to the girl if she wants something. Added to that, her personality is a bit flighty but good natured and she has that indefinable quality known as Charisma."

"And you're saying this was all deliberately engineered?" Nabiki asked, "By who?'

"Ah!" Beatrice smiled, "Now that is the hundred million yen question. I'll pose it to you as a question of my own: to what purpose could such ability as her's be directed?"

"Persuasion," Nabiki frowned as she considered the point, "Equals Obedience. Charisma equals leadership…" she started, "Are you suggesting that someone deliberately engineered the girl's DNA to turn her into an idol?"

"Ceiko could not carry a tune if you gave her a fishing rod," Beatrice replied with an amused smirk, "You are thinking of popular entertainment. Try something a little more direct involving Charisma."

"Leadership," Nabiki said, then started, "Are you saying she's a…?"

"Princess," Beatrice finished for her, "A more than symbolic figurehead representing a hereditary dynasty to whom her ability is natural. Ceiko actually comes from a very long line of royalty entrusted with holding a vast and powerful empire together by their ability to be liked by ordinary people. Of course the poor dear was orphaned at an early age and so never knew this until she was found by her mother and her people…"

"An Empire?" Nabiki blinked, "Now hold on there…this sounds pretty far fetched. There aren't that many Empires left on Earth, unless you count our own and…"

"This Empire is not of an Earthly nature," Beatrice studied Nabiki's expression, "Does this surprise you?"

"Ah…yeah, a little," Nabiki replied, tempted to believe that her new friend was pulling her leg but for the disconcerting way in which Beatrice appeared to be entirely serious and sober in her mannerisms, "So…she's an alien?"

"Uh-huh," Beatrice confirmed, "She crash landed on Earth when she was just a baby and was adopted by a rich family on Earth, but in reality she is the fourth child of the fifth Queen of the Lepton Dynasty of Alpha Cigni. Her people were really quite frantic about getting her back, even went to war with Earth and everything."

"Ah-huh," Nabiki replied, "Right."

For some reason Beatrice just smiled all the more intensely at her companion's skepticism, "You mean you don't remember? I can't say that I'm very surprised. That sort of thing doesn't stay long in the average person's memory once the crisis is over."

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember something like that," Nabiki wondered why Beatrice's attitude was disturbing her so greatly, "Are you saying this kind of thing happens all the time?"

"That's right," Beatrice continued to smile with an enigmatic expression, "In the last fifty years, since we first attracted the notice of Alien governments with our atomic testing, the Earth has fended off, by my estimate, as many as fifteen attempted invasions, all of which were later covered up while the damage was repaired so that people could get on with their lives no worse nor the wiser."

"A cover-up?" Nabiki finally thought matters had gone far enough, "You don't seriously expect me to believe…"

"Tell me something," Beatrice gave Nabiki a superior look that she found mildly annoying, "Does the name of a race called the Oni strike a bell with you?"

"Ah…" Nabiki hesitated, "Oni…you don't mean demons, do you?"

"I mean the Oni," Beatrice replied, "As in Princess Lum, currently enrolled at Tomobiki High School on a resident alien visa."

"Ah…" now Nabiki was sweating, certain that the name did strike a very clear bell in her memories, but for the life of her she could not place where she had heard that name being mentioned.

"Oh come on," Beatrice smiled all the more, "You've got to remember something. It was broadcast all over Japan, in fact, the whole world heard the ultimatum that was answered by Morobishi Ataru…"

"Ataru?" that name struck a bell at last and Nabiki replied, "Wait a second…I do remember hearing something about an Ataru Morobishi taking part in some contest that had some pretty high stakes and…"

She paused while Beatrice continued smiling. After another full minute Nabiki relented and said, "So…why don't I remember?"

"The same reason almost everyone else on the planet has forgotten," Beatrice replied, "Except the people closest to the situation itself, who are reminded daily. The MIB blanked our your memories."

"The…MIB?" Nabiki repeated, but before she could ask any further her next question was cut off by a voice hailing her, the voice of her beloved Ranma.

"Nab-chan!" he cried, causing her to look up with delight at his approach, which was only added to by the sight of Perfume and a slightly winded Ukyo.

