Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Rolling Mist, Morning Wind ❯ A Little History ( Chapter 3 )

Rolling Mist, Morning Wind A Ranma/Rayearth Fanfic by Adyen (senranda@yahoo.ca)

Did anyone get the Sylpheed comment? I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help myself especially after seeing the Summer Special again! Mahoromatic. If you didn't know what I was talking about, I suggest you watch it, cause it's a really good show, though I didn't like the last episode much.

Chapter 3: A Little History

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"So, Ranma." Ferio asked. "Anything you want to know specifically, or should I just give you the Tour?"

Ranma had a confused look on his face as he noticed how the interior looked like. "What's this place made of anyways? I think that's marble, but I don't think marble changes color in different lighting..."

"Ah... Observent." Ferio commented, clearing his throat and trying to sound like Clef (Read: Wise and All-Knowing). "Well, the palace was originally created by the combined Will of survivors during the period we call 'The Time of Loss'." Ferio raised his hand to forestall any questions about it as he continued, "The 'Time of Loss' is what we describe the time after Cephiro loses its Pillar, and when the land crumbles due to the lost of the Pillar's Will to sustain it. During the last 'Time of Loss', before Hikaru returned to pick up the mantle, the people of Cephiro gathered here, and with the guidance of Guru Clef, our Arch-Magi, created this castle to protect what remains of Cephiro and await for someone who can become the Pillar.

"The Castle itself is divided into five parts. The three pillars that you saw from outside each belong to one of the Magic Knights. The red center one is our Pillar and Fire Knight's; the blue one is the Water Knight's; and the green one is the Wind Knights. The residential area, which is the area connecting the three pillars, has enough room for visitors and those that stay here most of the time, like Guru Clef and I. Finally, there's the actual Palace, which is the area outmost of the Castle. The Palace is self-sustaining through the Will that created it, with a large garden and water running though the back. All social functions, such as receiving off-world guests and such, are done there, normally."

Ranma slowly digested all that was said, but by the time Ferio got to talking about the Castle, he was already looking for something to distract him. They had, while walking, entered the outmost edge of the residential area and he noticed a little girl off to the side, peeking at them, and at his pack curiously. Feeling curious himself, he snuck off to where the girl is, and with a grin, took his pack off to show her one of the little trinkets that he had hooked to the side. It was actually a walking stick that he had carved out for steep mountain climbing that wasn't long enough to touch the ground, but provided some support when going uphill, especially when muddy. The little girl saw it as a magic staff much like Clef's, and reached out to grab it.

Ranma amusedly gave her the staff, and watched as she held it with wide-eyed wonder, feeling the smooth edges and a perfect length for her size. Ranma suddenly had a flashback of Cologne, but shook it off as soon as it came. Looking back at the girl, he noticed that she was holding a cookie for him, as if giving thanks to his gift. He smiled, took the cookie, and ruffled the little girl's hair before flipping it into the air, and swallowing it in one bite just to show off.

He then got up and waved goodbye to the little girl, who was still looking at him wide-eyed and ran to catch up to Ferio, who had just finished explaining whom Clef is.

"So, anything you don't understand?" Ferio asked, turning to where Ranma was, then turned over to his opposite side to look at where Ranma is.

"What's this 'Will' thing you keep talking about?" Ranma asked, curious. "I understand 'Willpower', but this certainly can't be made from 'ki'. It's not possible!"

Ferio chuckled. "Well, I don't know what your 'ki' is, but here in Cephiro, those that has lived here affect how the world is, especially after our Pillar spread the Seed."

"Seed?" Ranma asked, getting the mental image of someone throwing little plant seeds into the land and watching it grow into trees and stuff.

"Guru Clef calls it the 'Seed of Will', but what it actually does is allow the people of Cephiro to sustain the land they know. Where there's people, the land they live on is sustained by their Will, and our Pillar only has to sustain places where there's no intelligent life at all, allowing her to not suffer from the same problems as our previous Pillar. In fact, she's pretty much on vacation since she became our Pillar, as it only requires very little of her Will to sustain places that needs to be sustained by her." Ferio chuckled at the thought.

