[Ranma/Rayearth][FanFic] A Duet of Pigtails: Part Six - The Return

[Rob Barba]

This is being posted for Libby Thomas, who can be contacted at
aduetof...@cephiro.com. Additionally, her website can be found at
http://yogipigs.megami.net/Duet/.

===

A Duet of Pigtails
By Libby Thomas

Based on the characters and storylines of _Ranma 1/2_ by Rumiko Takahashi
and _Magic Knight Rayearth_ by CLAMP

Part Six:
The Return

...another world.

Nabiki scrambled back to her feet and dusted herself off. The landing had
not been very comfortable, and while she didn't blame Hikaru for the travel
arrangements, she was going to have a few choice words with her husband
regarding the subject of making sure she was okay and....

Nabiki stopped dead in her tracks, practically floored by what she was
seeing. The group stood on a beach, with sand so white and pure that it
seemed to shine with a bright glitter of diamonds. The ocean, in one
direction, was a crystal clear turquoise color, revealing the sandy beach
beneath it and the colorful fishes that swam in the shallow waters. In a
second direction lay a long stretch of plains land, verdant and green as
anything they'd ever seen in a dream. It was beautiful, idyllic, and
earthly perfection, but that wasn't all.

Stretching into the beautiful blue sky, covered in the occasional white slip
of clouds and the warm, inviting sun, were several floating islands of
sorts, each containing a massive crystal of some sort in it. They seemed to
pulse and glow with an awesome strength, as though they were solar
collectors, or perhaps magical objects. Either one might not be that far
from the truth, and the whole scene that spread before them seemed so
incredible and enchanting, that it might disappear before them in a flash,
leaving them back in Nerima and the ugly imperfection of the real world,
home that it was.

Still unable to define the beauty that was being unfurled before her, she
used her formidable command of the spoken word and her all-alluring charisma
to utter a single word: "Utsukushi...." Standing next to her, almost the
entire group, save Kuu, was staring at the whole site, completely spellbound
and not being able to do much more than nod in agreement. Kuu, having
already been exposed to this numerous times, was looking around, trying to
get her bearings on the situation.

Ukyo was the first to come back to her senses, followed in turn by Satoru,
Michael, and Ryoga, then the rest. "I-is this place real?" she asked, her
words seeming to barely come out in a breath.

"Sure it is," Kuu answered matter-of-factly. "This is the Jeweled Coast;
specifically the Kia Gulf, if I guess right. Though I'm not sure where the
town of Sephia is in relation to where we are."

Satoru found her knowledge rather unsettling. "Kuu, how do you know so much
about this place?"

"Easy. I've been here before." Seeing the incredulous looks on everyone's
faces, she clarified. "Hikaru and I came here about seven years ago for my
sister's wedding. You remember Fuu, ne, Satoru? Well, Hikaru neglected to
mention it, but, um, Fuu's...." Kuu blushed for a second as she admitted,
"She's the queen of this world. Umi's also here. She's a...duchess, if I
remember correctly, though she prefers to use her military title."

Everyone blinked at that, while Ryoga muttered to Ukyo, "Ukyo, our best
friend changes gender in water. He's married to a goddess. One of *her*
friends is a queen; the other's a duchess. Do we know *anyone* who's
normal?"

Not even bothering to look back at him, she quipped, "I dress like a boy
most of the time and most of my suitors were drag queens. You, in turn,
have a wife who's obsessive about pigs, and Chia pets have a better sense of
direction than you. Do we really have to continue this pointless
discussion, or should I recap our high school years up to now?"

"Good point." Brushing the hair out of his eyes, he looked around and said,
"So where's the lovebirds? They got us into this mess."

"Right behind you, Ryoga." All turned around to see Ranma, helping Hikaru
to her feet as she was looking around. He would have said something more,
but she continued to scan the horizon, until she pointed to what appeared to
be the west.

"The town of Sephia's in that direction. That way, about 10 kilometers, on
the other side of that bluff."

"Are you sure?" Ranma asked, which earned him a flat stare from Hikaru.
"Um, right. Sorry I asked, love."

She gave a half-hearted smile herself. "That's okay, anata. Sometimes I
forget what I am here myself. I much prefer my Knight Commander aspect here
than my Pillar aspect any day. I've seen what the power of the Pillar can
do when misused, and frankly, I'm not sure that any one person should have
that sort of power--myself included." Stretching, she began to work the
kinks out of her muscles and said, "Well, we have a sort of long walk ahead
of us, guys, so I suggest we prep for the trip."

"Walk?" Shiki sputtered. "If I heard you right, you're a goddess, ne? Why
not conjure up some cars or something, or even just teleport us to wherever
we want to go."

Hikaru nodded. "I won't teleport us, because I want to see what's wrong
with the land. As for cars, that's also a no. Cephiro, with some
exceptions, is a primarily agrarian world, and cars'll pollute the
atmosphere. I like my world as a beautiful place."

"Ag-agr...?" Ryoga asked.

"Agrarian. It means farm country, just like your place," Nabiki supplied.
"Okay, then, how far is the capital from here?"

"About 700 kilometers or so," Hikaru admitted, a bit embarrassed. "But we
can see about getting some transportation there."

"So we're walking?" Nabiki groaned good-naturedly. "Finally just when I
think I've managed to get on an A-List, too...."

~*~

>From all appearances, it was a normal day of operations for the Vanden Plaz,
situated in the town that was once called Hiace, but since renamed Piazza
Nero in honor of one of the VP's allies back on their homeworld. Troop
formations were being sent on their missions of conquest, and the military
machine had been operating as normal. Reports were coming back that several
of their skybattleships were raiding the dead world of Autozam for
technology, and that the other two worlds, Chizetam and Fahren, were
currently under invasion from several of the VP combat forces. With this in
mind, it would only be a matter of time before those worlds capitulated.

Daimler, heavily in meditation, was concentrating on his power. He'd found
that some of the inferior ways of other cultures and societies, when used
properly, were actually of some benefit. At the moment, he was seated,
doing a chakram yoga, pulling in the natural wind force of this planet. It
was either ironic or proper, he supposed, that both he and the queen--his
direst enemy--shared the same Wind Magic talent. Perhaps it was a mark of
leadership. Likely it was a combination of all of these. Then again, the
supposed Pillar had mastered the magic of fire and--

Something snapped him out of his meditation as though he'd been punched.
Racing out of his tent, he turned his eyes skyward, searching for something
that might have been wrong with the world...and perhaps, it just might have
been.

((She's here. I can feel her presence, as though the world has grown
stronger.)) Maybe it had: looking around, everything seemed to have grown
brighter, more real, as though a great convocation had just come upon the
world, a Grand Blessing that had just added a facet of reality that had
never been seen by human eyes. Unbeknownst to him, a strange look came on
his face, a glance that was somewhere between awestruck at the wake of the
Pillar's arrival, and disgust at literally the whole world rejoicing at the
arrival of such a sham of a figurehead.

His statuesque skyward gaze did not go unnoticed. Several of his troops saw
his actions, and the murmurs began, hinting of battles and glory to come.
Most of them, seasoned veterans from earlier conflicts even before their
arrival on Cephiro, tried to quell the hubbub amongst the newer recruits,
all either Cephirans or Autozamians who sympathized with the cause. Despite
all of this, the rumors spread faster than a brushfire in a haystack, and
within minutes, one of the platoon commanders soon found himself at
Daimler's side, questing for information.

"Can you not see the new day?" Daimler asked his subordinate. "It is a new
day for the leadership, a new day for our New Regime. We are convincing the
local populace of the truth, and they are now flocking to our cause. We are
becoming more powerful, and we now have the chance to engage our enemy in
full."

"I do not understand, sir," the field officer commented.

"What he means," a shadowy figure said as he moved next to Daimler, "is that
the Grand Witch has arrived. Their 'goddess', or at least one that is
supposed to be a goddess here. In fact, she's nothing more than a common
girl who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Worse, she's
of inferior stock. She's a disease that needs to be excised, and we're here
to do that, isn't that correct, Daimler?"

"Spoken like a true hero," Daimler said to the newcomer as he dismissed the
field officer. Turning to face him in full now, he gave a terse, single
order: "Report."

The stranger spoke. "They've completely accepted me, sir. They think I'm
one of them, a native, and a patriotic one at that. I have the complete
confidence of my 'superiors'."

"Good, good," murmured Daimler, hand on his chin in thought. "Have you
discovered the optimal points for your operation?"

"Yes, sir. The queen and several members of her staff are not viable
targets at this time, as they are highly capable of defending themselves and
don't present enough of a window of opportunity to attack. However, there
are still several choice targets that we might be capable of. And if that
doesn't work, we do have our last-ditch options."

"Well, come with me, my agent," Daimler said as he pointed the way to his
private tent. "I have some extra information for you that might be of
assistance. Queen Fuu and her troops are getting reinforcements."

"Which was the next thing I was about to tell you," the spy offered. "I
have reports that indicate the Pillar is on the way." Daimler nodded his
agreement, and was about to comment that he already knew as well, when Jetta
came running, bearing a folder in her hands.

"Lord Daimler! Great news! The OPEL has found the whereabouts of the
Pillar!"

"So you felt her arrival too, Jetta?"

"I think all of us who wield magic felt her arrival."

"Well, if you know where she is, I want the OPEL to dispatch two full combat
groups to deal with her. Make sure that one our own is in charge--actually,
send Berlina out to deal with them. I want the Pillar eliminated before she
becomes involved in the situation here, since her presence might rally this
collection of scum. Oh, and when she is killed, make sure that Queen Fuu is
made aware of it. I want the Cephirans to know that there is nothing that
can save them, nothing at all." Turning back to his agent, he asked, "So,
shall we get back to the business of espionage and sabotage?"

~*~

Hikaru's eyes glittered with tears, as she and her companions stood in the
center of the coastal town of Sephia.

Or rather, what was left of it.

The town was a total ruin. Crushed by the remains of one of the crystal air
islands as it had fallen on the surface, the people had had little time to
escape the catastrophe. Makeshift graves were littered around the ruins of
homes and buildings, and there was not a sign of survivors having stayed.
Whoever managed to make it out of the wreckage of Sephia were now amongst
Cephiro's first war refugees.

"All those people...." Hikaru murmured sadly, her voice choking. "Last time
I was here, the people threw me a big party, even though I didn't want one.
They insisted, because I was their heroine...." The look on her face was as
torn as the one she had at the aftermath of the events at Fujikyu. "A
little girl, about Akama's age...she gave me flowers, because it was the
only thing she could give me." Hikaru raised a hand and pointed at a small
mound. "She's buried right there. I can feel it."

The others said nothing. They couldn't understand what Hikaru was going
through right now, though they could all sense the pallor of death, the
needless ending of life.

"The crystal...it was shot down...brought down on them without so much as a
second thought. Why? I thought I was the target, but this...this is
*unconscionable*!" Hikaru turned to hold Ranma closer to her, but stopped
at the last second, shivering with pain and anger. "They're monsters, all
of them. Anyone who can wantonly obliterate a peaceful town like this is
nothing less than a monster," she said, sinking to the ground. She punched
the ground once, tears flowing down her face. "Monsters, all of them...."

Ranma moved to her side in an instant. "We'll deal with them, love. We'll
make sure they'll never do anything like this again. If you and I have to
do it ourselves even--which we won't--we'll teach them a lesson." Ranma
knew that all the others would stand beside them, and that no matter what,
he would be at Hikaru's side if she needed him.

"You can start now," Michael said all of a sudden. "Someone's coming." As
the sound of footsteps began to sound louder, Michael snapped his fingers,
and out of nowhere a pair of blue-steel Tec-10s appeared in his hands, the
pistol-sized autorifles fully armed and ready to fly. As he did so, Satoru
and Kuno unsheathed their katanas, while Ukyo brought her battlespat to the
ready. Shiki and Ryoga began to unwind, ready for physical combat, while
Nabiki moved over to protect Kuu.

Eventually the horse rode into view, its riders completely unfamiliar to
them. The horse was a mustang likely of the Ford breed, the white and
orange dappled steeds that were the equal to the Earth's own Arabian breed.
It was dressed in light armor, and bearing the livery of the Cephiran Guard
vice the colors of the Army. It was a beautiful animal, and the speed it
raced towards the group at one time would have been considered beautiful,
had the situation not become tense.

"See the rider, Tseng?" Kuno asked. "I cannot speak of her beauty, though I
know it is a she, but I do see that she bears a weapon of steel, and she
comes riding for war."

"Then she can stand to take a few rounds," Michael said, his body tensed in
readiness for a fight. "But let see what she does first. She might be
searching for survivors, or a scout for whoever runs this joint."

"Or she could be out hunting for enemy troops and mistake us for some,"
Satoru noted. "Still, pretty stupid of her to do so, coming by herself.
Not good tactics at all."

"No, that's the norm," Hikaru said, getting back to her feet and kissing
Ranma on the cheek with a comment of "Thanks, anata." Turning back to her
friends, she explained, "Before we Magic Knights came around, it was normal
for powerful mages and fighters to travel solo. Anything normal could be
dealt with, and war was a rarity. Sadly, those times have changed."

Finally, the rider arrived amongst the Nerima group. Appearing to be about
the same age as Hikaru, the stranger bore a regal bearing that spoke of
someone raised as an aristocrat. She had a long, thick mane of black hair
and her eyes were a beautiful, hypnotic shade of deep blue. Her features
showed a proud, perhaps haughty beauty, something enhanced by the alluring
and athletic figure she had. Although she was dressed in the pseudo-Arabic
style of Chizetamian fashion, the armor and rapier she carried were clearly
of Cephiran origin. Lastly, perched on her shoulder, was a fairy that bore
a likeness to Primera--a sister, perhaps?

"Ho, good people," the woman replied in an imperious voice that implied she
knew exactly how much farther they were down on the totem pole than she was.
"Make way for Cephiran Guard. I'm here to see if there are any survivors
other than you and...." She paused, looking at the collection of people
before her, some of them armed, certainly all of them dangerous. "You're
not from this town, are you?" she inquired, as though it were some great
sacrifice to talk to the commoners before her. "You must be from afield."

"Yeah, we're not from around here," Ranma answered, somewhat annoyed by her
tone. "We're from, um, slightly farther from here."

