Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A New Future 1 - Things Change ❯ History Lesson ( Chapter 8 )

This is an alternate history (both the world in general and the Senshi in particular) continuation for both Sailor Moon and Ranma 1/2, set in a world with no space exploration, personal computers, cell phones, or anything else requiring a transistor. It is labeled hentai for the opening scene only (no lemons), and X for that scene and possible graphic violence later.

This was originally published by me under the name Anduril at Anime Addventures, with the only changes being a few corrections in spellingn punctuation and the occasional word choce. If you like the beginning of my story but think I've gone off the rails, or have your own ideas for a great branch-off, or think I'm taking too long to update and want to continue the story yourself, come to Anime Addventures and join in the fun!

I claim no ownership rights to any of the works of Rumiko Takahashi or Naoko Takeuchi, or anything in the GURPS Ogre and GURPS Tales of the Solar Patrol settings published by Steve Jackson Games. Everything else is mine.

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“ ... and then Great-grandmother walked in to find two six-year-olds covered in syrup, flour, and much of her rarest herbs,” Xian Pu finished as Nabiki howled with laughter while clutching her ribs.

“And as you can imagine she was not pleased with us,” Mu Tse added. “The punishment Elder Ku Lon laid on Xian Pu set the standard for the rest of my life, and what mother gave me wasn't much better. Not exactly an auspicious beginning for our future romance, but that was how we came to be friends.”

After a few minutes, Nabiki finally got her laughter under control and straightened as she released her aching sides. Still harried by fits of giggles, she leaned back in her seat and gasped for breath. “Okay, that I did not expect.”

“What did you expect, child?” Ku Lon asked. “Something like the Spartans of ancient Greece, single sex barracks and men treated like breeding stock?”

“Something like that, from the way you ... acted ...” the brown-haired girl agreed slowly, pursing her lips thoughtfully. “But then. that's what you wanted us to think, wasn't it?”

“Very good, Nabiki,” Ku Lon said, “that is correct. We needed to increase the pressure on Ranma while stalling his marriage to Akane, but we didn't want him getting attached to Xian Pu, either. So she played the part of the sexually aggressive bimbo, with Mu Tse acting the insanely jealous suitor.”

“WHAT!?” At Ranma's shout, the four sitting at the central table in the Cat Café's dining room turned to find the pigtailed redhead standing in the doorway from the back, apparently her usual self except for the hand clutching the hand of the taller girl beside her. “You mean Akane was right!? But ... but ... why ...”

“Why would we put on such an act?” Ku Lon asked gently, a tone Ranma had never heard from the shriveled ancient before.

“Well ... yeah ...”

Ku Lon sighed. “A good question, and I will give you a good answer — but first, some questions. Come, sit,” she commanded, motioning to the two empty chairs across the table from her. As the two took their seats, still holding hands, Ku Lon continued, “Did Akane tell you that your curse is gone, and cannot be restored?”

“Y-yeah,” Ranma stuttered, and Akane suppressed a wince as the grip on her hand tightened.

“The reason for that is simple. The pendant the Pervert Thief used on you bypassed the upper functions of the mind, focusing on pure muscle control. As a result, your strength of will, highly impressive for a child your age, meant nothing.”

Ranma bristled. “Hey, I ain't no kid!”

Ku Lon chuckled. “Ranma, to me, almost everyone is a child — the number of people that are not I can count on two hands, and only one that can look on me in the same way. But still, usually even the most accomplished of practitioners of the Arts do not attain your level of sheer willpower without decades of effort. I suppose we can thank your father for that, though how you survived the decade of training he put you through I will never know.

“Still,” she continued as Ranma relaxed, “you are unique only in your age. The village has been producing the occasional warrior of your caliber for centuries, and not all of them have turned out to be honorable and good people. And warriors such as you — chains cannot hold them, mind and personality alterations soon fail, outright mental control is temporary at best when it works at all. And so the Amazons created the necklaces used against you for those occasions when we needed to imprison and judge such a one. Unfortunately, they were stolen from us centuries ago, and how the Pervert came to have them I suppose we will never know.”