"Ranchan," Nabiki greeted, "What are you two doing out of class?"

"Ranchan?" Beatrice asked with an inquisitive expression.

"Ukyo and me found something we think you ought to see," Ranma replied, "It's in this cave that we discovered while jogging on the old track and field park area. It's about two meters tall and really weird looking…"

"Slow down," Nabiki urged, "What object…and did you say a cave?"

"Actually I pretty much found it on my own the hard way," Ukyo replied, rubbing her bottom meaningfully, much to the amusement of Perfume, then she looked at Beatrice and said, "Who's your friend?"

"Beatrice Kane," the silver haired Beatrice replied as she stood up to greet them, "And this is an honor and a pleasure. So you're Saotome Ranma, eh?"

"Ah, yeah," Ranma replied cautiously, glancing at Nabiki as he added, "What did I do now?"

"Nothing yet," Nabiki smiled, "Beatrice is a transfer student from Graviton High School…"

"Graviton?" Ukyo replied, "Is that an all-girl's school for snobby elite types? The place that recruits a lot of technical wizards and egg-heads who are into the latest electronic hardware?"

"If you mean does it serve as a pool of raw talent for industries such as Daitokuji, you are correct," Beatrice smiled, "And as one of those snobby elite types you refer to I should like to take the opportunity to say that we have our own opinions regarding Furinkan based on casual observations made from a great distance."

"Ucchan," Nabiki said chidingly, then to Beatrice she remarked, "Kuonji Ukyo owns her own restaurant in Nerima. She's a top-notch Okonomiyaki chef, probably the best in all Japan, if not the world, as she likes to remind us."

"And why shouldn't I be the best?" Ukyo flashed a smile, developing an instant liking for the silver haired Beatrice.

"And you are?" Beatrice asked Perfume at last with a friendly expression, "No wait…let me guess…you're an Amazon from Joketsuzoku, correct?"

"How did you know?" Perfume asked in surprise, favoring a questioning look at Nabiki.

"Your hairstyle is distinctive," Beatrice explained, "And I heard mention of the Nyuchiczu earlier, so it made sense to suppose that Nabiki here has had exposure to your people."

"That's one way of putting it," Perfume smiled, "My name is Pur-Fum, but everyone pronounces it Perfume, and yes I am from Joketsuzoku."

"Don't tell me you're also engaged to Saotome Ranma?" Beatrice asked with a knowing look and a smile, seeing how the boy in the trio reacted to this, receiving glances from his two female companions.

"No," Perfume replied, "I'm definitely not his Airen."

"Then we are well met indeed," Beatrice turned back to Nabiki, "Your iinazuke is quite a handsome sort, is he not? I can see why you would prefer to keep a tight hold on him."

"Ranma is a prize," Nabiki smiled, then added with some reluctance, "But he's not just my iinazuke…he's also Ukyo's as well."

"Indeed?" Beatrice remarked, turning to favor the boy and girl with a questioning expression, "I take it, then, that Saotome Genma is at fault for this as well?"

"You could say that," Nabiki nodded.

"Uh, yeah," Ranma said in some embarrassment, "Dad engaged me to Ucchan without telling me about it, but we've kind of worked out a deal that makes everybody happy...sort of."

"How unusual," Beatrice turned back to Ukyo, then looked at Nabiki, "And there is so little resentment between you. But aren't you at all concerned that your boyfriend couldn't wait until one of you made it to the altar?"

"Huh?" both Nabiki, Ranma and Ukyo said together this time while Perfume merely blinked.

"Please," Beatrice said with an indulgent smile, "I'm a fairly good observer, and I can tell your lady friend here is in the early phase of pregnancy…somewhere between her first and second trimester if I judge right."

"How could you possibly know that?" asked Ranma.

"Besides a keen sense of smell and an ability to read small signs?" Beatrice smirked, "Let's just say I have my ways and leave it at that."

"Good deductions," Perfume nodded, not bothering to add that she was impressed at finding someone else who could smell the chemical changes taking place in her beloved Ucchan.

"So," Nabiki turned back to Ranma, "This thing you discovered…can you describe it?"

Ranma thought hard about it, "I can't really say from what I saw of it, but Ukyo mentioned something about Typhon…"

"Typhon?" Beatrice reacted, looking at Ukyo.