"Oh?" The woman looked at Ranma...then looked again, slightly more
appreciatively. Seeming to appraise him and his well-built form, she
softened her tone: "Perhaps you can tell me more about it, later, once I
finish my mission here. Are you new to these parts? There seems to be a
lot of innocent people fleeing the war."

Minica, seated on the woman's shoulder, knew the woman well enough. Taking
the time to whisper in her ear, she said, "Onnesama, shouldn't we
concentrate on whatever you have to do right now? Now is not the time for
chasing boys." Minica didn't expect an answer; she knew that in cases like
this, the Voice of Reason would always be ignored.

Likewise, this was also noticed on the Nerima side. "Here we go again,"
Ukyo sighed to herself, while Nabiki gave her a knowing, sympathetic look.
Ryoga, Kuno, and--though no one noticed it, Michael--had slightly bemused
looks on their faces. Satoru, Shiki and Kuu, unaware of the history of the
Nerima group to a large degree, merely found the girl's change of attitude
startling. Hikaru, still the trusting type to a degree, was giving the
woman the benefit of the doubt--or rather, her husband; unlike previous
relationships she'd been in, she knew she could trust Ranma totally.
However, Hikaru had a feeling of déjà vu when it came to these two, as if
they were familiar to her. Ranma was in his natural element; that is to
say, he was completely and utterly clueless.

Having her sights set, the rider moved her horse over by Ranma, extending
her hand and cooing suggestively to him, "Would you care to help a
noblewoman down, kind sir?" Ranma, having learned a bit of courtesy over
the years, did assist her, and fell deeper into her trap. "Thank you kind
sir," she replied, leaning into him, as the fairy decided to lift off from
her shoulder. "Such gallantry is to be rewarded." With that, she leaned
towards him for a kiss. Ranma, at this time, finally realized what was
going on, and with a look on his face that hadn't been seen in years, he was
hoping that Hikaru didn't have a mallet handy.

"Laying it a bit thick, isn't she?" Ukyo murmured to Nabiki.

"Well, at least she's marginally more subtle than Shampoo was. Marginally,"
Nabiki replied. "Wonder if I should bail my little brother out of this?"

"No, Nabiki, that's my job." There was only so much that Hikaru was going
to stomach; even if she trusted Ranma completely, this woman had crossed the
bounds. Stepping between her husband and the noblewoman, she said coolly,
"Last time I checked, Cephiran 'noblewomen' who serve in the Guard should
have enough talent to dismount from a horse themselves, and should have
enough class to keep their hands off a married man...especially when his
wife is present."

The warrior reacted as though it was a physical slap. Turning on the
proverbial ten-yen piece, she turned to face Hikaru, a sudden, mercurial
anger forming in her eyes. "Excuse me, but who are *you* to talk to *me*?
Do you even know who I am, wench?"

Hikaru crossed her arms, a fiery glitter forming in her eyes. "No, I don't
know who you are, and as for me, well, you might be surprised who I am."

"As far as I can tell, you're just an uppity peasant with a flair for
wearing Fahrenjin clothing--though I wonder how a commoner like you could
have ever afforded to visit Fahren. And since you must be educated as to
who I am," the woman snarled at Hikaru as though she were nothing more than
a first-grader, "I am the Lady Ryuuzaki Hikaru, Water Squire of Cephiro,
daughter of his lordship Lantis and her ladyship Ryuuzaki Umi, Water Knight
of Cephiro. My companion is my younger sister, the Lady Minica, daughter of
his lordship Lantis and her ladyship Primera." Getting right into Hikaru's
face, the woman snarled, "Now then, woman, tell me who you are."

Giving the woman an angry look, Hikaru managed to snarl back, "I, young
woman, am the Fire Knight Commander of Cephiro and the Pi--*who did you say
you are?!??!?" Hikaru's eyes grew wide with shock as what the other woman
said sank in. ((Kamisama--that's why she looks so familiar!)) For although
the hair and eye color were different, it was the face of Ryuuzaki Umi that
stared right back at Hikaru through this woman her age. "You...you can't be
who you say you are.
It-it-it's impossible!"

"What's impossible? That you should face actual Cephiran nobility,
madwoman? And as for *your* credentials, you couldn't be the Fire Knight if
you were wearing her actual clothing! The Knight Commander is a pure
noblewoman's noblewoman, a shining example to the world and not a piece of
farm trash! Furthermore, the Knight Commander happens also to be the Pillar
of this world, our goddess, and not some sniveling, whiny brat like you!"

"Well whatever you've heard about the Pillar is wrong. I'm the Pillar, and
I'm not some innocent, sweet, naïve thing," Hikaru snarled. Regardless of
who this woman was--and the thought of this girl being the child of Umi
being a total impossibility in her mind--she was going to learn some
manners. Now. "Now stay away from my husband, you little snipe, or I will
persona--"

Hikaru's uncharacteristic display of anger, however, was suddenly
interrupted as blasts of energy ripped in the space next to Hikaru and the
woman who seemed to bear the same name. Bolts of verdant power splashed all
around them, some within centimeters of the pair. Not taking the time to
erect magical shields, everyone began to dive for cover as more fire ripped
into the surrounding area.

As everybody scrambled for cover, Michael roared, "Targets inbound. Looks
like they're on horses, but the horses look...mechanical, like some sort of
robots or something." There was another onslaught of energy, followed by
the inhuman dying scream of the newcomer's horse being blasted into so much
bloody chunks not far from where they all were. Not allowing himself to be
distracted by the grisly event, he continued to report: "It looks like
they've got some rather unorthodox weapons with them." With that, Michael
leapt into view and opened fire, dropping about five of the riders and
diving back behind the nearest building as several opened fire on him,
slicing the air where he'd just been.

Kuu yelped, as arrows perforated the wooden structure within an arm's reach
of where she hid. "We're in trouble now!"

"An attack force, and looks like they were looking for someone," Ukyo
shouted as energy beams raced past her shelter. "Bet a thousand yen I know
who, too." A volley of arrows came racing towards her, but with a speed
borne of anger she whipped out her battle-spat and swept the projectiles
aside with a vicious ease.

"Guess I'd better protect you all." Without expecting anyone to be capable,
the Cephiran warrior raised her hand and chanted, "Fusetsu Boheki!" From
out of nowhere, and despite the relative warmth, a snowstorm-like hurricane
began to coalesce around the general area, blocking out the energy beams.
"There. That should hold away the fire for a bit, but it's not going to
last forever."

"It'll last long enough," Ranma commented, looking somewhat pissed and
cracking his knuckles. "Well, I think I need some exercise for the day."
Turning to Nabiki, he said, "Sis, find defensive positions for all of you.
Satoru, Kuno, Michael, make sure everyone's safe. Ryoga, Ucchan, care to
join me?"

Ryoga smiled from under his mop of dark hair. "Since when did I stay out of
a fight?"

"I'd follow you anywhere, Ranchan," Ukyo piped in.

Shiki leapt instantly to Ranma's side. "Hey, I'm a martial artist, too!
You aren't leaving me out of this one!" Ranma, already having his attention
on the inbound troublemakers, merely gave a terse nod. Figuring there was
going to be more dissent, Ranma looked at his brothers-in-law, and the look
in his eyes was simple: protect Hikaru and Nabiki. Faced with that, the
pair decided not to argue for going with him.

The whole situation did not go unnoticed by either of the Hikarus. Turning
to Ranma, they both exclaimed, "Hey, I'm the one in charge here!" Both
realized what they'd said, hmphed, and went back to their ill-timed staring
contest.

Nabiki grabbed both women and said, "Ladies, pissing contests are for men,
okay? You can be bitchy later." Turning to her sister-in-law, she
clarified, "Leave it to Ranma--he's done this before. I don't care how much
experience you have with these things here, but I do know that they were
aiming at one of you two. Therefore, we're getting you out of here--or
would you care for another uncomfortable hospital stay?"

Saotome Hikaru initially planned to protest, but saw the concerned look in
Nabiki's eyes and deferred. "Yes, Nabiki-nesama." The look in the
redhead's eyes was a mixture of indignation, anger and worry...and a
realization that her sister-in-law was probably right.

Meanwhile, the other Hikaru looked appreciatively at Ranma and murmured, "So
his name is Ranma. A name as wonderful as he is, and a name that's pure
poetry of the heart. I wonder if--"

"'Wonder' nothing," Nabiki said, her eyes flashing with annoyance. "That
there happens to be my brother and he and Hikaru here are happily married.
And if you do anything to try to disturb that balance, I will personally
take that sword of yours and demonstrate on you a few uncomfortable places
to have it lodged. Get my drift?" The woman, seeing that Nabiki was
serious, said nothing and decided to go along with this rabble for the
moment. Minica, still sitting on the warrior's shoulder, decided it would
be much safer hiding in the pouch at the soldier's side, and so dived in.

"The rest of you guys stay put now," Ranma said. "Ryoga, Ukyo, Shiki, let's
go." With that, the three walked out of the safety of the snowstorm barrier
and towards the enemy contingent.

"Remember, Ranma," Kuno called out to his brother-in-law, "The Vengeance of
Heaven is sure and swift!"

Satoru turned to his friend. "Tatewaki, do you *always* have to say that?"

Kuno shrugged. "Well, my dear friend, I daresay that as a motto, it's much
more elegant than 'kick ass and take names.' Besides, is it not our
position as men of the blade to give the proper speech of war?"

Nabiki, from where she stood, groaned. "Kuno-baby, I hate to rain on your
parade, but can you worry about writing battle sonnets later?" Not
expecting an answer, she sighed and said, "C'mon, you guys. Let's go get
some ringside seats. Kuu, did you bring some popcorn?"

"Why on Earth would I need to bring that?" Kuu asked, puzzled, gazing at the
pack of supplies she was carrying.

"Well, they just pissed off my little brother, and no one ever gets away
with that," Nabiki said, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "As the Americans say,
'You're about to witness the Greatest Show On Earth.'"

~*~

A group came riding in on mechahorses, the cybernetic steeds moving as fast
as the wind. Each man carried electrolances, the wrist weapons capable of
use either as a sword or an energy weapon. The group of five, though
dressed mainly in the technowear of Autozamian military, now additionally
wore the markings of the Vanden Plaz. There initially had been about fifty
of them, racing in ahead of the secondary group, which was three-hundred
strong. The front group, now realizing that the element of surprise was
lost, set up magical and energy barriers to deal with the situation. One of
the men called out, "Call the convoy and tell them it's only a small group,
not an army. We can deal with--"

He never finished his sentence.

~*~

At the far back of the convoy, standing atop a futuristic looking tank,
stood a woman wearing a clothing that looked somewhere in between a jockey's
uniform and something the Beatles rejected for the cover of the "Sgt.
Pepper" album. Her colors were a mix of shimmering, silky blue and silver,
and she looked too young to be involved with this military group. She had
in her hand a telescope that looked almost like a microphone, as though she
was going to do a musical number atop the tank. She had long, flowing brown
hair and matching eyes, and there was a cuteness to her, as though she was
the essence of the Japanese word "kawaii".

At her side an older man, dressed in the clothing of a senior noncom,
addressed her. "Lady Berlina--"

Berlina paused, her countenance sad and looking very unnatural for her.
"Must Daimler call me that?"

"Yes, commander. He has trouble pronouncing your natural name, I presume.
In any event, we are approaching the location where they believe the Pillar
to be."

"The Pillar?" Berlina asked. "I thought we were here to deal with a band of
Cephiran military." Suddenly, she dropped her telescope. Frustrated, she
bent over to pick it up...

...and just narrowly avoided a massive onslaught of azure energy tearing
into her forces, scorching soldiers, setting tanks ablaze and detonating
mass amounts of weapons, not to mention totally sowing chaos and disorder.

~*~

Ranma couldn't believe it. He'd charged himself up for cutting loose with a
typical blast of ki, but what had erupted from his palms was nothing normal.
The resulting force that launched from his palms was a hundredfold stronger
than anything he had ever thrown before, as a massive beam about the
thickness of a school bus rocketed forward, evaporating anything in its
path. The sky was lit up with a massive flash of blue light, and for a
second or two, it seemed that all there was of the whole world was sky blue.

As the azure light cleared away, there was a wide, scorched swath where
several of the enemy used to be. In fact, although Ranma was not aware of
this, there had been close to a hundred units that now no longer existed
after his attack. All he could do was to look at his hands and say with a
Keanu Reeves-like grace, "Whoa."

~*~

>From where she sat, Saotome Hikaru's eyes widened in abject shock. ((He
just fired something more powerful than anything I've ever seen. Even when
the three of us used the power of Grand Rayearth, we couldn't come up with
anything like that!)) She looked at her sister-in-law, and Nabiki had
totally facefaulted. Part of Hikaru's mind wondered, ((If willpower runs
the world here, and willpower is the basis of ki...then I've just brought a
serious arsenal to Cephiro.)) Hikaru looked at the perplexed man who was
staring at his hand and wondered how he'd done that, just as she'd done so
long ago when she'd first arrived. ((Oh, Ranma, I know how you feel, anata.
I really, truly do.))

"The kami bless us...." Nabiki whispered, as she stared as dumbfoundedly as
Hikaru was. Her mind was unable to believe, even after seeing what she'd
just witnessed. She knew the facts, that in a battle against Saffron, Ranma
had literally carved the top of Mt. Quanjing to save Akane; that had been
second-hand info. This, this however, was a truth that stared her right in
the face, the true, terrible power that her brother had at her fingertips.
In all the times that she'd known him, she felt suddenly glad that she'd
never pissed him off past the point of no return. It was bad enough that
she'd seen the metaphorical barrel of a gun before. She now realized that
gun was no sidearm, but the 16-inch barrel of a battleship's cannon. A
second later, another thought came to her: ((Ranma said I'm capable of the
same things he is and I've always hoped that I could be half as good. But
after seeing that, do I really want to be?))

As for the others, they had no comment to Ranma's attack. They stood there,
frozen like statues, each as unbelieving as the martial artist had been.

~*~

"Whatever they have, we want it!" Berlina screamed, channeling her own
power. "Do what you have to stop them!" Her hands began to glow with
unusual energies, one red, one blue. Clapping them together, she shouted,
"Return fire! Chain Force!" and a blast of two beams, rolling between each
other like links of chain, roiled towards Ranma, pulsing down the same
barren path of destruction that the first had done, quite a bit ago.
Turning to a nearby subordinate who'd managed to survive the initial
assault, she hollered, "Call for reinforcements! These aren't ordinary
troops!"

