Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ City of Dreams ❯ Wild Horse vs. Night Mare ( Chapter 14 )

Akane finished telling Ranma about her day with Nodoka, how his father had tried to swindle the Tendo sisters out of their inheritance, and how Ranma and his mother were now living at the dojo for a couple of months.

 

Ranma sat quietly for a moment before speaking. “That's a lot to take in all at once. So tell me, how do I look?”

 

Akane blushed a little. “A lot like you do here, only skinnier. You have less muscles and your skin is a little paler. The big difference is the eyes. Because you're here, there's no life in them.”

 

“Hathor says I'll get to see my real mom soon if things go all right. It would be nice to see her again. All I have are faint memories of memories. She's also appealing the council's decision to exile you but until then, we'll keep smuggling you in via the bootleg dreamscape hardware.” Ranma sat back on Akane's bed and Akane snuggled up against him.

 

Akane was mildly surprised at how natural this felt to be in someone's arms like this. She briefly thought about how things could have been in Ranma had grown up in the real world and decided living ten years with Genma would have turned Ranma into another Ryu. While she wasn't happy to have her potential boyfriend accessible only in dreams, she was grateful to have found someone she could come to like. She was hardly ready to admit she was in love with the pigtailed boy, as she was still coming to terms with the fact that a guy she thought was nothing more than a dream was a real flesh and blood person caught in another world against his will. It was too weird and if she hadn't met Genma and Ryu to prove magic really existed, she would have simply thought she was going mad.

 

Suddenly the door burst open, startling the couple. Zeke rushed in, smoke trailing from her lit cigar.

 

“We got trouble! Hathor's been arrested!”

 

Ranma leapt from the bed. “What!? How did this happen? I thought the council was still in session!” he screamed.

 

“Apparently, the council let out early and your mother decided to contact an unauthorized person from the blind. She was caught red handed and arrested on the spot. It's thrown the whole council into confusion and it looks like the Nightmares are rallying in preparation for a coupe.”

 

“Damn. I should have been there!” Ranma shouted.

 

“Not your fault kiddo,” Zeke consoled, “Hathor's usually not this impulsive. Kinda caught us off guard ya know?”

 

Ranma frowned, still feeling guilt over failing to protect his mother. “So what's the plan?”

 

“They be forcin' our hand by taking over the Dreamin' by force. We already have people moving in to get the remaining council members loyal to Hathor to safety. As for fighting back? We don't have anywhere near the manpower or equipment to stage a counter-coupe. All we can do is resort to guerrilla tactics and hope for a miracle.”

 

“All right, I know some people who might be able to help. Let's get to planning.

 

“I'm coming with you,” Akane said, getting up to join Ranma.

 

Ranma shook his head. “You can't leave the dreamscape we've set up. In fact we're going to have to shut all this down.” Ranma gestured to Zeke and she left the room quickly.

 

“Damn it I want to help!” Akane said in frustration.

 

“Sorry `Kane, maybe next time.” Ranma grabbed her in a fierce hug and kissed her deeply just before the whole dream construct skewed sharply then went black.

 

Akane sat up in bed with a dark frown on her face.

 

“Ranma you jerk!”

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Hathor sat back in her chair and sighed, wondering where she had gone wrong all those years ago. She'd been set up in a decent room under guard somewhere on her own estates. In the old days, she could have re-written the whole of the Dreaming in the blink of an eye. Now a couple of low-level nightmares were keeping her from moving about her own dreamscape.

 

“How the mighty have fallen,” a voice came from the shadows. The room darkened as a form emerged.

 

“Morpheus, I assume I have you to thank for my being here?” Hathor asked before taking a sip of her tea, “Never mind, I know of your plans. I just regret that my actions have given you the means to fulfill them. What happened to you Morpheus? You used to be one of the great dream gods, why follow the path of nightmares?”

 

Morpheus chuckled. “That should be obvious my dear. Power, pure and simple. Look at you for example. You were one of the most powerful of all the dreamers and look at you now, weak, barely able to hold your own dreamscape together. Humans live in an age of fear and cynicism so that is where the power is.”

