[Ranma][Fanfic] Shattered Soul 7
syi...@my-dejanews.com
Shattered Soul Chapter 7
It was neither dark nor light. Neither hot or cold. He could see all,
yet see nothing.
"Are we ready?" A figure was there, a dark Ranma. Ranma knew this, how
he couldn't have said.
"Never!"
"We no longer have a choice. We must, or we will die." The dark
Ranma's face was a mirror copy of his own, even more then Mousse's had been.
"Brother is gone, the spell granted him release. If we are to survive we
must. Recognize us. Our Darkness..."
"Never!"
"Our skills, our hate, our violence, our evil..."
"NEVER!"
"Our need of our Akane. The Dark Lust. Accept our full power."
"We have! We know and we swore all that away!"
"We have merely felt, not accepted. Make our soul and mind whole once
again."
Ranma felt a disturbance.
"Time grows short our Akane will slip from our grasp if we die. Another
will claim her."
"No! She is OURS!"
"Do we accept ourself? Our darkness?"
He couldn't. It would be an abomination, it would ruin his life, his
honor. Ranma felt another tremor. 'My Akane....' Damn it all. "Yes."
Ranma felt strength flowing through him. He felt alive. He felt the
Darkness penetrate his being, he felt his hate seep into him, his skills. He
felt the Dark Lust. He felt the Darkness wrap around him, changing him. His
mind was opened to all which he had never allowed himself to think or feel. He
knew his power. He would do anything to have that which he wanted. For one
black second he was no longer Human, but Demon.
Then the Light came from within. Rising it met the Darkness, but did
not drive it back. Light and Dark met not as opposites but as two of the same.
Where there had been two there was now one. A cocoon of Darkness and Light
surrounded Ranma.
Dr. Tofu ran to Ranma as Kasumi ran to Akane. Dr. Tofu reached his
hand out to Ranma's neck. There was a pulse, but it was very faint. He check
for any visible signs of damage and finding none turned his attention to
Ranma's chi. As he placed one hand on Ranma's forehead and the other above
his heart Tofu felt something twisting. He concentrated, attempting to make
out was wrong and then was suddenly unable to move. Waves of evil overwhelmed
Dr. Tofu, battering at his sanity. Then just as his mind began to shatter the
feeling of evil died down, not gone but no longer overpowering. "Good
spirits." He said quietly, both appalled and amazed.
"Tofu-sensei! Come quick!" Kasumi held Akane closely. He did a fast
sprint to Akane and checked her pulse, it was strong. Then he checked her chi
as he had done Ranma's. It was.. normal.
"I was holding her and I felt... evil." Kasumi looked frightened.
"She's fine Kasumi-chan. Whatever it was is gone now." Dr. Tofu
turned suddenly at another cry. Dr. Tofu looked in the direction that the cry
had come from. "Kami-sama help us."
Nabiki sat dumbly, staring at the figure lying in her bed. She had a
body women would kill for, although not quite as well formed as Ranma's
female form. She appeared to be twelve years of age or so, though Nabiki
could not tell for certain. What disturbed her the most was the head. It was
without a doubt the same as Onna-Ranma's, yet instead of the shining eyes it
had dark brown, like Akane's. The hair also was a dark blue-black color which
would have matched the color of Akane's perfectly. The door opened behind
Nabiki, she didn't move.
"It's true." Akane said quietly. She looked at the figure with
Nabiki. 'She looks like Onna-Ranma except for her build and eyes.' Akane
smiled. 'She has the same color hair as me, that's odd.' She was still
puzzled though. Dr. Tofu had told her they found the girl when the spell had
been finished..... but why would this person be here? Was she Ranma's female
half brought to life?
"She hasn't even moved yet. She's just been lying her since we brought
her in." Nabiki spoke the answer to Akane's unasked question. "How's Ranma?"
"He still hasn't woken up. There's something strange about him
though..." Akane trailed off, momentarily forgetting the girl in her worry for
Ranma.
"FATHER!" The girl sat up and bolted out of the room before Akane or
Nabiki could move. Nabiki was up after the girl instantly and Akane followed
shortly after.
Genma sat at his son's side. It had nearly been a whole day since the
spell had been cast and still Ranma had not woken. There was a shout and the
strange girl that they had found burst into the room.
"Father!" The girl cried and jumped over to Ranma, attempting to wake
him. "Father!!" Genma stared dumbly.
'Father?' Genma wasn't the fastest thinker at normal times, and now
after seeing this strange girl and the incidents of the past few days his
thought process was close to non-existent.
"Father!" Her face was frantic as she tried to wake him again.
Ranma shoved away the mind tugging at his. He needed a little more time
to finish his change.
The girl cried out in pain. "Father!" She said softly and fell along
side Ranma.
Genma looked up as Nabiki entered. "Ranma is going to wake up, go get
Tofu-sensei." Normally she would have never taken an order from the likes of
Genma, but at the time Nabiki felt this was more important then her pride so
she turned and ran to get him.
Genma turned his head back to his sons body, watching the chi cocoon
start to unravel. Dr. Tofu entered the room and immediately saw what Genma
had.