Berlina looked into the distance and the growing clouds of smoke and fire
and thought, ((I wonder who's trapping who.))

~*~

The blast jolted Ranma back to consciousness. The dual-phase blast that
Berlina counterattacked with headed straight for Ranma, but managed somehow
not to hit him, the martial artist having somehow managed to be in the
center of one of the "links". The twin ribbons of energy continued past
him, slamming against the Blizzard Wall, shuddering and threatening to
destroy it.

"Kuso," Ranma snarled, as he realized what the hell was going on. The
remainder was still coming in, and it was going to get messy. Though almost
all of the tank-thingies had been totaled, the horseback riders were not,
and they were still incoming. *"Okay guys, this is it!"* Ranma called out,
his voice full of confidence.

*"Let's hit 'em!"* Ryoga echoed.

*"No mercy!"* Shiki agreed.

*"I'm with you, Ranchan!"* Ukyo shouted back.

As one, the four fighters roared into combat, against ridiculous odds, in a
battle that under most circumstances would have been unfair...

...for the other side.

Ryoga dived into the first bunch that came towards him, his anger coming to
the front. "You're not gonna get away from me! *BAKUSAI TENKETSU!*" He
slammed his fist to the ground, and the earth warped, woofed, and finally
shattered and burst heavenward, taking loam, rocks, dirt, and other such
items as the world began to explode around the immediate vicinity. Bodies
scattered all over the place, some aching in pain, some mercifully
unconscious, but most likely never to utter a single word ever again.

Dodging several attacks that came his way from the next group, Ryoga leapt
up to his earlier position before the next group of the adversary's host
could skewer him with their weapons. He ran off in an unusual direction,
looking for a second as though he were racing away from the battle, but was,
in truth, maneuvering to attempt a new attack, one he'd been working on.

Beginning a charge and aiming for a bunch of people rushing towards him,
Ryoga went into a charging fist attack, barreling through them. Leaping
into the air, he spun around with a grace not attributed to him and roaring,
*"SHI SHI HOKODAN!"* cut loose with a golden beam of ki as sizable as
Ranma's. There was no way for the soldiers to get out of the way, and so
they were caught in the path of an enormous column of ki, which had the
effect of a drill catching flies on the way while drilling down several
meters into the ground.

Landing, some sort of mechanical robot thing out of a bad anime fired on
him, dropping to his knees. Ryoga shrugged it off, looked at the thing with
dark, murderous intent and said under his breath, "Real bad move." Fist
cocked and ignoring the fire coming his way from the thing, he applied a
charging fist, then as it connected, spun, elbowed him, and closed it out
with a devastating uppercut that shattered both the robot and the ground it
stood on.

As more of them closed in on him, swarming like unintelligent, wild insects,
he taunted them, "Okay, which of you moving scrapheaps is next?"

~*~

"Gurenken!" Shiki's strike hit as intended, her assault laying down a few
hundred hits against one heavily armored opponent. As he fell to the ground
with a painful thud, she bypassed him, only to come up against another, who
was drawing a bead on her with some sort of bizarre bow-and-arrow weapon.
He seemed to move as swift as a sparrow, drawing the bow and loosing it,
sending the blast of magic her way.

It was a good thing, though, that Shiki was faster. Much faster. Moving at
a speed her attacker couldn't even dream of, she dived forward as he
attacked, and moving into position, she leapt skyward, using yet another of
her family's secret attacks, the Reichi Sambyakujin Sho. The attack
involved her performing a reverse flying uppercut while creating ki-clones
of herself, long enough for each to slam painfully into the target. She did
so, and the fifteen clones did so, and what resulted from the attack was not
going to be in operation anytime soon.

Landing from her attack, she felt someone take a punch at the back of her
head. She kippupped immediately and noticed she was surrounded by dozens of
attackers. Not even bothering to acknowledge the throng, she grabbed the
nearest one's arm, and using it like a balancing beam, flipped over him,
taking the arm and yanking it out of its socket. She them slammed him to
the turf, and, charging up her ki, applied a palm strike that would ensure
that he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

Ki still blazing like a beacon, she rocketed towards the next one in the
line of fire. He charged forward, igniting some sort of energy sword with
the intent of skewering her, but he hadn't counted on her speed. Moving
with an agility that would make a yoga master envious, she bounded over his
head, landed behind him, then went into buzzsaw mode, throwing more kicks
and punches than at a professional wrestling match. Bodies fell before her
as she moved on.

((Why aren't these guys giving up?)) she asked herself. ((Are they so blind
to know when they're dealing with someone much better than they are?)) An
arrow whizzed closely past her head--too close--and that was all the answer
she needed. ((These guys are total idiots! Well, time to educate the
masses.))

Setting her mind back to the matter at hand, she concentrated and loosed her
projectile attack, wondering if it was going to be as strong as
Saotome-san's. He was proving to be far more talented than she had ever
expected, and his friend, Hibiki-san, was almost as good. In fact, the girl
had to grudgingly admit that both of their talents were as far ahead of hers
as a PC was above an abacus. However, she was beginning to notice that they
had the exact same moves as her family did--secret moves that had been
passed down through generations. Were they distant relatives, or did
somehow along the way their families learn those moves from an ancestor of
hers?

"Unsanmushodama!" The blast, unlike normal, did not disappear, but instead
became a snarling, writhing ball of energy that bolted forward, warping the
air as it blazed past. Slamming into the nearest of her victims, it spread
out like a net, catching several in its electrical throes before exploding,
turning into an incandescent ball of bioenergy, a plasma-like burst that
electrocuted everything in its path.

Shiki didn't have time to pat herself on the back, as another batch of
soon-to-be-downed-opponents moved in. Muttering under her breath, "These
guys just don't learn," she charged them, determined to teach the morons
that nothing was going to withstand the Nijorono School of Freestyle
Shotokan.

~*~

Like a farmer mowing down waves of grain, Ukyo swept her battle spatula back
and forth swatting away anything in her path. Between that and her
bandoleers of minispats, she was using every attack in her arsenal to try to
stay alive. She was over her head in this situation, but she came because
all she had in this world--or any other--was Ranma. She'd never stopped
loving him since the day she was reunited with him, and though she was
destined to only be his best friend, she would be damned before she would
ever leave his side. His family was hers in a surrogate way, and she was
lucky, she guessed, that Hikaru was rather understanding of her situation;
despite her friendship with Akane, Ukyo doubted that she would have ever
been lucky enough to be as close with Ranma as she was now.

Reaching towards her bandoleer, she came up empty; a quick look indicated
that she'd flung her last volley, and that left her with only the
battlespat. If that was destroyed, she was left only to hand-to-hand, and
that was her weak point. There was movement to her left. She turned,
pushed her opponent back, and swung her battlespat for all it was worth.

Unfortunately, he caught it and yanked it out of her hands before kicking
her in the face and sending her down to the ground in a mess. Taking it in
both hands, he snapped it like kindling wood, then raised his wrist to fire
his armgun. Ukyo, not wanting to die anytime soon, leapt forward, grabbed
and spun the combatant. She slammed her elbow into the man's chest, levered
her fist to nail him in the jaw, and then finished it up with a quick
uppercut, which sent the defeated opponent sprawling back.

There was no sound from the man, other than a harsh, guttural laugh. He
took off the arm gun, tossed it away, then charged her, fist at the ready.
Ukyo spun with lightning speed as she punched forward, letting some sort of
instinct guide her, hoping that she could last. Because at this rate, she
wasn't going to.

A fist raked the side of her head, causing a burst of a million shards of
light in her head as she fell to the ground. No sooner than she hit it than
she was kicked in the ribs, knocking the air out of her. She heard the
man's laughing above her, and he spoke in a language that she could not
understand. She really didn't need to; she understood that he was going to
beat the shit out of her if she didn't do something, and quick.

Something snapped in her, and she leapt up, kicking him skyward. About
several hundred times. With a speed borne of desperation, she began to move
with a pace that she'd never done before, landing blow after blow. Still
using her okonomiyaki moves, she was just closing in at point-blank range
and pounding this guy with everything that he had been giving her.

An elbow smash turned into a backhanded punch turned into a spinning cycle
of punches, which moved into a faster and faster combination of punches and
kicks, each attack moving far faster than she'd ever been able to
accomplish. Finally, the guy left her an opening, and she took it. Moving
towards a gut punch, she thrust hard.

The resulting explosion of white ki turned the man into a makeshift bonfire,
waves of coruscating power running up and down his body until he fell to the
ground, painfully downed. As he connected with the earth noisily, Ukyo
looked at herself and the glowing aura of white ki that had enveloped her
body, something that had never happened before. At no time in her life had
she ever been able to manifest the mystic energies within the human body,
and here she was, holding it now as though it was apologetic for taking so
long to come out of her body.

She grinned like a kid with a new toy. "Sugoi!" She enjoyed her newfound
skills long enough before the next group waded in, forcing her to use them.

~*~

There was such a force as speed on Cephiro, something that everything held
to one degree or another. Then there were higher speeds that most creatures
couldn't attain without some sort of assistance or mechanical means. This
speed was generally reserved for those who had some sort of manner to access
it. Of course, it went without much comment that there was a speed reserved
for a person like Saotome Ranma. And at the moment, every opponent that he
came across was likely regretting that he'd ever moved with such a silky,
effortless ability, a myriad of talents that assured that he wasn't likely
going to be hit anytime soon.

Moving like a tiger running through a field of prey, Ranma single-handedly
took on waves after waves of enemy forces. Once they realized that out of
the four fighters, this was by far the most dangerous, more and more
opponents moved in, attempting to cage in the wily young grandmaster of
Anything Goes. However, containing Ranma was probably as easy as trying to
empty the nearby ocean with only a wooden bowl, just with a far lesser
chance of success.

Finishing with the latest dozen who failed to take him down, Ranma engaged
the next contingent. Leaping upon on one guy's head, he applied a liberal
amount of kicks to his face. As he went down, the martial artist leapt
towards another, dived under a powerful sword strike by a guy carrying a
massive broadsword. Ranma came up between him and a second person, he
continued to pivot, adding one-hit, one-drop attacks to anything that
crossed his path.

((This is getting us nowhere,)) he realized. The enemy, now beginning to
take note of the eccentric tactics of the Nerima group, spread out, making
it harder for them to take out groups. If they kept this up, he thought as
he neatly clipped a man taking aim at him with some disc-shaped gun, sooner
or later, the Nerima group was going to lose due to being worn down, and
that meant they were all going to be slaughtered. ((No way in hell am I
going to let that happen.))

Ranma parried a spear strike by one soldier, then upended him and went and
taught him the meaning of pain, namely: *"TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"* Not
surprisingly, all his strikes hit, pulping the guy and dropping to the floor
injured but still alive. ((Good. He's going to need to be dragged out of
here in order to survive and....))

Ranma suddenly had a brilliant idea. It was insane, but it was the quickest
way to end this battle, so he could get everyone out of here. They were
counting on him to win, and he could hardly let them down. Especially when
the lives of some of the most important people on his world were counting on
him making it out alive. Closing his eyes, he began to reach into the
deepest parts of his body reserves to find the ki that nestled within.

Ranma's battle aura, already stronger than normal, began to brighten and
swell, the intensity of the light growing stronger and stronger with each
growing minute. Opening his eyes, he began to focus on each person, feeling
their anger, hate, and every negative emotion that was running through them,
while trying to filter out his friends. Streams of power began to arc and
spark around him, his ki reaching a show of strength unprecedented by him
before, as the whole area began to glow with a soft blue haze, and a soft
breeze began to rustle in the area.

Facing his opponents, he shouted out, his voice full of seething rage,
*"Ukyo, Ryoga, Shiki! Hit the floor! The rest of you bastards, take this!
SAOTOME SUPER ATTACK! HIRYU SHOTENHA!"* Punching an arm into the sky, he
released an umbra of power, as waves of ki began swirling in the area,
building to within hurricane strength within seconds. The ki-winds
increased, and the roar of the vortex sounded not unlike a dragon racing to
the stars. Dozens of enemies tried to resist the energy tornado building in
their midst, but failed as they were swept up like so much debris being
carried into the sky.

The storm grew more intense, and nature itself seemed to howl in revenge at
the wrongs committed against it here in this place. Ranma's power continued
unabated, even as though the attack was stronger, longer, and larger in
range than anything he'd ever initiated before in his life. The blasting,
searing vortex continued to grow more powerful still, as the cycle of
demolition cast further and further out, a hungry beast that devoured any
and everything in its path, with nothing to stop it.

Just as the column of energy grew to unbearable proportions, the energy rush
beginning to tear at Ranma himself, the attack dispersed, and an epic
shockwave thundered across the region, obliterating everything in its path
save for the dying Blizzard Barrier, several Japanese martial artists, and
one man in the center, screaming out his soul as an energy dragon ascended
to heaven on a breeze made of the force of his own willpower.

~*~

Hikaru saw the tornado-sized Hiryu Shotenha attack, and knew that for the
immediate time, they'd be safe, but not for long. Over the horizon, she
could hear the buzz of units racing in this direction, and she was fairly
sure they weren't friendly. In any case, with her friends and family here,
she wasn't willing to make that determination. Worse, the ki-tornado had
leveled the Blizzard Barrier, and with as much power that "Hikaru" had
pumped into it, there was no way that she'd be able to put one up again.
Not that sitting around waiting to be attacked was a fun thing, anyway.

"Nabiki, please round everyone up. We're getting out of here," Hikaru said,
her voice steel in its tones. "They've got reinforcements coming, and
they'll be too much even for Ranma."

"You sure about that?" Nabiki answered, not willing to argue with Hikaru
when she used that tone of voice. For some reason, it sounded too much like
Akane's angry tones, and while she knew Hikaru to be much more levelheaded,
she also knew that this was not the time to engage in debate. "Ranma's
perfectly capable of handling large numbers, and the rest of us can still
fight, you know."

"*I* couldn't even fight that many," Hikaru answered, "and I'm the Pillar
around here, remember?"

"You couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag, you liar," the other woman
named Hikaru seethed. "You're not worthy of your rather dreamy husband. Is
all you can do just to sit there, whimper, and be protected by your
sister-in-law?"

