Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ City of Dreams ❯ Layers of Deceit ( Chapter 11 )

Ryu walked out of the kitchen with a sandwich that would have made Dagwood proud when he felt a cold chill down his back, as if someone had just stepped on his grave. Turning towards his `Pop' he realized he felt it too.

 

“What the hell was that Pop?” Ryu exclaimed.

 

The melanoleuca enabled man looked up from his game of go with hesitant smile, “Uh, maybe we should think about going on a training trip.”

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Akane was surprised anyone could manifest a visible battle aura like that. She had just reached the part of her story where Genma and Soun had railroaded the girls into an engagement with Ryu and Akane was detailing her experience in the furo about Ryu's comments.

 

“A-auntie? Are you all right?”, Akane hesitantly asked.

 

Nodoka seemed to visibly pull herself together and her aura died down. She opened her eyes and looked at Akane, “I'm sorry dear, it just seems Genma is up to his old tricks again. And I'm sorry to say, your father may be involved as well.”

 

“Huh? My father? What do you mean?” A puzzled Akane asked.

 

“Later, first I want you to finish telling me about my son. What you've told me so far is almost unbelievable yet I have seen many things in my life that defy rational explanation. Please continue.” Nodoka pressed.

 

Akane nodded and continued starting with her nightmare about Ryu and Ranma coming to comfort her. When she got to the part where Ranma kissed her she blushed and cast a glance to Ranma wondering if he could hear her.

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Ranma was suddenly struck with the memory of his and Akane's first kiss. He sighed happily in the private booth he and Joe shared. They were waiting for Joe's contact, Zeke, to arrive and Ranma had been getting bored.

 

Ranma was shook out of his reverie when something sat down across from him in the booth. He looked up to see a very attractive woman somewhat resembling Marilyn Monroe, except for the full beard and lobster claws instead of hands. The fact she was smoking a huge cigar completely shattered the remaining image of femininity. Ranma, having lived in the Dreaming for so long wasn't fazed in the slightest.

 

“Alo' Zeke. I dun brin' the wee lad lik ye esked.” Joe burbled.

 

“You did good Joe. Good, very good job.” Zeke replied in a very deep voice that reminded Ranma of Mr. T. “Yo, I'm Zeke. I'm here to offer my help in exchange for your help.”

 

Ranma nodded, a little reluctant to shake hands, er, claws with Zeke, “Joe told me you could do something about Akane's exile.”

 

Zeke puffed on the cigar in a manly way before speaking, ”We have ways o' sneaking people in from the blind outside a' official channels. However it would only be a temp fix at best.”

 

“I understand. I assume you want my help in overthrowing the council or something along those lines.” Ranma replied.

 

“Almost but not quite. We found evidence that Sandman and Morpheus have been slowly consolidating power over the council for eons. Your mother is one of the last of a few holdouts. We believe these two are planning a coupe soon, which places the remaining uninfluenced members at risk. For now, we just want you to stay close to Hathor and let us know of any strange visitors or meetings.” Zeke raised an eyebrow before leaning in close, “Believe it or not boy, we are an underground organization dedicated to preserving the Council of Dreams. If it falls then the Dreaming will become a place of nightmares. No offense Joe.”

 

The ambulatory oil spot shrugged.

 

Ranma frowned as he weighed his options, “All right, on one condition will I help you. When Akane is here, I need to be with her.”

 

Zeke sat back as a full blown belly laugh escaped his dainty throat, “Oh boy do you have it bad. It won't be a problem at all boy. I pity the fool that get's between a man an' his girl.”

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Hathor walked the halls of her palace deep in thought. Something was not right here but she couldn't tell what it might be. When the council had met to decide what to do about the Tendo girl the response for exile had been overwhelming. This puzzled her, she knew the Dreaming had become more isolationist as the Blind became more `civilized' but exile had always been reserved for the most terrible of crimes. The fact her son Ranma was here showed that outsiders were still allowed.

 

She became aware of a presence approaching and turned to see Morpheus coming down the main hall looking for her. She sighed to herself. Morpheus was one of the more fanatical isolationists. His view was that the Blind was nothing more than an energy source. Any interaction should be limited to the dreams of the mortals. If he was allowed his way then the City of Dreams would become an ordered and static place with none of the delightful chaos that seeped in from mortal minds.

 

As the ancient god of sleep approached Hathor cleared her throat, “What do I owe the pleasure of this visit Morpheus?”

 

It was hard to tell if the god was smiling or not because of the heavy dark cloak obscuring all his features but Hathor suspected he was.

 

“I merely stopped by to see if you had carried out the sentence on the mortal girl.” His voice came as a dry whisper.

 

Hathor frowned, “I have. My son was greatly upset over it. I still feel the council overreacted and overstepped the bounds of justice. I will bring this up and the next meeting, and again until this is dealt with satisfactorily.”

 

“As you will my lady, I have a meeting I must attend.” Morpheus turned and seemed to flow out of the building.

 

What are you up to Morpheus? She thought about what to do. She could defy the council and bring the girl back into the Dreaming without their knowledge. Doing so could cost her what little power she had left in the control of the realm. Her allies were few and far between these days.