 

“It didn't have to be. We were responsible to keep things in balance. The world has become a fearful place only because you and the other nightmares have made it so. You took the easy way to power and you will have to pay the price for it soon enough I'm sure.”

 

Morpheus shook his head. “We shall see my dear. Unfortunately, you will not be around to see it. The reason I stopped by was to let you know that we shall soon hold your trial followed by your execution. The council members loyal to you are being rounded up and will meet the same fate. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you before it was too late that it really has been a pleasure working with you all these years.”

 

“A pity I couldn't say the same,” Hathor replied.

 

Morpheus just chuckled to himself and faded back into the shadows.

 

Hathor sat quietly for a while, going over the conversation again to see if there was anything she had missed when she noticed someone stepping out of the light coming through her window. It was Neru, the Japanese sleep spirit and fellow council member.

 

“My lady,” Neru panted, “Excuse me, it took a lot of my energy to come here undetected.”

 

Hathor nodded. “Take your time my dear.”

 

After a moment, Neru seemed to recover enough to speak again.

 

“As you know, the nightmares have taken control of the council. They are quickly seizing control over all major nodes of the dreaming as well. However, there appears to be some resistance forming near the edge of Chaos. Several allied council members have taken refuge and are in hiding with the rebels. As I had hoped, I was small enough to pass unnoticed to these quarters to offer what assistance I could.”

 

Hathor stood up, paced to the window, and gazed at her garden below for a short while.

 

“What of my son? Is there any word?”

 

“Yes my Lady, he works with the resistance from what information I could gather. The people love him and many gather to his banner despite the threats of the nightmares.”

 

Hathor paced about restlessly deep in thought from this information. She knew her adopted son was charismatic and it seemed that many of the lessons she had taught him over the years had stayed with him. Suddenly she had an idea. There were certain truths to the Dreaming that while they were known about, very little had ever been done to exploit them, especially in this era of isolationism. In a way, Ranma was Hathor's ace in the hole. As long as she lived Ranma's connection to the dreaming could not be severed, and as a human living in the dreaming, Ranma had certain immunities that dreams and nightmares didn't have. Most creatures in the dreaming only had one defense against humans and that was to force them to wake up. Ranma couldn't wake up and he had trained against many of the psychic attacks the more powerful dreams could manifest.

 

Hathor turned to Neru and knelt down before the diminutive woman so they were at eye level. “I need to you to find Ranma. Stay with him and help him however he needs it. Also tell him, `Dreams are only as powerful as the Dreamer.' He should be able to understand that.”

 

“What of you my Lady?” Neru asked.

 

“I will be fine for now. I have the utmost faith that my son shall rescue us all.”

 

The sleep spirit bowed then re-entered the light and disappeared.

 

“Now we shall see just how much my son has learned.”

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

Akane wandered downstairs in a bad mood. It was barely three o'clock in the morning and she didn't feel like she could get back to sleep anytime soon. She had decided on a quick snack and maybe she could read a little or see what was on TV this early. As she neared the kitchen, she noticed a light on in the family room. She went to check on it, Nabiki was always complaining about keeping the power bill down. She looked in to see Nodoka sitting at the table nursing a cup of tea and staring at an uneaten plate of rice-crackers.

 

“Hello,” Akane said hesitantly.

 

Nodoka looked up, her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. Akane wondered briefly how she must look herself. “Oh, hello Akane. I didn't wake you did I?”

 

“Oh no Auntie. I'd been dreaming. Apparently Ranma and some of his friends snuck me into the Dreaming using something they called bootleg Dreamscape hardware. Ranma and I were talking when this guy, or is it a girl, named Zeke came in and told us Hathor had been arrested. Then he kicked me out the jerk.”

 

“So it was all real then?” Nodoka gasped, “Hathor was talking to me in my dreams when I saw Ranma as a child come up and tell her she was under arrest before transforming into a tall dark man. They knocked her unconscious and I woke up.”

 

Akane now knew whom the unauthorized person Hathor had been talking to was. “What do we do Auntie?”

 

“I don't think there is anything we can do now. Whatever is happening is up to Ranma to deal with now.”

 

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