Hikaru turned, ready to resort to violence against this impertinent woman,
regardless of whom she said her parentage was. Instead, she had a flash of
insight, and smiled cattily, so much so that Nabiki could have sworn the
redhead turned into a mythical neko-onna for a second. Concentrating on
everyone, she said, "You want to see the Pillar in action?" Whirls of fire
began to encircle everyone, and they all grew concerned until they saw
Hikaru as the center of it, a bright sun surrounded by forming planets in a
primal star system. "Okay, your wish is granted."

Hikaru looked to the west, snapped her fingers, and...

~*~

"They're gone?" Berlina blinked, seeing the sudden absence of battle.
She'd been very lucky, having been knocked off her command vehicle, because
there was really nothing left now. Her force of over 500 combatants and
armor was laying in a wide swath, shattered, destroyed and demolished. From
what she could tell, she was literally the only person capable of standing
up at the moment. There was an enormously scarred, blackened crater that
they were all in, the crater having earlier been a beautiful seaside plain.
That crater was now sufficiently deep enough to create a new bay, if a
strong enough rainstorm came by.

The questions on her mind remained unanswered; she doubted that anyone else
was alive to be able to come up with some sort of answer anyway. It didn't
matter much, as the majority of the people here were local troops, and not
those that had been brought back from the homeworld. If what Citroen
reported before her death was true, the home that she'd known for so long no
longer existed, and would be anathema for her.

She looked into the distance, where just a few short seconds ago, a single
person, likely male, created a magical tornado that had just decimated her
forces. She could see now why Daimler devoted such a large team to
exterminating this threat to their invasion. If the Cephirans had more like
that running around, the forces of Piazzo Nero were not going to be able to
last at all against such an onslaught.

~*~

"Ow! Hikaru!" Nabiki, unlike the first time, had not landed as comfortably.
"Next time, warn me, okay?"

Hikaru looked around at the newest surroundings. It was a grand hall, with
extremely high flying buttresses, ornate ceilings and columns, expensive
marbled floors, and the finest of rugs. At one end of the hall was a raised
dais, with a pair of ornate thrones. The room seemed to glitter with an
ethereal light, and there was the softest hint of music playing gently
throughout the surroundings.

"We're amongst the halls of heaven," Kuno replied, a note of awe in his
voice.

"No, we're in the Throne Room at Cephiro Palace," Kuu replied, looking
around at the familiar surroundings.

*"RANMA!"* Realizing the danger was over, Hikaru raced over to her husband,
glomping him and laying a fierce kiss on him. *"DON'T YOU EVER WORRY ME
SICK LIKE THAT AGAIN!"* she said as she broke off the kiss. Leaning into
his chest, she sobbed, "Don't play hero for my sake, please. I don't ever
want to lose you."

All Ranma could do was to hold his wife, not chancing himself to say
something and mess up the moment. He had to protect her, he knew that, but
what had happened to him out on that battleground was something that he
could not easily or even remotely describe. So he merely held his wife close
to him, never wanting to let go of her.

"Um, Ranma," Satoru said, "I really hate to break up the situation right
now, but we've got company." Sure enough, dozens of soldiers raced into the
hall, all of them ready for a battle. Bearing various weapons and armor,
they all had one thing in common: they all looked as though they were not
going to take this intrusion standing still. The Nerima group, not wanting
to start a fight with the odds as they were and with four of them already
winded from battle, was feeling very edgy.

The Cephiran guard with them leapt to her feet, calling out, "All of you,
stand down! It's me, dammit! Stand down!"

They stood down all right, but not at her command. A second voice, a lot
more calmly said, "It's the Water Squire. Go ahead and stand down. I'm
sure I'll be safe." As the warriors began to file out of the hall, the
attention was shifted. "Okay, now that that little episode is done with,
I'd like a report. What's going on here?"

"Your highness," Ryuuzaki Hikaru said, genuflecting on one knee, "we engaged
a substa--"

There was a sound of disapproval in the woman's voice: "Hichan, what have I
told you about preferable protocol in the court?"

The girl got off her knee, attempting to explain, "But Aunt Fuu, these
people don't kno--"

"Fuu-chan?" another voice rang out, unsure and disbelieving. "Is that you?"
Saotome Hikaru gently detached from her husband and faced the speaker, even
as a gasp came from another person--Kuu.

"Oh, sweet stars...Hikaru-chan? Onnesama?" Across a gulf of marble, three
people stared at each other for the first time in years. There was an
unknown signal, and the Queen of Cephiro, the Wind Knight raced across the
room and into the arms of her best friend and older sister. There was
laughter and tears of joy, and her voice broke. "I never thought...I never
dreamed I'd ever see you two again!" Turning back to the door from where
she came from, she addressed a page commanding him to "get extra seats, and
now! The Pillar has arrived! Send news to the people that the Pillar is
back! The Fire Knight Commander has returned!" Turning back to the first
two, Fuu looked at them, and was stunned by what she saw.

No less shocked were Satoru, Kuu, and Hikaru. Something had happened on
this world, something beyond explanation, and that something was known as
the ravages of time. Though Fuu had weathered it well, she'd not gone
unscathed. She was substantially older now than she'd been last time they'd
seen her, and she looked every bit the queen. Though her face still had
some of the girlish beauty in it, such loveliness was replaced with a
matronly grace that seemed to fit her just as well. A few wrinkles had set
in on her face, mainly created by the events of the war, though the crow's
feet and laugh lines were also effects of life. Her hair, though still
mainly blonde had streaks of silver in it, and her voice had an older
quality to it, one that gave it a rich timbre and lent to a tone of command.
"Yes, Hikaru, onnesama, I've aged, though it appears that you haven't as
much as me."

"And why did you?" Hikaru asked, wondering. "This world is run on
willpower. You could have stayed young forever, like Emeraude or Clef!"

"Once upon a time, maybe, when Emeraude was still the Pillar. But things
have changed now. The nature of this universe depends on the Pillar for
support. You're the Pillar, but you're from Earth, Hikaru. Thus, the
universe changes. A lot of Earth physics that didn't apply originally to
this world now do. And chief amongst them is aging. What's the date on
Earth now?" When Kuu supplied the answer, Fuu smiled wanly. "And to think,
I'm only 27. I clearly have not aged well," she said, with a twinkle in her
eye, "though my physical age now is closer to 44 or so, I believe." Fuu
leaned over and hugged the pair again, still unable to believe that they
were here. "Oh, where are my manners? I suppose that you will all need to
rest, right? At least until the banquet in your honor tonight."

Hikaru blushed. "Um, Fuu-chan, I really don't think--"

"Don't worry, Hikaru-chan. It's just our old friends, and a few others I
think you should meet. I'm not holding a major holiday for your
arrival--the army can't afford the downtime, even if I thought it was safe
to," Fuu sighed. "But enough of that. I'll have our chamberlain see you
and your friends to your room." The queen turned to the other Hikaru.
"Hichan?"

"Yes, Aunt Fuu?"

"Go down to the combat center and find out if your father and the others are
coming in tonight. I'd like them to be here, if they can afford to break
away from their current duties. If not, I'd like them to report back as
soon as possible."

Hichan nodded. "Um, Aunt Fuu, wouldn't you rather have me escort your
friend to one of the second-level guestrooms?"

Fuu frowned. "'Second level guestrooms,' Hichan? They're a little higher
ranking than that, I'm sure. *Especially* Hikaru and my sister, and in
particular Hikaru--if anything, she's entitled to accommodations better than
mine. Besides," Fuu said, "indulge this old woman and let me see my
friends, okay? I'd like some peaceful time before I deal with the war
again."

"Yes, Aunt Fuu." Apparently thwarted, Hikaru (or Hichan, as they seemed to
be calling her around here) walked out of the throne room, trying not to
look like she was storming out.

Saotome Hikaru tried hard not to smile. ((They call her Hichan. Well,
better her than me.)) Turning back to Fuu, she asked, "Second level
guestrooms?"

Fuu grinned. "Just a euphemism for military officer's quarters. You must
have done something to get on Hichan's bad side. She's got a temper just as
bad as her mother."

((Just as bad as her mother)) were the words that echoed in Hikaru's mind.
Watching the girl walk away, she wondered, ((Are you really Umi's daughter?
And if that's the case, why did she name you Hikaru? Unless....)) Clearly
there was a lot to think about, but right now was probably not the moment.
"Yeah, I'll tell you about it on the way to our rooms, and I'll introduce
everyone to you along the way," Hikaru said, still feeling a bit uneasy.
This was one of the people she'd been closest to in her life, and now there
was a gulf between them, far larger than anything Hikaru had imagined. Not
to mention with the added baggage of Umi and Lantis--and the girl who
apparently really was their daughter. What the hell had happened in the
years she was gone?

~*~

Umi screamed once more, begging them to stop, to leave him alone. But the
torture continued, for both of them, and as they administered beatings to
LaFarga once more, they were alternately violating her. The pain and misery
that she'd sunk into was so deep and dark, she no longer cared about
herself. She wanted her friends safe, and if they'd release her, she would
be willing to be whatever they wanted her to be. Camp whore, personal
concubine for the officers, whatever. Just to free her friends before they
were beaten to death.

Of course, they were never freed from their fate. Nor, tragically, was she.
In fact now, she was being forced to satisfy two at once, and a third was
getting ready to join in as well. For them, she was nothing more than a
toy. For her, she felt nothing anymore, nothing at all, save for the wish
that she could sacrifice herself to save her friends, and that she could be
at least able to tell her loved ones good-bye. A part of her told her she
was going to die, and that Hichan would have to take her place as the Water
Knight. Was she ready? Umi didn't know. There was so many things she
didn't know, and that probably was the worst fate of all.

And as the familiar blockout of pain commenced, she had one, fleeting last
thought: would her husband even notice she was gone, much less miss her?
Knowing Lantis as she had for all these years, likely not.

~*~

"So that's what happened to me," Fuu said as she set her cup of tea down.
"I've had an okay life until now, and I can't complain about anything. As
soon as her lessons are done for the day, you'll meet my daughter, Altra;
and tonight you'll meet my son." There was a note of pride in Fuu's voice
and a twinkle in her eyes, something not lost on Hikaru or Kuu. "Marino is
an absolute sweetheart, and the darling of every maiden in the
castle--except for Hichan, of course. Personally, I think he's attracted to
either Carina, who's LaFarga and Caldina's daughter; or Sintra, who's
Ascot's child--don't ask me who her mother is, none of us know, and he's not
telling, either." The Wind Knight gave her friend an elegant shrug.
"Ascot's tended to stay away from the castle a lot since Umi's marriage to
Lantis. They're on friendly terms, but it was rough going for the longest
time, let me tell you. Sometimes I wonder if their marriage was a good
idea."

Hikaru wanted to ask about that, but held her tongue in check. She reminded
herself that she came only to protect her family; seeing Fuu was secondary
(though not unimportant) on the list of priorities, and seeing Lantis and
Umi was last on that list, say, right after getting her teeth drilled by
Mokona, should she ever see that wonderful creature again. Instead, she
deferred to Kuu, who joked, "Well, looks like you've done quite well for
yourself, younger sister--or should I be the one to call you 'older sister'
now?"

Fuu giggled, then said sincerely, "I've missed you two so much, you couldn't
even begin to understand. My life here has been wonderful for the most
part, and I have no regrets. But I wish you two would have come to visit in
the past...seven? Twenty-six?" Fuu shook her head. "Whatever. But I wish
that you would have come more often."

"Well, I would have," Kuu admitted, "but I have to hitch a ride with
Saotome-san, here."

"'Saotome-san?'" Fuu asked. "That guy you were hanging on... is he your
husband?"

Hikaru absolutely beamed. "One husband, three kids. I just gave birth to
the twins about a week and a half ago, and my older son, Akama, well, he's
just like his father. And just like his birth mother, too."

"Birth mother?"

Hikaru grinned. "Long story, Fuu-chan. But we've got plenty of time."

~*~

Satoru sighed. "I always thought my sister would make her mark on the
world. I just never expected it to be quite so literal."

"And not on another world, ne, Satoru?" Ranma commented, leaning on the
balcony, viewing the horizon of the world of Cephiro. "I always thought of
my Hikaru-chan as special, but I have to admit, this takes the literal
cake."

"You should be so lucky, Ranma," Kuno supplied. "Have not I always said
that the fair maiden known as the Pigtailed Girl was a goddess amongst
goddesses?"

"Yeah, whatever," Ranma drawled, before turning around to look at the town
spread out before him. "But...I can't help but feeling that whatever we're
up against here, it's not really going to be that good."

Ryoga, sitting in the corner for all of this time fairly quiet, looked up,
then at his friend. "Man, I hate it when you say that. 'Cause it usually
means something bad's about to happen."

Sure enough, they were right. A page came in, dressed in the livery of
Cephiro. "Excuse me, sirs, but which of you is Lord Saotome Ranma?"

"Lord?" Ranma asked, while the others held their chuckles.

"Yes, your lordship. You are the spouse of Her Holiness the Pillar and Fire
Knight Commander, so you are to be accorded with the utmost respect of
respects, your worshipfulness." The page bowed twice; almost double over.
"Your presence is being requested in the third level anteroom, sir."

The pigtailed martial artist looked at the page with total bewilderment for
a few before groaning and saying, "Whatever. Lead the way, then--and none
of that 'sir' stuff for me...just call me Ranma." Turning to the others he
said, "I'll just catch you later, guys." With that, he strolled out.

The minute he left, Satoru announced he had a bad feeling. "Should one of
us follow him? I think that other girl--what's her name--might be up to
something. She strikes me as a total she-wolf." Ryoga and Kuno looked at
each other and gave resigned looks. Satoru saw this and couldn't decipher
what was the matter. "Did I miss something, guys?"

Ryoga gave Hikaru's brother a lazy grin. "Not at all. Y'see, Tatewaki and
I are used to this sort of thing. Ranma tends to get himself into
situations that are not his fault, but get completely out of control and
blamed on him. So, if the current situation works out as usual, Ranma's in
for a whole barrel of problems. And frankly, me, Tatewaki, and Ukyo--when I
talk to her--are going to stay out of this. We tend to have the effect of
making things *worse*."