 

“At what point did my life become so embroiled in politics?” She muttered as she went to tend her garden.

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Nodoka had been quiet the entire time Akane told her story, her face carrying a passive expression.

 

“…and that's when I decided to come here.” the Tendo girl finished.

 

“Amazing!” Nodoka finally said, “For so much to occur in one week... Something big must be on the horizon.”

 

The Saotome matriarch stood up and went over to a small shelf on the wall. There was a small shrine with all the usual accessories, incense, prayer beads, etc. Nodoka picked up a small box that was sealed tight with many paper wards written in some language Akane didn't understand. She picked it up and examined it as if searching it would provide her the words she wanted to convey.

 

“When the doctors failed to find any reason for Ranma's condition, I started looking for spiritual answers. I went to many different shrines and temples in an effort to find a solution. Finally, I was told of a sacred tree that was known to heal people of curses and diseases. My son and I traveled to the Masaki shrine to talk to the head priest, Kastuhito. After three days of examination and meditation, I was told that Ranma's soul was being held somewhere by a great power, greater than he was able to release. However, he told me that whoever had taken him was not malevolent and that if I could ever find the name of the being that took my son's soul I could make a request with this.” She held out the small box.

 

“This is a fruit off the sacred tree. I am only allowed one use so I have kept it all these years trying to find the name of that which you have just provided me.” She sat back down and placed the box on the table. She seemed to hesitate as if working up the nerve to open the box. Finally, taking a deep breath, she broke the seals on the box. She was worried that after all these years it wouldn't work, or the magic had worn off. Opening the box she looked inside and let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Sitting on a soft pad in the bottom of the box was a oval shaped green fruit similar to a kiwi only smooth skinned. Nodoka pulled out a folded piece of paper tucked into the side and opened it to read.

 

Akane sat still as possible, lost in thought. Would Ranma wake up? Hathor had seemed reluctant to let him go. Would Nodoka's message be enough to sway the goddess? What would Ranma think of the real world Akane? Would he like her? Another thought occurred, would Nodoka force the engagement between her and Ranma? Would she mind? Akane blushed on the last thought.

 

Nodoka finally set the paper aside and placed both hands on either side of the fruit. She closed her eyes and muttered a silent prayer. After a moment the fruit lit up with a blue glow that was easily noticeable in the dimly lit room. A few minutes passed and the glow faded. The fruit turned brown and quickly began to rot until there was nothing left but dust.

 

Nodoka looked at Ranma with hope, “All we can do now is wait, and hope Hathor will heed the words of a heartbroken mother.”

 

Nodoka got up and went back towards the shrine. She reached up and grabbed a wrapped bundle off some hooks above it and turned to Akane, “Let's go deal with my ex-husband before he cheats you and your sisters out of your inheritance.”

 

“Inheritance? What do you mean Auntie?” Akane asked.

 

“I'll explain on the way. First I need to talk to my neighbor, she sometimes watches my son when I have to run errands. Wait here, I'll be right back.”

 

Akane turned to look at Ranma once Nodoka had left. He was still staring off into space. Once in a while he would blink out of reflex. Akane leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, “I'll be waiting here for you Ranma. Come back to us.” She wasn't sure but she could have sworn Ranma blushed slightly.

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Author's Rants:

 

I seriously underestimated the number of chapters needed to complete this monster. Of course they are rather short, however that allows me to update faster so there is a little trade off. Just for anyone who's curious, Ailuropoda melanoleuca is the scientific name for the giant Chinese panda.

 

What's weird is my spell checker believes burble is a word. Must go find dictionary, I wonder if it means what I used it for?

 

I do have a gripe about some other fanfic writers, I will not name names, mainly because I don't remember any off hand. Do these guys even bother to look at a map of China when the begin writing? How many people here really know where the Bankala Mountain range is? (I probably spelled it wrong again.) It's in the Quin Hai province of China. A place that is about as west China as you can get and still be in China. It's closer to Turkey and Hungary than Japan. In fact you could probably hike there from Afghanistan. Allah help the Taliban if they tried to invade Jusenkyou valley :) Seriously though, on foot, it would be like walking the length of the united states to get from Jusenkyou to Tokyo. Even if Genma and Ranma hitched a ride with every vehicle they came across it would still take a couple of weeks to get to Nerima. In fact I believe they mention that a few weeks had gone by between Jusenkyou and Nerima in the first episode of the anime. I've read too many fics where someone needs to get to Jusenkyou and they manage to arrive in just a couple of days. This would be all right if they were driving or flying, but these people are walking or riding horses or some other slower means of conveyance. Not to mention the fact that travel is restricted within China via internal checkpoints and passports. All I'm saying, is a little extra research will make the story much more believable and make a good story great, or even a bad story mediocre.

 

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now. And before anyone flames me, I know I've done the same damn assumptions in my own stories, possibly even this one. So I'm a hypocrite ;P (Biiidha!)

 

And for those who are wondering, no this will not end up being a Tenchi X-over. I just seem to have an inability to write a pure Ranma fic and using the fruit of Funaho just seemed appropriate.