Ku Lon paused for a moment, taking a sip of tea as she waited for a stunned Ranma to grapple with what she'd just heard.

“But ... but if willpower is useless,” Ranma finally asked, “then how did I break free?”

“Ah, and there we come to the center of things,” Ku Lon responded. “I believe that when willpower proved useless, you instinctively turned to another source of strength, and when you did that power simply flooded through your link to destroy all other magical influences through sheer power, though I admit I can't explain the new protection against further influence. Still, you were able to tap this power only because of your ancestral heritage — but a heritage of the soul rather than the body.”

Ranma, along with Akane and Nabiki, stared uncomprehendingly, and Ku Lon sighed. “Tell me, Ranma, does the name `Yasuko' mean anything to you? How about the names “Amaya' and `Toshiko'?”

Ranma shot to her feet and slammed her hands on the table and glared at Ku Lon. “How do you know those names, ya ole ghoul? Did you give me those — those images?”

“No, Ranma, I did not — cannot,” Ku Lon said gently. “And you don't really believe that, do you? Those aren't images, they are memories — memories of another life.”

Ranma held the glare for a minute, but slowly relaxed and sat back down, nodding slowly. “Yeah, yer right. I don't know how I know, but yer right — they're memories. But from where?”

“ `From when' is a better question,” Ku Lon said, “and the answer is four thousand years ago.” At the disbelieving looks from Ranma and the Tendos she chuckled, then sighed. “I know we Amazons like to boast of three thousand years of Amazon traditions, but our memories go back even further, another thousand years and beyond.

“Over fifty-five hundred years ago humanity discovered magic—not like it knows of it now, as an art practiced by some of the few that can sense its flows, but as a science, to be harnessed and tethered by artifacts and put into the hands of the common people. In truth,” Ku Lon admitted, grimacing, “I think I prefer our current view — the scientific mind gives greater results, but takes much of the awe and mystery out of it, not to mention being very dangerous.”

Ignoring Nabiki's quirked eyebrow, the Elder continued, “Still, however dangerous it may be, it is useful, and through the magic power they harnessed humanity reached for the other planets around our sun, colonizing all those planets they could and the moons of those they couldn't. Then, several centuries after they'd colonized all our solar system, a queen rose to power in the Moon Queendom. Through diplomacy and, on occasion, force of arms she eventually united all the other planets under her authority, and then at last mother Earth. Then, having united our worlds, she reached for the stars — and achieved them, creating a stellar empire in the process. For a thousand years she ruled the Moon Queendom and our interstellar allies and protectorates wisely and well.”

By now, Nabiki was shaking her head in disbelief. “No way, just no way! That would bring us up to two thousand B.C., and we know what was going on then, in general at least. There's simply no room in history for a united Earth and an interstellar empire!”

“Right you are, child,” Ku Lon agreed, “but you are getting ahead of the story. Earth had always been an uneasy part of the Moon Queendom, handled gently and even that gentle handling often resented. Four thousand years ago, a member of Earth's Senate used that resentment to propel herself to power, and used that position of power to set up a truly monstrous ritual, the most monstrous in all history. Then, when a special celebration was occurring at the Moon's capital, one that was attended by many of the movers and shakers of the Empire as well as all of the Queen's most powerful protectors and enforcers, Senator Beryl struck. She cast a massive summoning spell, powered by the mass sacrifice of almost the entire population of Earth — fueled by the deaths of billions, Beryl opened portals on all the other worlds of the Empire and demons flooded out for rampage and slaughter.”

Ranma gasped, looking sick as fresh memories returned. “My birthday party ...”

“Yes, Ranma,” Ku Lon agreed sympathetically while the others stared as the petite girl began to shake. Akane reached out and pulled Ranma into an embrace as she glared at Ku Lon, but the Elder ignored her and continued. “You and your immediate bodyguards were among the first on the Moon to die that day, but hardly among the last. After hours of slaughter, Senator Beryl withdrew the demons from the Moon and led her own armies against the survivors. But to her surprise, those survivors were not as broken as she'd thought and we held ... and held ... and held, while the Queen and her surviving advisors sought an escape and future for the few surviving subjects she could help.