~*~

"I'm sorry," the man named Alero said to the unconscious form of Presea as
several Cephiro soldiers carried away the weaponsmistress. "I'm so, so
sorry." His voice displayed the timbre of someone who regretted ever having
said his words. He turned his eyes away, seemingly in shame, though others
could think that it was because he'd unintentionally brought low the General
of the Cephiran army. He'd just been doing his job at the time, and felt he
had to report the bloodied, mangled corpse they found over in Peugeot
Canyon, tied to a stake. Despite his close working relationship with
Presea, he had no idea that she and Cabrio had been an item, and he hadn't
expected her reaction in the least. He was sure no one had.

Alero tried to look as military as possible under the circumstances, but
fell short of it at the moment, mainly due to the blush on his cheeks. He
had a fair, almost bishonen look to him, with long wheat-blonde hair and
expressively bright hazel eyes that seemed to stand out in his androgynous
face. Wearing the crisply tailored uniform of a Cephiran officer, it seemed
to not suit him that well--at least to him. Though most people thought he
was a native of Cephiro, he was merely just another of the immigrants, and
it was a testament to his talents that he'd ended up so high up in the ranks
of his new home.

"Is it true?" Hichan came racing into the room alone; for a rarity, her
younger half-sister, Minica, was not with her, having chosen to stay in
their room and take a nap.

"Oh, hello, Hikaru." Alero gave her a pleasant smile; he was attracted to
her, but business to him always came before pleasure, so.... "Cabrio is
dead, and it's not had the best of effects on the General." He sighed. "I
wish I'd known. I would have been less clinical about it."

"Oh, Aunt Sierra. First she loses her sister and practically *becomes* her
in order to cope, and now she's lost the only man she's ever loved." Alero
raised his eyebrow at that; Hikaru was one of the few in the castle who
regularly referred to "Presea" by her real name. Though the last couple of
statements were important, they were merely filler for the next vital
comment: "Who else did they find?"

"A few of the troops that had gone with the king and the others--a tragic
waste of such valiant lives, I'm afraid. However, I can safely say that
neither the King, Lord LaFarga, or your mother was with them."

The Water Squire breathed a clear sigh of relief. "I'm worried about my
mother," Hichan admitted, her eyes growing pained. "I'm worried about Uncle
Ferio and Uncle LaFarga, too. I'm worried about a lot of things."

"Well, there *was* no trace of the others at the site, and surely that's a
good sign, right? I mean, that obviously means that they're still alive,"
Alero noted. "And as for your other worry, we have our forces out there
looking for stray fairies that might have survived. The thought of all of
them having been wiped out at the massacre is impossible--your sister
survived, so why can't others?"

Hikaru gave Alero a cheerful smile. "Thanks, Alero. You always seem to be
able to read my mind. You're so sweet." Before he could add another
comment, Hichan said, "Well, I have to be going. The queen is holding a
banquet in honor of...." She couldn't get herself to finish the sentence.

"The Pillar? I heard she was back. I'm sorry, though; I'm going to have to
miss the party tonight; with Presea down, apparently I'll have to take up
the slack; it's the least I can do."

"You're a total dear, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." She gave
him a platonic kiss on the cheek and said, "Well, I've got to attend to
things now and prepare to snag me the guy of my dreams! Bai bai!" Waving
her hand, she strolled out of the war room, headed for her own living
quarters.

Alero gently touched the cheek that she'd kissed. Gazing at her receding
back, he whispered, "Just a friend, and I wish I could be more for you,
Hichan. But fate has a different answer for me." Turning back to the
others in the war room, he got back to the business at hand on a besieged
world.

~*~

Lantis saw the holographic note with total surprise and amazement.

*She* was back, after all these years. Hikaru was back. There was a
twinkle of joy in his eyes, and he knew that his feelings for her had never
gone away, despite his years of a mockery of a marriage to Umi. Despite
those twenty-six years of marriage and a fully adult daughter, here he was,
acting like he did in his younger days, feeling decades younger than his
actual age.

Another saw the note and caught up to him. "Uncle Lantis," Sintra asked,
brushing her hair out of her eyes for a second, "what's that?"

He turned to Sintra and saw with pride, another of the second generation of
fighters that had come to defend Cephiro. Though not having the beastmaster
skills that her father had, Sintra was another of the top-notch archers at
Cephiro Palace. Personally trained by the queen herself, she was more than
a match for Cabrio, though there was no rivalry between the two. "It's a
note from Fuu. She wants us to come back to the Palace tonight. Something
major happened."

Sintra nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to our lieutenants and let them know that
they're in charge until we get back. Hopefully those bastards won't choose
then to counterattack us. We're barely holding the city as it is." From
their point, they saw the village and farmlands of Demio, half burning and
destroyed while their forces were trying to contain the Vanden Plaz from
advancing on them. They'd lost three towns so far, including the sizable
garrison at Vauxhall, and the only thing they could claim as victory was
that they'd learned the enemy's name, finally. Why they were invading, what
had happened to Cephiro's allies, and other such questions were still
unanswered, intangible fragments of truth still unreachable by even Guru
Clef.

Lantis gave her a grim nod, seeing her father's features in her face, and
wondering what would have happened if Umi had married Ascot as they'd all
expected her to--before their mistake. ((She'd've probably been happier,))
he thought with a dark grimace, ((but there's little chance of that
happiness now.))

~*~

"Someone get her out of the kitchen," the lead chef wailed.

"But sugar, I'm just checking things out," Ukyo commented, as she wandered
around the kitchens, inspecting them as though she commanded them. "Think
of it as professional courtesy. You've never had an Earth chef like me in
your kitchens before, right?"

"No, madame, but," the chef, a chubby man with a thin why mustache moaned.
He was dressed in a tan baker's gear, and had the effect of reminding Ukyo
of a talking takoyaki ball. "But your ladyship--"

"Ukyo," she corrected. "Just Ukyo."

"--Lady Ukyo," the chef said, not missing a beat, "it's just not done. It's
not normal for the nobility to deal with us here in the kitchens."

"Nobility? Me? Hah! I'm just a normal girl from southern Japan whose main
things in life are okonomiyaki and Saotomes."

"What're those?" one of the assistant chefs asked, and was rewarded via a
harsh glare from the tubby lead chef.

Ignoring the ball of lard in the baking suit next to her, she addressed the
assistant chef. "Well, they're just the two best things in the world, in my
opinion. I can't show you one right now, but I can sure show you the
other," she said with a smile. Daintily shoving aside the lead chef, she
made a beeline for one of the bakery tables, ordering the scullery boys and
assistants to get her several ingredients and dozens of other things that
she'd need. Within minutes, she started, much to dismay of the lead chef, a
culinary revolution in Cephiran dining.

Lady Kuonji Ukyo, Companion to the Pillar, smiled happily. For the moment,
she was in her element.

~*~

Minica looked at Hichan, while sitting on a small box on the Water Squire's
desk in her rooms at the Palace. "Hikaru-nechan, maybe you should give up
this once. After all, there's other guys on this world, and he does seem to
be spoken for." The fact that the fairy used the woman's given name meant
that she was serious about what she said. "He seems to belong to that other
Hikaru."

Hichan watched herself as she brushed her hair in the mirror. "But Minica,
if you could only understand...my heart...I've never felt like this before,"
she said, her voice distant and dreamy. "It's like I woke up from a long
sleep, and his face was the light of the sun, bringing me to new
sensations." She whispered his name: "'Ranma'...it sounds just so poetic."
She looked at herself in the mirror. "I've...never really been in love
before, Minica. But I think I am, now."

Minica rolled her eyes; she knew trying to talk her older half-sister out of
being boy-crazy was just about as easy as trying to become human-sized
herself--it wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. "But that
redhead--Hikaru--she's married to the guy, it seems. And to boot, it
sounded to me like she's a friend of your mother's. In fact, if I'm
guessing right, you were named after her," Minica pointed out. "Shouldn't
that tell you something, Hichan?"

The Water Squire shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not, dear little sister,
not after such a plain woman like that. I was named after Shidou Hikaru,
the Pillar, the Fire Knight Commander and the closest friend that my mother
ever had, not that peasant girl that was with my Ranma."

"Onnesama, haven't you been listening to Aunt Fuu? That woman *is* Shidou
Hikaru--the Pillar. *She's* the one."

"You're joking, Minica. You have to be. If she were, she'd bring my mother
back. If Aunt Fuu was telling the truth about how close they were, Mama
would be with us here and now." There was a lost look of melancholy to
Hichan's eyes at the mention of her mother, and Minica saw that. Minica
fought back a wave of overpowering sadness herself. She'd managed to keep
that sorrow from her mind herself, and though her own mother was dead, at
least Umi was not...that they were aware of, at any rate. This in turn
brought another wave of sorrow: the Water Knight was as good a stepmother to
her as Primera had been a mother.

Hichan looked at Minica and rhetorically asked, "I wonder if I'll ever see
my mother again?" Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she realized what
she said. Turning to Minica, she said, "Little one, I'm so sorry." With a
gentle kindness, she scooped up her half-fairy half-sister and gave her a
hug, allowing Minica to cry tears for love ones lost, and ones on the verge
of being lost. In the end, all there was, was a pair of girls mourning the
loss of their mothers and coming up with the growing despair that all they
had left in the world was each other, and their father...and fates only knew
how long he would last?

~*~

In her room at the Palace, Nabiki lay, trying to catch a nap on the opulent
bed that she and her husband would share. ((Man, if my old friends could
only see me now. I'm nobility now, I'm a regular at a palace, and the
sister-in-law of a goddess. Ah, the good life at last,)) she added with a
self-satisfied smirk.

((Pity that it's so meaningless to me now,)) she mused, ((and that I'm not
able to get the things in life that are really important to me just yet. I
just wish I could get Tatewaki to agree on having children. I understand
his concerns that mental deficiencies do run in his family, but I think we'd
do well as parents. Kami knows I've had more than enough years of
practice.))

Another thought hit her: ((Hope it just doesn't happen here. That'd be the
last thing that we need, since my family and friends are counting on me.
I'll have to talk to Hikaru to see if she can conjure up some
contraceptives. Then again, I should probably remind her to do the same.
She and Ranma have enough kids, and between them and Hiro, I have enough
nieces and nephews!)) Checking it off on her mental list of things to watch
out for, Nabiki rolled over and closed her eyes for a much-needed nap.

~*~

Shiki went through a kata for the umpteenth time. The battle of a lifetime
had been at her fingertips, and well, she blew it. Somehow, she'd been
given the proverbial power of the gods and cut loose with more ki than she
ever had before; she didn't know why, but she wasn't exactly going to
complain about that. For a while, she remembered all the bedtime stories
she'd heard as a child, about her ancestors being able to take on whole
groups and come out of it victorious and without a scratch. That was the
plan, anyway.

However, reality decided to point out otherwise. Finally, the chance to
prove herself, and all she could muster out of all that (massive increase in
energy aside) was an adequate performance. Adequate meaning that she hadn't
defeated the enemies single-handedly and confirmed her place as the
awe-inspiring Fist of Kawagishi High. Adequate meaning that she was not a
legend amongst martial artists, the best there would ever be.

Right now, she thought, as she went through a tai chi chuan set, that title
easily belonged to Saotome-sensei and his friend. Not only did the two
completely humiliate her, but they also pulled off her family's moves with
more ease than she had ever seen. When Hibiki did the Bakusai Tenketsu,
he'd not only managed to cause the earth to shatter, he'd caused a
point-blank earthquake that destroyed everything in the confined epicenter
of his attack. He had a ki-blast attack that basically could have leveled a
few mountains, and as for hand-to-hand, he was a tower of strength that
nothing on that field was even remotely capable of touching. In short, he
was a living, moving juggernaut. Besides that, he was cute, too. ((Though
not as cute as my Michael,)) she amended.

Of course, then there was the primal force of the Art itself, that which
carried the name of Saotome Ranma. Ranma moved like the very god of
fighting, with more various moves from more martial arts than she had ever
seen in her life. In what little time she had to watch his simplistic
defeating of each wave of opponents, she caught at least fourteen different
martial arts--and at least another twenty that she had no inkling of. He
switched styles flawlessly, going from what appeared to be his native kempo
to jeet kun do to lua to savate to capioeria to shotokan to basuromu to wing
chun and a dozen more in-between. In cases of hand-to-hand, nothing could
keep up with him.

Worse, when it came to ki, he was a virtual nuclear reactor. With more
power than likely any person should have--his wife included--Ranma had a
ki-arsenal that absolutely embarrassed the weapons systems of several of
Earth's armies. From his massive (big understatement, that) ki wave he
called Moko Takabisha to the high-speed shotgun assault called the Hyakki
Yakosho, to the grand move on his list, the legendary Hiryu Shotenha...a
move that was supposedly only known to her family! Yet he stood there and
called it up, without the need for the prerequisite "kick-starting" the move
by running in circles around his opponents. Just standing there and
thrusting his fist into the sky, he created a bioenergy cyclone the size of
a real typhoon, and infinitely more dangerous. And worst of all, he was not
only powerful and majestic, but he was cute. Really cute. Almost as cute
as...well, maybe--just maybe--cuter than Michael.

Dropping back into a ready stance, she couldn't concentrate any more.
Saotome Ranma, without attempting to, had shattered every dream she'd ever
had. A week ago, she was the best martial artist in her world. Now, she
realized, she was only that in her mind, and not even that now. ((All I
have left now is my promise to avenge Mariko-chan, and I wonder how long
it'll be until that's taken away from me?)) Without realizing it, she'd
come out of her stance. Seeing what she did, she sighed; maybe it was
useless to be the best fighter she could be. But it was the only life she
knew--that and her love for Michael. ((And do I even have that? Sometimes,
I just don't know.))

"You know, you shouldn't let your guard down like that," a voice behind her
said. "You're likely to get hurt."

Shiki turned around, and her world suddenly turned into a glory of roses.
She knew that voice, and it would never leave her mind. And when she turned
around, the face that met her was pure music to her heart. "Michael?"

Michael favored her with a roguish grin. "Shiki, you're good. Probably
better than I was at your age, but you're never going to be good enough to
beat Ranma. I...was watching from a distance and it appears that he and
Ryoga are probably two of the best martial artists in the world, if not
history." ((And I have a number of scars and bruises to back that up,)) he
remembered with a twinkle in his eyes. "You don't need to be the best in
the world to be your best. And you don't have to do it to impress me." He
flashed her another smile, the kind that always seemed to melt Theresa's
heart. Perhaps in time, his would melt, too.
"Besides, you've got a couple holes in your defense."