"Weirdest thing," Ukyo replied to the implied question, "I tried to touch the thing and I felt something like electricity surrounding it, then these weird letters flared to life for a few seconds and I got the word Typhon, even though they weren't in Japanese kanji."

"Indeed?" Beatrice mused, "That is unusual. Typhon is a Greek word. Have you studied foreign languages?"

"No," Ukyo replied, "I don't know what kind of lettering it was. It wasn't English, Chinese or anything else I'd recognize. Looked more like some kind of geometrical symbols."

Nabiki turned from her friend to see the look in Beatrice's eyes, "This makes sense to you?"

"Not really," Beatrice said, "I'm just remembering the legends concerning the ancient Greek Gods. You are familiar with them yourself?"

"Of course," Nabiki replied, "Typhon was one of the Titans if I remember right…"

"Not just any titan," Beatrice corrected, "The son of Gaea herself, ushered forth by the Earth Mother at the end of the age of the Titans when Zeus first took power among the Gods of Olympus. In the beginning there was Chaos, and Chaos gave birth to Uranus, first of all Titans, and Uranus took Gaea for his wife and they gave birth to Chronos, who would in turn father Zeus and his five siblings…"

"What has this got to do with the thing Ukyo found?" Ranma asked.

"Bear with me," Beatrice urged, "Uranus, according to the legends, was a tyrannical being who regarded his own children as monsters, so he locked them up in the underworld caverns known as Tartarus, which angered Gaea, their mother. She went to her children and asked if one of them would lead a rebellion against Uranus, and Chronos volunteered, plotting with his mother to pay retribution to his father. He hid in their bedchambers until his father appeared to Gaea with the intent of taking her once again. Chronos them stepped forward with a scythe in hand and cut off his father's genitals…"

"Ugh!" Ukyo winced, "He did that to his own father?"

"It was symbology," Beatrice explained, "Chronos is the Titan of time, represented by the planet Saturn, which in ancient mysticism stands between Us and Eternity, which is why the planet is represented by the Scythe in Alchemical symbolism. Anyway, to continue with the story, Chronos freed his fellow prisoners from Tartarus and imprisoned Uranus in their stead then became the King of the Titans, ruling from Mount Aetna with his sister-wife, Rhea, at his side…"

"He married his sister?" Ranma said with a squeamish expression.

"They did things somewhat differently back then," Beatrice amended, then resumed, "Chronos ushered in a golden age, but he was always fearful that one day a child of his own would rebel against him as he had against his father, so when his firstborn son was presented to him by Rhea he took the child and swallowed it whole…"

"He ate his own son?" now it was Perfume's turn to sound uneasy.

"And the nextborn child as well," Beatrice replied, "And so on until the sixth child was born, by which time Rhea had had enough and substituted a stone for the baby. She took the infant Zeus to a cave and left him to be tended by a goatherd maid, who fed him milk from her own breast and kept him safe from the prying eyes of his father. Zeus grew to manhood and was approached by his mother with a plot to free his brothers and sisters. They fed Chronos a brew that made him vomit up the other five children, who all sprang to full maturity as the Gods and Goddesses who would dominate the Silver Age that followed. Zeus then gathered his sibling and summoned up those monsters Chronos had not freed from Tartarus and led them in a war against the Titans, using thunderbolts fashioned for him by three Cyclopes to subdue the elder gods and bring in victory for his people."

"Zeus then imprisoned the Titans that had opposed his forces while rewarding those Titans who had joined in him the rebellion. This angered Gaea, who was none too happy at seeing her children once more banished into the darkness of a realm that Zeus would give to his oldest brother, Hades, as his dominion. Gaea then plotted to punish Zeus and all the new gods by bringing forth the ultimate Titan, one who would destroy the Gods and all that they had achieved, the monster known as Typhon, who was more terrible than any other before him."

"I copy all of that," Nabiki said, "If I recall the rest of the legend right Zeus managed to subdue this titan in the end with the help of his allies."

"Indeed," Beatrice remarked, "But those same legends hold that Typhon will rise again to threaten the new order. If the monster were ever to be reborn it would mean great peril to both the gods and mortals, or so say the legends."