“You see, the demons had not rampaged randomly, but instead targeted the machinery and power sources that made civilization possible, and they had done their work well — most of the survivors on her worlds would not last for long as their supplies dwindled and could not be replaced. And in the end, with time running out, she found an answer. The two most powerful of the Queen's enforcers, Lady Pluto and Lady Saturn, joined their powers, Lady Pluto searching through all of history's myriad possibilities seeking an Earth where magic had not been discovered, and when she found it she fed the knowledge of that Earth to Lady Saturn. In turn, Lady Saturn took that knowledge and reached out and remade Earth in its image, reshaping its landscape as well as the memories of those few Earthers not slaughtered to power the summoning, so that they would fit into the new world and remember it alone. This reshaping proved as powerful as Beryl's own summoning, and more than the two could handle — Lady Saturn died from her efforts, and Lady Pluto almost died and was permanently crippled.

“But though it had cost Queen Shizukeza” — Ranma jerked at the name — “two of her most powerful defenders and almost her closest friend, it had broken the magic holding the demons in our worlds and given her surviving people on the moon a place to go, and while the army and her surviving defenders continued to hold Beryl's army back those survivors passed through portals opened to the new Earth. Among those refugees were the survivors of her daughters' bodyguard detachments, given the task of keeping a comatose Lady Pluto safe until she could recover. Then, her surviving people safe, she led the remnants of her army in an attack on Beryl's personal regiment. In the end, both Beryl and the Queen died, as did all of the queen's defenders and army to the last woman and man. Beryl's forces held the Moon alone, but were trapped there to die as the habitats failed one after another.”

Ku Lon paused to take a sip of her tea, then looked around at all the stunned faces staring back at her. Nabiki was the first to recover, leaning back and also looking at the other stunned looks, including those on the faces of Xian Pu and Mu Tse. “I take it this is not common knowledge even among the Amazons,” she commented dryly.

“True,” Ku Lon agreed with a chuckle. “While a more general legend is taught to all of our people, the details are known only by the Elders — being told the deeper history is part of a new Elder's initiation.”

Xian Pu laughed. “That would explain the bemused looks so common to a new Elder — and none of the speculation about that came close to the truth!” Mu Tse joined in the laughter, then Nabiki, until she looked over at Ranma to find tears pouring down the younger girl's cheeks as Akane pulled her onto her lap and cuddled her mourning love. Nabiki's laughter choked off at the sight, as did Xian Pu's and Mu Tse's as they followed Nabiki's gaze.

“Mommy ... Usagi ...” Ranma whispered, and Ku Lon sighed and in that gentle tone that was still such a surprise to the Tendo girls, said, “I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but remember, Ranma, all of this was around four thousand years ago. Everything you remember is long gone.”

Ranma nodded and wiped at her face, then gave a half-chuckle, half-sob. “Not everything. I remember looking up at Earth in the sky over my home and thinking how beautiful it was, and how much I wanted to go there ...”

“ ... and now here you are,” Ku Lon finished with a nod. “Which is a good lead in to the next part of the story ... the survivors.”

Nabiki leaned forward at that. “Yes, the survivors ... the ones that knew all about magic even if everyone else on earth didn't. So why didn't they carve out their own magical empires here on Earth, and why don't we know about them?” she demanded.

“But they did, and we do,” Ku Lon said calmly. “But they had two problems — first, there weren't very many of them, even by comparison to Earth's much-reduced population, and second, while they knew how to use magic, or better said the magical devices they brought with them, they didn't know how to make them. So they carved out pocket kingdoms and queendoms in the West, but their power lasted only as long as their devices. When those failed, they faded into legend as the Sidhe and the Tuatha de Danaan, the Aesir and Vanir — possibly the Olympians as well.

“But before that happened, two groups broke off from the rest and migrated. The leaders of the surviving bodyguards of the princesses realized that eventually their power would fade. After Lady Pluto recovered and left to carry out the last requests her friend and sovereign had left her, they decided that they would not stay. Instead, they reached out to the Earther survivors around them and learned the skills they needed to survive and prosper without magic, and then they left on their own long migrations.