It did; she swooned to the point that she momentarily went weak in the
knees. Straightening herself out, she slid into a ready position, trying to
hold back a blush. "Okay, where's the problem?"

Moving close to her and dropping into a position of his own, Michael relaxed
himself for a second and said, "Let's work on your defense a little. You've
got great skills in offensive, but your defensive is a bit shaky. If we can
cover that up, it will only improve your attacks." Thinking about it, he
asked, "How much time do you want to spend working on it?"

"With you? All the time in the world."

~*~

The page had led him to the farthest corner of the castle. Finally they
stopped in front of a simple door in a nondescript hallway. As they
approached the door, though, Ranma's senses began to work overtime, as
though something was cueing them. He wasn't sure why, and he didn't feel at
all threatened, but it was as though it needed to be displayed. A second
later, it was confirmed, as his ki aura burst into life around him, unbidden
and enveloping him like the benevolent halo it was. The page, absolutely
awestruck at this display of power, genuflected in front of Ranma, vowed
that he would send someone to escort him back when his business was
complete, and then proceeded to tear down the halls like lightning.

Ranma shook his head at that, wondering about the display, then smiled
wanly. "Hmm. That was odd." No further reason to hang out in the hall, he
opened the door and walked into a heavily candlelit room. Once he closed the
door, though, all the candles went out, leaving his own bioluminescence as
the sole thing that lit the room.

The figure of a person sat on a bed in front of him, in a room given light
by the blue of Ranma's aura. Azure glows chased away indigo shadows,
covering the whole of the chamber in a warm, periwinkle radiance. The man
on the bed, about the same age as his father (though in much better physical
condition), gave the martial artist a pleasant smile and said, "So you're
the one who's won our little Hikaru's heart. Seems like you have quite a
heart of your own, young man."

"What about Hikaru?" Ranma said, already on the defensive. He'd had enough
of the attacks against his wife, and he'd only been here a few hours. He
was not going to put up with any more assaults. Calling up a (what he
thought to be) small ball of ki, he warned, "Leave her alone, or you'll have
to deal with me." In truth, the energy he summoned, normally enough to be
about the size of a baseball, was in fact about the size of a medicine ball.

"Easy, Ranma. I'm not going to hurt her; she's an old friend of mine." The
man waved his hand, and the ki-sphere in Ranma's hand dissipated, following
with his aura, and the lights in the room coming on. Feeling still a bit
wary, Ranma took a good look at the man who apparently called him. He
seemed to be in his mid-forties or so, about the same age as Hikaru's friend
Fuu, and was dressed just as opulently as the queen of Cephiro. His
grayish-white, unruly mane of hair sat tousled on top of his head, framing
an aged but elfin face, which held two gleaming, violet eyes. He was
dressed in a robe of silver and green silk, and he carried a wooden staff
with a huge emerald on its crest. For some reason, he reminded Ranma of
Cologne, except this man was taller, kinder, and didn't have the old ghoul's
amazon attitude. Ranma didn't bother to ask the man how he knew his name;
likely it would have gotten around the whole of the Palace by now.

"Actually, it's spreading through the villages and cities of our world like
wildfire," the man said with a light chuckle. "Oh, yes, I can sense
thoughts to a degree, but don't worry--I never pry. I'm just a dithering
old man in the twilight of his life. Please, come in and have a seat. I
have a feeling we have a lot to discuss, you and I."

Ranma relaxed, going for the chair and wondering at that "twilight of his
life" statement; if anything, the guy looked as fit as a fiddle for someone
old enough to be in middle age. "Well, I've gotten kinda used to weird
things happening in my life, but I still don't like none of it, so excuse me
if I seemed a bit abrupt."

The man smiled. "That's okay; I can understand. I'm familiar with the
concept as well. By the way, Lord Saotome Ranma, Hero of the Battle of
Sephia, Heavenly Consort of the Pillar and Defender of the Faith,
Grandmaster of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts--" Ranma gave the
other a look of bewilderment, and the man laughed. "Sorry, as you can
guess, we Cephirans are big on titles, especially when it comes to the
Pillar...or her husband. But, I can see you're a rather plainspoken person,
and to be honest, so am I."

"So why all this?"

"You have a destiny about you Ranma, one that is perhaps even more
convoluted than that of your wife's. Besides, I've never met a person with
such a significant duality in their personality as you have. I...." The
man trailed off, before admitting, "Well, it seems that I've gotten ahead of
myself again. I seem to do that too much in my old age. I haven't properly
introduced myself. I am the Guru and mage of Cephiro, and its guide during
the world's darkest times. But you can just call me Clef."

~*~

LaFarga was slammed into the wall, painfully. With the latest round of
tortures he'd endured, they'd gone beyond the realm of needlessness and into
total, unnecessary insanity. As they left and shut the prison door behind
him, the swordsmaster forced himself to stand, though it was only long
enough to move to the farthest corner of the cell, where he could try to
rest and call up what flagging reserves of stamina he had left. He'd been
put through the worst torture imaginable, and he wasn't sure how much more
he was going to be able to take.

During a talk once, Fuu had told him of a religious concept from her home
planet, a dimension of torture and pain and unrelenting, unyielding evils
and horror. The place was called Hell. From what little he gathered, these
people, these Vanden Plaz with their unusual clothing and the reverence they
placed in their symbols and power, were also from Earth. Did they too, know
of this Hell?

Were they trying to cause it? They were certainly succeeding in this case;
drilling into his head that there was nothing he could do to protect his
friends. He hadn't seen Ferio in days, and was wondering what sort of hell
they were putting him through. One of the guards had mentioned that Ferio
was being tortured through some sort of symbiotic spell, one that LaFarga
couldn't even imagine what was going on.

He couldn't have imagined either, what was happening to Umi and what little
humanity in her was left. From the last time he'd seen her, it looked as
though she was dying, as they were using her for nothing more than a
plaything for everyone. The destroyed person that had been wearing nothing
but shackles, forced to commit acts of unspeakable filth for their
entertainment--despite all that had happened, LaFarga was able to build a
rage in himself as he thought of his friend. To think that the final fate
of a woman who once saved the planet from destruction was nothing more than
a mere source of sick play for them was upsetting to say the least.

Sadly, though, they were at least in better shape than Cabrio had been.
After they killed the poor man, they used him for target practice for
spells, arrows, what have you. The remainder they intended to dump in some
spot where it would be easy for Cephiro's army to find. His heart grieved
for a noble warrior who fought to save Umi from further desecration and was
simply squashed as one would an insect. He only hoped that the others would
be there for Presea when she was given the news.

((Then again, how much longer until the rest of us end up that way? Will I
never get to see my wife and child again?)) He remembered that Caldina had
wanted a second child, and they'd talked about it; would this travesty
prevent them all from ever having happiness again? In the end, LaFarga
found a cruel irony: the last two times when the world was in crisis, it had
been easier to fight the evil. Now, while the planet wasn't physically in
danger, everything else was, and they had no defense against it.

~*~

"Altra," a voice said behind the young princess as she walked through one of
the grand halls, "aren't you going to say hi to your older brother?"

"Marino! Carina! You're back! I missed you!" The smallest member of the
royal household took off like a rocket before wrapping herself around her
older brother's leg. "I was so worried!"

Marino bent down and hugged his younger sister back. "I toldja I'd come
back, didn't I, squirt?" The crown prince of Cephiro favored the princess
with a smile, before looking back to his counterpart and saying, "See? At
least someone's glad to see me here." The prince was very much his father's
son, with little of Fuu in him. With the same physical features and build
as Ferio, the only sign of his mother in him was the blonde hair (with a
shock of green due to style), and the biting intelligence in his soft brown
eyes.

For that he received a kiss from his partner. "You're just upset because
Hichan isn't here to tell you to go bugger off." A musical laugh came from
the lips of Carina, the daughter of LaFarga and Caldina. Dark skinned and
with hazel eyes and her mother's rose hair, the swordsmaster was nearly as
formidable as her father was when it came to fighting. Furthermore, she
also had some of her mother's skill for illusions, not to mention the very
real voluptuousness that Caldina had taught her daughter. She preferred to
dress in armor similar to her father's, which by no means meant that she
wasn't capable of the same sexiness of her mother.

Altra went over and hugged Carina in turn. "I missed you too," meaning
every word of it. With the exception of the rather imperious Hichan and her
partner-in-crime Minica, all of the second generation of Cephiro's nobility
was quite close to each other. In fact, the fact they weren't there was an
indicator of how bad the situation was.

"So, where's mother?" Marino inquired.

"She's with Aunt Kuu and the Pillar," the girl supplied. "Aunt Kuu's the
best! She's sa'posed to be older than mother, but she's actually younger!
And the Pillar...she's really pretty and nice, and she's so friendly! I got
to sit on her lap and she said she wants to take me home with her to Earth
some weekend. Marino, where's Earth? Is it over on the other side of the
Edsel hills?"

"It's a little farther than that, Altra," Marino commented. He was
interrupted by the shattering sound of crystal hitting the floor over by the
statue of his deceased aunt, Emeraude. Looking up, he noted the wobbly
chandeliers, with yet another of the crystal shards missing. "I thought the
house staff fixed that already."

Carina shrugged. "I'll have a talk with the chamberlain and see what we can
do about it, dear. Hey, here comes your mother now. Hello, Aunt Fuu."

The queen strolled in alongside Kuu and Hikaru. Marino went up and hugged
his mother, commenting, "Hello, mother. As you can see, Carina and I are
still in one piece."

"I can tell," Fuu said, the edge of relief in her voice. "With your father
still...you know...we need to be safe more than ever. And soon the fighting
will begin, in earnest."

"I thought the fighting was already happening in earnest, Aunt Fuu," Carina
commented, surprised by her words. "And for that matter, who are the people
behind you?"

Gesturing in turn, she commented, "Well, the one on my left is my
older--yes, older--sister, Kuu. The one on my right is my best friend,
Shidou, er, *Saotome* Hikaru--better known to you two as the Pillar." The
two gasped, caught between welcoming another of them into their midst, and
the need to genuflect before the universe's Holiest of Holies. Not quite
stifling a grin, Fuu added, "Relax, you two. Hikaru-chan's a very down to
Earth goddess."

Sensing her cue, Kuu went up and hugged her nephew for the first time,
noting that he didn't look much younger than she did. "Wow, Fuu, you were
right--he is cute." Seeing him blush, she turned to Carina and said, "Take
care of him. You two look great together." Kuu gave both an appraising
look, that of a master matchmaker, and found the match to be ideal. "In
fact, make sure I get invited to the wedding." Both of them blushed this
time, and a vindicated Kuu looked at
Fuu. "Yup, they're great for each other."

"Yes, your ladyship," both answered.

Fuu was about to introduce them next to the pillar, when the royal pet,
Kaze, walked into the room. Looking at it, Hikaru noted that it was the
same sort of animal that she'd named as "Hikari" here in this world. She
just hoped it wasn't possessed by a demon, either. Altra picked the pet up,
hugging it to herself and giggling as the small critter licked her nose.

There was the sound of shattering, and Altra screamed. The adults turned,
almost frozen in time to their spots as the faulty chandelier fell, headed
on a collision course for the young princess. None of them was going to be
able to react in time, save for Fuu, who was so stunned, she began to race
towards her child with the sick fear that she wouldn't make it in time.

Altra froze, unable to move at the sight of the sizable structure that was
about to crash down on her. Depending on which angle it hit, she would
either be crushed to death, or suffer multiple fatal stab wounds as the
crystal slivers bored through her body.

There was a flash of green, and suddenly the object was stopped, a mere
couple of feet from the frightened, shivering child. Fuu raced in, moved
her daughter out of the way, and the glass missile continued its path to the
floor, slamming against it with the sound of a thousand shards exploding, as
the queen and princess slid to relative safety. However, when she turned to
face everyone to tell them Altra was safe, she found herself merely staring
in surprise.

As did the others.

Holding her hand out in a silent plea to save her niece, Kuu was glowing
with the same verdant wind energy as Fuu usually manifested. Slowly
withdrawing her hand, she shook uncontrollably, not believing as to what she
just did. Kuu stared at her hand, and whispered a confused "Nani?" before
passing out, thankfully caught by Marino before she could hit the ground.

Fuu, finally managing to calm Altra down, half-whispered to Hikaru, "Did
you...?"

"Not in the least," Hikaru replied, seeming just as surprised. "I would
never force any abilities on anyone, you know that." Fuu never answered, as
she was too busy holding her daughter and absolutely grateful that she was
still alive. Not wishing to disturb the mother and child, she took Kuu and
with the help of Carina, left Fuu and her children alone.

"Um, Your Holiness," Carina began in a very polite tone, not sure how to
address the redhead.

"Just 'Hikaru' will be fine. I'm not a very formal person," Hikaru
answered, giving her a smile.

"Um, okay. Well, then, um, please don't take this as an insult, Your
Hol...um, Hikaru, but why are you all so different than what we've been
told?" The girl seemed to have a confused look on her face. "Granted, it's
a pleasant surprise, but none of you seem to be how you were described."

"Wish I had an answer for you, but I don't," Hikaru admitted. Looking down
at her friend, she had to admit that this was by no means expected. ((Kuu,
was this my fault? First Ranma and the others, and now you? Am I doing
this?)) Though she kept it to herself, the worry that she might
unintentionally be behind this worried her very much. ((These people are my
family and friends, not my own band of apostles, contrary to what the
scribes here say. What am I doing to them?)) Her mind wandered down the
dark path before a second thought came to mind, one even less pleasing:

((Emeraude, did you ever have these problems once? And was it this sort of
thing that made you come up with the decision that eventually killed you?))
Hikaru fought off a wave of concern; was she and Ranma doomed to the same
fate as Emeraude and Zagato? Would that be the fate of any Pillar who dared
fall in love?

Hikaru turned and looked at the statue of her predecessor, the woman she
killed to save this world. ((I'm a goddess right now. But I'd give it all
up right now to just be at home with all my loved ones.))

~*~

*"AAAARGHHHH! Where am I this time?!?!?!"* Ryoga cursed his luck. Here he
was, in a magic place, and he couldn't even summon up some sort of magic to
keep himself from getting lost. The party for them was in two hours, and at
this rate, he could end up being lost for days on end.