"So what does that have to do with the thing we found?" Ranma asked.

"I'm not at all certain," Beatrice replied, "I only know that Typhon represents the forces of nature striking out at patriarchal man for his hubris. Zeus subdued the world in order that humanity might prosper, locking up the creatures that threatened early civilization, a task later taken up by his son, Hercules…"

"Hercules?" Perfume frowned, "That is a name known to the Amazons. He was a base betrayer who kidnapped one of our most sacred possessions…"

"The girdle of Gaea," Beatrice replied, "Said to grant its wearer invincibility in battle."

"This is all quite fascinating," Nabiki stood up, "But maybe you should take us to see this object you found, Ucchan. It could be of archeological interest if it is of foreign origin."

"Right," Ukyo said, "I think we've got a little time until our next class…"

"Airen," Perfume frowned, "Before we go…who is Kishijoten?'

Both Beatrice and Nabiki turned to look at her with surprised expressions and said in chorus, "Kishijoten?"

"She's one of the Gods of Japan," Ranma answered, "The Goddess of luck who grants favors to people she likes."

"Per-chan met a lady she says claimed to be Kishijoten," Ukyo explained to the questioning looks of the others, "Only her description sounds a lot like a lady I once met when I was very young, especially the part about her having purple eyes, not that I'm saying she was Kishijoten, of course…"

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility," Beatrice remarked, "Stranger things have happened."

Nabiki turned to her new friend and favored her with a studied expression, "So now you're saying you believe in the Gods as well as Aliens?"

"I am saying that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, my dear Tendo-san," Beatrice replied with a soft smile, "Aiko and I have seen things you could scarcely imagine, far stranger sights than beings whom we may as well call Gods for lack of a better understanding."

"Aiko?" Ranma looked at her, "You mean that redhead who started class today in our homeroom?"

"You have met Aiko?" Beatrice asked with an odd expression, hesitating before continuing, "Did…did she mention me to you at all?"

"I'm afraid not," Ukyo replied, "Of course she spent more time with Akane than either of us. Is she a friend of yours?"

Beatrice's expression became slightly pained, "You could say we…know each other. It's rather a long and complicated story and I…I feel rather tired at the moment. Would you please excuse me, I will be back in a moment."

Beatrice turned and started walking away towards the main building. Nabiki watched her go, as did the others, then heard Ranma ask, "Who is she, Nabchan? I get the strangest feeling around her, like I should know her or something…"

"Oh?" Nabiki favored him with a lifted eyebrow, "Does the name Daitokuji ring any bells?"

"Daitokuji," Ranma repeated the word, then shook his head, "Afraid not. Should it?"

"That depends on how you look at it," Nabiki said with a droll expression, "After all, she is your iinazuke."

"She--WHAT???" Ranma reacted, then shut his eyes as he groaned, "Otosan…"

Ukyo's growl had a harsher sound as she said, "Don't tell us the old panda went and got Ranchan betrothed again to yet another girl? I thought Kaori was supposed to be the end of it!"

"Apparently, Ojisama has not yet sufficiently made restitution for his past sins," Nabiki said with a look that promised nothing healthy for Saotome Genma, then she looked at her iinazuke and said, "Don't worry, Ranchan, she says she doesn't have any interest in you or the engagement and I believe her. We're going to try and work it out and…"

"GROWL!!!"

"Did you say something, Per-chan?" Ukyo turned to glance at her Amazon wife and froze.

"It wasn't me," Perfume replied when she also turned and looked over her shoulder, suffering a similar reaction.

"Tell me that isn't what I think it is?" asked Ranma nervously.

"You mean you see it too?" Nabiki asked in equal nervousness, "I hope it only means that someone is doing a remake of the lost world or I am leaving…"

"GROWL!!!" a creature standing nine feet tall on two legs roared again as it continued to advance towards them on three-toed feet, looking very much like a denizen of a lost world. Students of Furinkan--no strangers to weird or unusual sights, were scattering in terror at the advance of the creature.

"I think that very wise," Perfume said to the others.

"You mean run?" Ranma asked.

"Good idea," Ukyo agreed, and then all four of them picked up their heels and started running flat out towards the main school building…

Continued

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