"So, what's Will?" Ranma asked, feeling a bit annoyed at the fact that it wasn't answered.

"Oh, sorry." Ferio replied. They were now entering the Palace area, shown by the more flamboyant decorations on the walls. "There isn't a very good way to actually describe it, but the best answer anyone has is that it's like what you call 'Willpower'. The ability to wish hard and constantly to affect something around you, I guess, is the best answer I could come up with. Even the Pillar herself doesn't completely understand it, but she just calls it as Willpower and accept it as that. The castle was created like that, and magic is used through the focusing of Will as well."

Ranma's eyes lit up at the mention of magic. "You people know magic? Can you cure curses?"
Ferio scratches his hair as if thinking on a hard problem. "Well, actually, only those who Accepted the Gift of Magic from either Guru Clef or the Pillar can perform straight magic. I can create magic-like effects to attack with, but that's just mainly skill. The only people I know that can actually use magic are the Magic Knights, Clef, Ascot, Caldina, and Lantis. But if you're trying to remove curses, I think Clef would be the person to ask." Ferio carefully skipped over Kasumi's name, knowing that she has her reasons for not helping Ranma.

Ranma mulled over what he was told. He'll have to ask Kasumi if he could see this 'Clef' person later, maybe after the tour. In the meantime, he could feel something nagging at the back of his mind, but can't seem to bring it up to the front.

"Come on, Ranma. I'll show you the museum, if I can find it."

"What do you mean, 'if I can find it'?" Ranma asked.

Chuckling, Ferio explained. "The museum shows things that happen from the time the Magic Knights arrived to the new Pillar. However, Hikaru is often embarrassed by the things in there, and keeps hiding it from everyone else by moving it around in the castle, though she doesn't outright destroy it because she does appreciate that we made it in her honor."

"Ah." Ranma said, as if he had a clue what that's really about.

They explored the castled for the next half hour before finding it on the far side of the large garden Ferio mentioned. He told Ranma that it was the main source of food they had during the 'Time of Loss', and not to touch anything because Kasumi probably has a dinner already in making for them.

Opening the small doors, they entered a large room with pictures of Hikaru, Umi, and Kasumi in different armors, mock creations of their swords, more pictures to explain who and what happened in the past. Ferio was still explaining the whole mess between Eagle, Lantis, and Hikaru when someone else entered the museum.

She was dressed mainly in white and red, having blond hair and brown eyes. She looked around and spotted Ferio with Ranma, who had just noticed her entrance. For a second, Ranma thought that he could see a hint of anger within her, but when he looked again, the only thing on her face was a cheerful smile. He shrugged it off as a play of light.

"Ah! Hey Ferio. Who's that besides you?" The woman asked. Ranma looked closer and recognized her as Presia, the Master Smith of Cephiro.

Ferio confirmed his guess by saying, "Presia. This is Ranma, a friend of Kasumi's. Ranma, this is Presia, Master Smith of Cephiro." They walked over to where she was to continue the introductions. "She's been given the task of searching for this museum each time our dear Pillar changes its location."

Chuckling slightly, Ranma took out his hands and said, "Pleased to meet ya."

Shaking it, Presia replied, grinning, "Same. So, what brings you here to our world? You Kasumi's lover?"

If Ranma had a drink, he would have spit it all over her face. "Why does everyone ask that question? You asked it, he asked it. Heck, I'm starting to expect that the next person I get introduced to will ask that as well."

Ferio and Presia shared a laugh. "May be. Why don't we go around and see if that happens?" Ferio suggested as they exited the museum. Presia lingered a moment, glancing at the picture that hung in to the left of the Pillar's picture near the center: a picture of the Master Smith and Master Mage together.