Turning yet another unfamiliar corner that he was sure was the right way, he
was rewarded with yet another dead end. He wanted to punch through the
walls, but held himself in check; that wasn't exactly a brilliant thing to
do. For a few moments he wished his wife were here; he always seemed to be
able to navigate normally when in Akari's presence. But unfortunately, she
wasn't, and so he was here. He only hoped that wherever she was, that she
was okay. ((Then again, her friend Kagome's with her, so she'll be fine.))

Turning yet another corner, he ran into a pair of people chatting along
about something in a language that seemed unusually familiar to him. "Yes,
can I help you?" There was a pause before some sort of recognition. "Hey,
you're one of the Pillar's Holy Apostles, aren't you?"

"Well, I haven't heard it put that way," Ryoga replied with a laugh and
scratching his head. "Well, sorry to be a bother, but I seem to have gotten
lost."

"Well," the man said, "my friend and I are pretty much done with our
conversation, so I'll be more than happy to escort you back to wherever
you'd like to go."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." As the three split apart and Ryoga followed his
escort to the living section of the palace, Ryoga wondered about the dialect
that the two had been speaking. It had sounded like German (he'd picked up
some in his unintentional globetrotting), but he could have been wrong.
After all, it's not like he'd been here before, so he had no idea of the
languages of this universe were. ((Besides, this whole place looks like
something out of Bavaria, anyway.))

~*~

"Your Highness?" The chamberlain was knocking at Fuu's door.

"Come in," Fuu answered, as she put the cape on her Wind Knight gear. Queen
though she may be, and Hikaru had decided that it might be best to boost the
morale of the party attendants by being dressed as Magic Knights and not as
queen and Pillar--besides, she knew Hikaru never liked the robes of the
Pillar, as they reminded her too much of Emeraude.

"Your Highness, I hate to take away from your planned attendance at the
party tonight, but I just got word from Lieutenant Alero, and he requests
your presence in the war room, since General Presea is unable to attend."

Fuu sighed. ((Please don't tell me more bad news. I don't think I could
stomach it right now.)) "Is it that bad?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. Alero reports that the ARK CEPHIRO has completed their
scouting missions to Fahren and Chizetam." The chamberlain paused, unable
to say another word. But Fuu looked into his eyes, and noted something
she'd never seen in her longtime servant: unyielding fear.

"What happened?" she asked, really sure she was afraid for the answer.
Tatra, Tarta, Asuka, Sanyun and the rest--was there a reason why they hadn't
answered? They were good friends, and Fuu had never thought that they would
abandon Cephiro in its time of need; something had to be wrong--it was the
only answer. A second later, as the chamberlain discreetly whispered why in
her ear, the queen mumbled a "Tell Alero I'll be down there in five
minutes." As he left, she unleashed a windstrike on her vanity mirror,
shattering it into a million shards. The shards fluttered in the mystical
breeze like so many innocents being cast about by the great tides of war.

"Damn," she sobbed, as tears ran down her cheeks.

~*~

"Wow," a glittery-eyed Shiki told Michael. "This is so very beautiful. And
you're definitely a hunk."

"Thanks," Michael commented, looking well in his tuxedo. "And you are
definitely cute." At that phrase, she swooned, and Michael knew that he was
going to have one particular girl clamped on his arm for the night. ((So
much for peace of mind,)) he thought half-jokingly.

Over where she stood, Hikaru wasn't feeling too good about this party.
((It's just like last time. I just hope it doesn't end the same way.))
Since the party was formal, Hikaru had taken the time to supply everyone
with formal clothing. With the exception of Nabiki (who chose to wear a
western-style gown) and Hikaru herself (who reluctantly slipped into the
Fire Knight armor once more), the women were wearing nothing but the most
formal of kimonos. Likewise, most of the men had opted for the same, save
for Michael, who wore a tux; and Ranma, who opted for the most formal tang
set Hikaru could create.

But all she could remember was the same layout as the last time she was
here. The only difference was that fewer people were willing to approach
the Pillar (something that unlike last time, she could live with a little
more), and that she'd hovered near Ranma all night. She trusted her husband
totally. That other Hikaru, however.... ((Just like Umi,)) Hikaru feared.
((Just like her mother...and that scares me more than anything else.))

"Something wrong, love?" Ranma asked. He'd seen something in her eyes all
night, and it wasn't just like Hikaru to act like his second shadow.

"Please don't leave me," she said, in a plea that had two sorts of meanings
for her. Realizing what she'd said, she added a hasty excuse of, "I really
didn't want to come to this, but Fuu-chan spent all this time setting it up,
and I couldn't say no. I'd appreciate not being left alone right now."
Unconsciously, she found herself holding onto Ranma's arm for dear life.

Ranma looked into his wife's eyes, and saw the fear that he held in them.
While she'd never told him the events of what had happened at the party so
long ago, Kuu had, and he knew the real meaning behind her words. Giving
her the sloppy grin that she'd always love about him, his words said it all:
"I'll never leave you, Hikaru. No matter what, there's not enough stuff in
this or any universe to keep me away from you." He bent down and kissed her
on the forehead. "Everything'll be alright, gorgeous. I promise."

She drew strength from that. "Thank you, anata. Even a goddess needs to be
loved sometimes," she said, cryptically.

In another part of the ballroom, a group of beautiful females were watching
the two pigtailed martial artists, feeling a sort of guilty envy for the
Pillar and an absolute dreaminess for the strong, devilishly handsome man at
her side. Several of the women were completely drooling over him...or were,
until Hichan announced that Saotome Ranma was hers, and no one else's.

Sintra arched a brow at her friend. "Oh really, Hichan? Well, I see a
couple of problems with that."

"Problems? Ha, right! One good look at me in this Fahrenjin evening gown,
and he'll be mine." The soft aqua pseudo-Chinese dress that Hichan wore was
reminiscent of the waves in the ocean. It was also fairly revealing,
something that no other noblewoman save the brash and forward Ryuuzaki
Hikaru would wear. Sitting on her shoulder, Minica was wearing the same
thing, but the fairy seemed to be slightly embarrassed.

"Well, one is the fact that, if I recall, he's the Pillar's husband," Sintra
pointed out.

"And they seem to be happy together," Minica added.

"A mere triviality. I seem to recall hearing that Little Miss Hotspot over
there was dating my father at one time and lost him simply because my mother
was a better find." A lie, and she knew that; it was no secret that Umi and
Lantis' marriage was nothing more than one of convenience, but she also knew
Sintra wouldn't challenge her on that. ((Neither mother nor father really
talked about that woman, even though I'm named after her. Was she that bad
to them?)) Something dawned on the Water Squire as she watched the redhead,
and she silently vowed, ((If my parents' trashed marriage is because of you,
Pillar, then you will pay for that.)) "And the other?"

"Because *I* think he's cute, Hichan, and he just might be the right guy for
me." Sintra, having borrowed her mother's white, revealing gown, smiled at
her friend's frustration. "After all, if you think you can have him, then
it's a sure thing that I know I can. In fact, I think I will."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Sintra," Minica moaned. Just because she
was small, she was being ignored. Was *anyone* planning to listen to her?

"Don't you dare, Sintra!" Hichan replied. "He's mine, I tell you!" Both
women slowly began to dvance on the Saotomes, followed in tow by the rest of
the young noblewomen.

Not too far away from the throng, three people standing next to each other,
at the same time, instinctively chose the same words to say: "Oh, shit--here
we go again." The collective look on the faces of Ryoga, Ukyo, and Nabiki
revealed that this was something they were painfully familiar with.

"I don't believe this," Ryoga moaned. "How the hell does he do it? Look at
all those girls *staring* at him, and he's not even aware of it! At least
Hikaru's more aware of how things really stand."

Ukyo nodded agreement. "You mean at least Ranma's head won't get caved in
as much. I wonder if we should intrude?"

It was Nabiki who answered that. "For the most part, no. Ranma's going to
have to learn how to handle things on his own. However," the brunette
replied as her eyes narrowed in anger, "I don't trust that other Hikaru at
all. If she starts messing with *our* Hikaru, there's gonna be hell to pay,
and I'll be the one handling the bills."

Oblivious to all of this, the Saotomes were dancing, and trying to have the
time of their lives, basking in the moment. Hikaru was finally able to
reach some semblance of relaxation when a voice behind her said, "May I have
this dance?" The voice was frightening familiar, and Hikaru gasped in
shock, her blood turning into ice and her whole body shaking. She turned
around, barely in control of herself, ready to face the man that she once
loved, a lifetime ago.

"Hikaru," Lantis said with a barely controlled joy in his voice. "I was
told you had returned, and hadn't aged a day." Hikaru looked at him and
found very little difference in him, despite the years. Though his hair had
gone salt-and-pepper, and he'd grown a thick mustache, everything else about
his was the same from his black armor to the rougish cape he wore about the
shoulders. There wasn't even a ring on his finger, the symbol of marriage
between him and Umi. "It's been a long time, Hikaru. Too long."

((And are they married?)) Hikaru wondered. ((Fuu didn't mention anything
about Umi at all. I wonder....)) "Y-yes, yes it has," she said, an
uncertain feeling building within her. Was it her love for him, coming back
to the surface after being buried after so long? Ranma wouldn't be jealous
of that; she accepted his love of Akane, and knew he could do the same in
this circumstance. But that didn't turn out to be the emotion she fully
revealed to herself a split-second later. She tasted the feeling, trying to
probe its depths, and found a feeling that she was rarely ever accustomed
to: anger. Anger and betrayal. She was shivering from anger. And in that
moment of realization, it burst forth like an inferno.

"Yes, it has," she reiterated. "And I'd like to keep it that way,
swordsman. Good evening to you." Hikaru turned back to Ranma, only to find
Lantis had placed his hand on her shoulder, saying something that she didn't
comprehend. She wasn't wanting to, a part of her realized. She would never
forgive him, she knew that now. She only said one phrase to him, her words
tinged with the burning fire of smoldering rage: "Let go of me, Lantis.
There is nothing to say, and nothing I want to hear from you."

"Hikaru, I just want to--" Lantis found his arm hastily moved from its spot
on her shoulder, and Lantis looked at who did it with anger. "That, my
friend, is a mistake."

"The lady said lay off, pal. You should learn to listen." The speaker was
a young man, about Hikaru's age, and with a similar hairstyle. He was
dressed in an indigo suit with a gold dragon on it that looked reminiscent
of formal attire in the Fahrenjin court. A recently arrived courier from
that world, pledging aid to Cephiro in its time of need? He wasn't aware if
the other two worlds were in the same condition that Cephiro was, since
nothing had been heard from them since the beginning of the war. "So keep
your paws off the lady."

"Fool," Lantis snarled. Who did this guy think he was, to treat Cephiran
nobility like that? He expected that Hikaru might be angry with him, but to
have some upstart come in and play hero was just beyond the pale. "Who do
you think you are to tell me what I can and cannot do with Her Holiness the
Pillar?" Lantis wondered if he might have chosen a wrong turn of phrase in
that last set of words, as it might set the guy off. Not that it mattered,
but the last thing that should be happening in a place like this would be to
cause a scene.

Needless to say, it happened.

Eyes glistening with anger, the man snarled, "I'm Saotome Ranma, Grand
Master of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, and her *husband*. So if Hikaru says
lay off, you'd best lay off, 'cause if you lay one more hand on her, I'll
put your sorry ass in a pine box, d'ya hear me?" Ranma made a fist in
warning, and the room filled with a massive cerulean hue as his ki-halo
brightened into existence around him.

"I don't care *who* you are," Lantis said, not quite sure if he heard the
man correctly. ((Hikaru, married?)) "Get your hands off me or I will cut
it off." Lantis reached for his energy sword's handle with the other hand,
and things looked like it was going to get messy, real quick.

And just as things were getting bad enough, it got worse.

"Ranma, darling!" Hichan put her arms around him and said, "It's so nice of
you to talk to my father, but he'd really like to talk to the redhead bimbo
right now, so come with me and I'll keep you busy." Nodding to Sintra, she
whispered, "Help me get him out of here, and we can fight about him later."
Both girls grabbed Ranma and began to pull him away, despite his protests.
Finally, she called out to Lantis, "Enjoy your conversation, Papa. Sintra
and I are going to have a chat with this wonderful man here."

"Man," Ryoga said, "that girl could've given Kodachi pointers in crassness."
Ukyo suppressed the urge to bash him for that remark.

"Ranma," Kuno seethed from where he stood. "I've learned that after all
these years you were not to blame for your problems, but would it kill you
to stand up for yourself?" The flute of wine he held in his hand shattered
into tiny shards, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed Nabiki and
Ukyo with angry looks, directed at the women who were dragging off Ranma.

Apparently that was a harbinger of what was to come, because at the same
time Kuno said this, Ranma got back to his feet, and unintentionally became
the dragger vice the dragged as he stormed right back to where he was. He'd
promised Hikaru she'd be safe, and old flame or not, Cephiran noble or not,
Ranma trusted this guy far less than he could have thrown him.

"Back for more, knave?" Lantis answered coldly, while giving Hikaru a look
of confusion as if to say, 'you married this guy instead of me?'

"Anytime you're ready, meatball!" Ranma snarled, ignoring the two women
tugging on his arms as hard as they could, not for matters of just personal
pleasure, but one of self-preservation: if they didn't get Ranma out of
there, there would be a fight between the two men, and given the power
levels involved, well, Cephiro really needed its main stronghold still
intact....

Hichan cooed once more, a little more urgently. "Ranma darling, c'mon.
Let's get back to my chambers and get nice and comfortable and Sintra and I
can keep you company while Papa and the redhead ditz talk things over."

"Who are you calling a ditz, you tramp?" Finally, Hikaru had enough.
Storming away from Lantis, she flickered as she walked towards the two
women, her clothing changing from the Fire Knight's armor to that of her
tang and jeans, an ironic way of stating she meant business. Hikaru noted
that everything had stopped and that the whole group was now making a scene,
but to hell with it--she wasn't about to let anyone take off with her
husband, and she was by no means ever going to let history repeat itself.
((I'll be damned if I ever let another Ryuuzaki woman try to take my guy
away from me!!!!)) *"Let. Him. Go,"* she roared quietly, her tones
weightier than whole worlds.