“In the end, the descendants of Princess Usagi's regiment settled in Japan, spreading out and conquering the entire island. The modern Japanese are directly descended from that regiment.

“However, the survivors of Princess Yasuko's regiment were much fewer in number because of the deaths we incurred in our attempt to reach her in the early hours of the attack, and because of how after our failure we were constantly in the forefront of the fighting seeking vengeance and atonement in death. It took the direct command of the Queen and some secret discussion with the regiment's surviving commanders to convince us to leave with the other survivors. In the end, we settled in the mountains of China, and there we have survived these three thousand years that we boast of.

“So for millennia we stayed in the background and trained, and waited for our princess to return. And eventually she did, or rather, he did — when a boy cursed to turn into a girl and his stupid panda of a father visited our village and promptly left with Xian Pu chasing the boy she thought was a girl. I was gone that day, helping an old friend in another village, or things would have turned out very differently.”

“Yeah, with Ranma locked as a girl and made into your pampered pet!” Akane snapped as her embrace around Ranma tightened.

`Wrong, on both counts!” Ku Lon returned sternly. “Tell me, Akane, did you ever wonder how, in a village of woman warriors, Mu Tse received the training he needed to become one of our best fighters?”

Akane froze, then closed her mouth with her hot retort left unsaid and shook her head.

“It is very simple, child. We knew that the chance that our princess would be reborn female in any given lifetime was a coin toss, and that, given the ways of the new world we found ourselves in, it would most likely be a male incarnation that would find us. And yes, that means that we expected to most likely have a male ruler at some point, but we were willing to accept that for the sake of our duty! And so we have always trained our most promising males in the ways of war, to make sure that in such a case there would be those that would be able to accompany him into whatever place he visited and situation he found himself in.

“And as for the `pampered' part of your accusation, how many of the most famous nobles of your own people's history were made famous through death in battle, leading their people against their enemies? A warrior people expects its leaders, those physically capable at least, to lead, and we Amazons are no different!”

Akane dropped her gaze, shamefaced, and muttered an apology, as Ku Lon took a deep breath and visibly calmed herself.

“I must offer my own apologies, child. Given how we Amazons have acted, your suspicions are perfectly understandable. You have no idea how happy I am that we can drop the act, now.”

Ranma looked up from her cuddle in Akane's lap as she wiped again at her face, then accepted the napkin Nabiki passed her. “Yeah, about that act — why? Why put me through all that?”

“Because of who you are and the life you would be facing,” Ku Lon replied, her expression turning gentle again as she turned her attention to her princess. “The Amazons have an ... ally ... known only to the Elders. This ally is able to see what the future might bring, and once Xian Pu returned to us after she learned of your curse we had some questions for our ally's next visit. She told us that the chances that you would survive the next several years were poor, and that if you did you would most likely be married to Akane, if unofficially thanks to Japan's bizarre laws, within a year and dead before three more had passed — either at Akane's hand, or rather hammer, in a fit of temper, or by your own hand after finally losing control and killing your wife.”

Ranma and Akane immediately began heated denials, only to quiet at a stern look from the matriarch. “Be honest, children,” she reproved sternly. “Considering today's events, can you truly say what might have been is impossible?”

Akane began another hot retort, only to stop at the memory of Nabiki grabbing her arm, interrupting her swing as she shouted in her ear to bring her out of her rage. “No,” she whispered in a choked voice, “I can't. Oh, Ranma, I'm so sorry!”

“Fer what?” Ranma responded. “It didn't happen.” Looking at Ku Lon, she added, “I guess we owe the ole ghoul a big favor for that,” then yiped as the `old ghoul' leaned over and rapped her on the head. “Hey, is that any way ta treat a princess!?”

“When a princess acts like one, I'll treat her like one,” Ku Lon responded amidst the laughter from the other teenagers around the table, before adding her own chuckles to the chorus. “Now, I think that's enough of a history lesson for the day, we need to decide where we go from here.”