Hichan's answer was to continue her attempt to drag Ranma off, despite it
not having an effect. Ranma was so fixated on what Lantis was trying to do
to Hikaru, he'd hardly noted the actions of the other two.

"And if I refuse?" the Water Squire challenged the Pillar, letting go of
Ranma and going toe-to-toe with the slightly smaller woman.

Minica, getting a full view of the angry redhead, whispered in her sister's
ear: "Um, onnesama, I really don't think this is a good idea...." Of
course, she was pointedly ignored. "Okay, no one listen to me," she said
aloud, flying off Hichan's shoulder for somewhere more safe, like Sintra's
shoulder.

"You know, you should listen to her," Hikaru commented coolly, deciding that
any attempt to reason with this girl was not going to work. Hikaru tried to
remember the last time she tried to reason with someone and it didn't really
work with Fuitamu Keiei either, so what good was it going to do here?
"She's trying to prevent you from getting hurt." Lantis looked at Hikaru,
surprised at her implied threat. Ranma finally took stock of what was going
on with his wife and realized that there was more afoot than just the
forty-something would-be Romeo, here.

*"You think you can hurt me? You couldn't do anything like that at all, you
worthless piece of refuse! You call yourself the Pillar, our 'goddess'!
Let me tell you what I think of you!"* Hichan's eyes flashed a barely
controllable rage, all of it directed at the goddess through her hating,
screeching words. *"YOU, SHIDOU HIKARU, ARE NOTHING BUT A FRAUD AND A SCAM,
AND NOT WORTHY TO BE THE QUEEN OF SLUTS, MUCH LESS THE PILLAR OF THE
UNIVERSE!!!! TO THINK I WAS NAMED AFTER YOU--IF MY MOTHER ONLY KNEW WHAT A
SNIVELING, USELESS PERSON YOU REALLY WERE, SHE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT BETTER OF
IT!!!! ALL OF THIS WE'RE SUFFERING THROUGH IS YOUR FAULT!!!! WE'RE BEING
SLAUGHTERED BY A WAR, OUR ALLIED PLANETS HAVEN'T BEEN HEARD FROM MONTHS, AND
WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THEY'VE SUFFERED OUR FATE!!!! MY MOTHER AND MY UNCLES
ARE PRISONERS OF WAR BECAUSE THEY WERE CAPTURED BY THE ENEMIES THAT YOU'RE
SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US FROM!!!! MY
MOTHER MAY BE DEAD, AND ALL YOU CAN DO IS COME HERE AND WALTZ IN AND TELL US
EVERYTHING WILL BE ALL RIGHT?!?!?!? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THEY INVADED FOUR
MONTHS AGO?!?!? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE PEOPLE OF FAHREN AND CHIZETAM
PROBABLY CALLED OUT FOR YOUR HELP?!?!?!? YOU'RE A WORTHLESS FAKE, YOUR
SO-CALLED HOLINESS, AND I WILL PROVE THAT TO YOU BY DOING EVERYTHING IN MY
POWER TO BRING YOU DOWN A COUPLE OF PEGS, STARTING WITH TAKING YOUR HUSBAND
FROM YOU!!!!!"*

*"You'll do it over my dead body,"* Hikaru seethed, and knowing that it
wasn't going to take much to set her off.

"Watch your tongue, wretch. It just might come to that!" With that, to the
surprise of everyone, Hichan slapped Hikaru across the face as hard as she
could, a blow strong enough to drop her to the floor.

Hikaru got on her knees for a second, shaking visibly. She then looked at
Hichan, and in that gaze, all bets were off. "*That* was a mistake.
*KACCHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!!!!!*" To the absolute surprise of everyone,
Hikaru cut loose with a burst of 418 punches, dropping the Water Squire
before she could even react. Turning to Sintra, she snarled, "I don't have
a problem with you...yet. Let go of my husband." Helping Ranma off the
floor, she finally turned to Lantis and said in a thick voice, "That was a
warning. For both of you. I'm no longer the sweet, naïve and stupid girl
you knew." There was a puff of flame, and when it cleared, both Hikaru and
Ranma were gone.

Fuu had just arrived at the end of the battle to see Hikaru's brimstone
teleportation and the unconscious, bleeding Hichan on the floor, her shocked
father leaning over her. "What the hell just happened?" she asked.

"The Pillar," one of the minor nobles answered. "Apparently her ladyship
Hikaru and Her Holiness Hikaru don't really seem to get along."

"Oh just great," Fuu said mournfully. "And I thought I was going to be the
one to be the party-wrecker." Raising her voice, she called out to the
assembly, "I'm sorry all of you, but the news I'm about to give you isn't
good. To be honest, I didn't want to tell you all, but we're at war, and
frankly, the people need to learn the truth about what's happening. In
fact, after I'm done, I suggest you ride off to your respective villages and
inform your people.

~*~

There was a flash of light, and when it was gone, Ranma stood in a room even
larger than the grand ballroom of the palace. With Hikaru still holding
him, he looked around and the cavernous chamber around him. The whole of
the place seemed to be made up of a rosy hued rock, and glowed with a warm
light, a place meant to comfort and give strength to its inhabitants.

Hikaru, in the meanwhile, turned and glomped her husband. "I-I'm sorry,
Ranma. I made a fool of myself at our party. I-I-I...I just lost control
of myself. I couldn't let her take you from me. You're my life, anata, one
of the things that gives me a reason to live." She began crying into his
shirt, hoping that the tears wouldn't trigger his curse--that was the last
thing she would need right now.

Ranma took her face in his hands and turned her head gently to face his.
"Was that what you were worried about?" he asked, and was answered with a
silent, tearful nod. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't have worried. Kuu told me
about what happened to you and that jerk Lantis back then. It's not the
same."

Hikaru looked up at him, completely unsure of what to say. "It's not?"

"No, not at all, Hikaru. Nothing, not those idiots, not Lantis, not even
that Hikaru girl and her friends, are going to keep me away from you. We're
married for a reason, you know." He bent down and gave her a gentle but
loving kiss, one that had embodied the truest form of love since time
began...in any universe.

She leaned into his chest again when they stopped, uttering a sigh of relief
and contentment. "I love you, Saotome Ranma."

He chuckled warmly. "And I love you, Saotome Hikaru--and don't you forget
that." The pair held each other for what seemed like the better part of
forever, one simple moment encased in its own eternity. "I'll always love
you, Hikaru, and I'll always be here for you." Now that the personal crisis
was over with, he looked around. "So, where are we?"

"Well, I gave my old Fire Knight suites to Nabiki and Tatewaki so they could
have a place comfortable enough, though I had to rearrange the place to get
rid of my old stuff and install something more to Nabiki's liking--your
sister's picky at interior decorating, you know. So, since I decided that
I'd rather not live at the palace, I chose for us to live here." Letting go
of him, she gestured with her arms, "This is the Cave of the Fire Mashin,
where my Mashin resided."

"Still can't believe you were a mecha pilot in addition to everything else,"
Ranma commented, "though it does explain your _Evangelion_, _Macross_, and
_Gundam_ fascination."

"Hush, you," she teased. "Anyway, when Mokona took the three Mashins to
wherever they went, we were left with nothing but the caves, though they're
on three different areas of the planet; in fact, we're probably about a few
thousand kilometers away from the palace right now. Since they no longer
were needed for their original use, Fuu decided to do something with them.
The Cave of the Air Mashin, located on the largest of the air islands, is
now a military base for the GTOs and the ARK CEHPIRO, apparently. The Cave
of the Water Mashin is now a summer palace for the personal use of the Magic
Knights' families only. As for my cave, it was deemed the Shrine of the
Pillar and was left alone for my personal disposition."

"So, we're going to live here while we're, um, visiting?" Ranma inquired,
looking around at the barren chamber.

Hikaru caught his look and gave him a smile. "Silly." Walking behind him
then standing on tiptoes, she reached up and covered his eyes. "I didn't
think we were going to live in a place this empty." She uncovered them a
second later...

...and Ranma found himself standing in the center of a massive palace.
Looking around at the furniture, wall scrolls and paintings, and various
other designs of the room they were standing in reminded him a lot of the
Teien Museum in Meguro, a favorite place of Hikaru's and a one-time imperial
summer palace. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, it was one of Japan's best
examples of modern art as well as a place that Hikaru privately always
wanted to design her own home like. "Hey, isn't this the Teien's design?"

Explaining her choice, Hikaru said, "Well, you know how much I liked the
décor of the Teien, anata, and I didn't think you'd mind. Besides, I didn't
want to make it look like home. I miss the children already."

Ranma nodded his agreement. "We'll see them again, sweetheart. We'll be
done with this soon, and it'll be back to home and our normal lives."

"I hope so. This Supreme Being job gets old really quick," Hikaru yawned,
stretching. "Well, it's late and I want to get to bed. We'll need our rest
if we're going to start preparing for war tomorrow."

"Um, sweetheart, it's only early evening. Don't you think it's a bit too
early to--mfph!" His words were cut off when Hikaru pulled him down and
laid a sensual, powerful kiss on him,

"I said I want to go to bed," she said in as husky and breathy a voice as
she could. "I don't recall mentioning sleep." Arching her brow, she knew
what Ranma was going to say and cut it off with a "Tofu said to hold off
only until I'm well enough. I think I'm well enough now, don't you?"
Further debate was silenced with another kiss.

"Um, right." Ranma picked up his wife and asked, "The bedroom?"

"Second floor, last door on the right." She ran a finger along his strong
jaw, thinking to herself, ((Hey, if I'm a goddess, I'm allowed to have
myself a little slice of paradise, right?))

~*~

By the next morning, the pair had been quite busy. Also, as a result of
Hikaru's tie to the world, several tens of thousands of other couples were
also busy, and by the morning, though no one would know it, the potential
population of Cephiro would rise by twenty percent.

One of those who had been busy had been Daimler...but he'd been busy in
other means. While most of his troops had taken a day of relaxation
yesterday, he'd met in private meeting with most of his military staff.
Chief on the agenda was the Pillar, and the clear threat that she now posed
to their victory.

"Damn," Daimler said, punching the table. "And you said there was no way to
capture the Pillar, Berlina?"

"No sir," she answered, her head cast in shame. "Whatever she brought with
her was far more powerful than I'd ever seen. A fighter that would have
made a fine ally or a deadly enemy...and I suspect, the latter will be the
case." Looking back at Daimler, she said, "I wonder if the trip into this
dimension has been a worthy endeavor."

"Of course it has," Trabant answered. "We've found a treasure mine of
technology on the abandoned world they call Autozam, and our surprise
attacks on Chizetam and Fahren have left us with two more worlds under our
grasp. It is a terrible shame that the two leaders of Chizetam died, but
apparently they don't have the...endurance...that the Lady Umi seems to."
The man gave a sharp bark of laughter, and added, "A pity that Empress Asuka
and her husband have gone into hiding. If we had them, we could outright
control that planet."

"We'll find them." Targa's sibilant voice, from his seat, brought to mind
the concept of a snake talking before striking. "And I assure you, they
will not live long."

"Unless the Pillar and her group finds them first," Berlina remarked.

"They're your people, eh, Botan," Passat said while addressing her by her
real name, his face a picture of insult. "After all, you would know them
best, being one of them, am I not correct?"

"They are of a different time. They are foreign to me." Berlina gave her
counterparts a grim look, and changed the subject to one that she'd had on
her mind the past few days. "Do you really believe that we can use this
army to retake Earth?"

"We must," Daimler said, holding up a book--the same book that Citroen had
taken when she'd followed the Pillar so many months back. She'd brought it
back on her death, and to them, it revealed the fate of the future--a future
only they could change. "Our people are counting on it. As you can guess,
this book brought back from Earth tells that we've lost the war, and that
our leaders and way of life were destroyed. As the leader here, I believe
that we must carry on the work of our predecessors, so that we may someday
be powerful enough to return to Earth and take over again. All of you are
dismissed. I need some time to think of our next step."

Heading back to his private spaces, he thought about his halcyon days as a
simple junior officer in his homeland's army before his commanders chose him
to lead up their secret project: Vanden Plaz. Obsessed with the mystic, the
leader wanted to send a military force through time and space, in order to
find any magical artifact that would give him an edge in his war of
domination. Choosing a group of elite soldiers and an officer from their
allied nations, the force was sent through a conquered mystic area known as
the Portal of Ages. Somehow, one of those versed in ancient lore managed to
hit upon a spell that opened the gateway, and the Vanden Plaz force was
expelled into the realms beyond. He remembered that feeling when they first
transported to Autozam. It hadn't been pleasant.

Finally in his own room, he opened the Japanese-language history book,
comparing the notes that "Berlina" had transcribed into his native tongue.
The Portal of Ages had been destroyed by something known only as "Emeraude".
Nothing was known about the force that destroyed it, other than the fact
that it had seemed to be a woman who apparently was of the fey. She glowed
with an ambient green hue, and there was a sinister, hateful look in her
eyes. History on Earth wrote that off as nothing but legend, placing it
alongside such other insubstantial myths. The only reason this was
mentioned even in such a book as this was because this was from the folklore
of the time..

Emeraude. There was something about that name, something that seemed to
gnaw at his very bones. From the reports of the incident in Belgium, this
Emeraude being must be very powerful. Could that same power be what fueled
the Pillar? And if not, could that Emeraude power be used for the purposes
of the Vanden Plaz?

Daimler smiled. It would be so, if he could find a way, and he would use
that power to shape the world in his ideals...the ideals he'd been weaned on
since childhood. Cephiro would be made pure...

...or it would be destroyed in a cleansing fire.

NEXT:
Part Seven: Commencement of War

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

As you can see, the chapter's sort of longer than usual, and that's going to
be the norm. I realize this slows down release time immensely, but hey, the
more _Duet_ the merrier, right? ^_~

Yes, the enemy is becoming clearer, and I imagine there will be plenty of
complaints about who they are and why they are on Cephiro, once fully
revealed. The truth is, there is no clear answer, and in fact, things are
getting murkier. Just remember that in every work of fiction, there must be
heroes and there must be villains. The line between black and white has
been drawn. Let the war begin.

Well, that's all for now. I promise I'll try to get the next chapter out a
little faster. And thanks to all who gave C&C on this long awaited part.
It helped.
- Libby