"It's opening." Dr. Tofu stared. He had never seen chi to manifest
itself like this, and frankly he was frightened by the conflicting feelings of
evil and good emanating from the cocoon.
"Do you think we should try and strap him down?" Genma looked at the
doctor, hopping for some help.
"No. That might just get him angry when he does wake up." He sighed.
Whatever was going on inside that thing, he knew it was still Ranma. He
remained silent for a moment, attempting to remember where he had heard of
such a incidence before. Then he stopped an arm from touching Ranma. "Don't
Akane. You remember what happened last time."
Akane struggled a little, she had arrived just after Nabiki and was
afraid for him. "What's wrong with him Tofu-sensei?"
"I'm not sure... he's going through a change of some sort." He eyed the
chi cocoon again. 'A cocoon, it's almost frightening.'
"What are you looking at?" Akane peered at the doctor, he had been
looking at the air around Ranma's body.
'It's best that she doesn't know for now.' He decided quickly. "Just
checking his chi." It was true in a sense.
Akane frowned and suppresed the need to hold Ranma. The last time she
had tried she had been rendered unconscious for four hours. Akane jumped when
Ranma moved an arm. Then Dr. Tofu shoved her out of the room and locked the
door.
"Saotome stand back." Dr. Tofu took a defensive stance, hands becoming
surround with a dark blue light.
Genma took a step away from Ranma, saying nothing. Silently he watched
as strand by strand the chi cocoon was absorbed into Ranma's body. It soon
picked up it's speed, unraveling faster and faster. Then it was done. Genma
looked at his son. He seemed normal.
Ranma rose from the ground, feeling stronger then he ever had. He felt
the presence of Dr. Tofu and his father. "I'm not going to hurt anyone." Ranma
turned his gaze and met Genma's eyes, not seeing or sensing the small figure
lying on the ground.
Genma involuntarily took a step back. Those weren't his son's eyes.
They seemed to peer into his soul, analyzing him, reading his thoughts. "S-s-
son?"
Ranma however had already turned away and was walking towards the door,
he felt Akane's presence behind it. "I just want to see Akane." He told the
doctor.
Dr. Tofu said nothing for a moment. His training allowed him to see a
person's chi even when they weren't using it and right now he was more then a
little scared. Ranma had always been strong, with the chi doubling effect he
had been even stronger. Now though... now he was unmatchable. Cologne and
Happosai together wouldn't stand a chance against him. He saw an aura of
darkness and evil around Ranma, yet it seemed to fit perfectly with his aura
of light, as if completing a puzzle. "Alright." He forced himself to say and
stood away from the door. Ranma walked through.
"Ranma!" Akane threw herself into his arms. The harsh look vanished
from his eyes, replaced by a loving gaze.
"Akane. Your alright." He pulled her tighter against himself. He
silently held her, waiting for her to notice.
'Something's wrong...' Akane looked up at Ranma. "The link's gone!"
Ranma sadly nodded. "Why?" She asked.
"Because.." He paused, trying to think of the best way to explain
things. "Because I'm not the same Ranma."
"What?" Akane was confused. "Of course you ar.." She looked at him
closer. He was different. Subtle things. His face was older somehow, it was
his eyes. They were the same eyes she had known but now they were deep, as if
they would draw her in. Love still shone in them, but now it was accented by
something else.
"I am Ranma, but I'm.. I'm different." He saw her confused look. "I
need to tell everyone at once, I don't want to go through this more then that.
I still love you though Akane-chan, just as I have before and always will." He
kissed her forehead and walked downstairs. She smiled and followed after him.
'So we have a daughter.' Ranma continued looking at the figure lain out
on the table. He knew where she came from, he also knew why she was there.
"Ranma? Do you know anything about this?" Akane spoke without looking
away from the figure. The whole group had gathered downstairs at the table
again, bringing the strange girl with them.
"Yes. When the spell was cast two things interfered with it. One was
the anti-magic spell, the other was the link between us. The spell acted as
it was supposed to for the most part, it spilt my female form from my body.
But the anti-magic made it mess up and actually form a new person." He paused
a moment then spoke to Akane. "It tried to do the same thing to you Akane,
but it couldn't because you don't have a different form. So instead it copied
some of your physical form and... and took some of your soul." He finished.
People around the table either gasped or frowned, or in Soun's case cried.
"Ranma, how can you know this?" Dr. Tofu asked.
"I'm part Demon now." Silence followed.
"Excuse me?" Nabiki didn't think she had heard right.
"It's why Happosai wanted to kill me..."
*****************************************************************
Ranma was in a strange place. For the first time in weeks he wasn't
hot. He wasn't cold either though. "Where am I?" He tried to ask aloud.
"You are hurt badly, or rather your body is." The voice said, although
it didn't seem to speak the words aloud.
"Then who are you?"
"I am a demon a demon who wishes to save your life."
"Yeah right all you want is a body!"
"True, very true. But you don't have much choice at the moment do you?"
'Brother!' Ranma paused and listened to his brother's thoughts. 'You
must accept. I won't allow him to merge completely with you until you have the
strength to keep control. Over time his memories, thoughts, and consciousness
will be replaced by yours. Then you can become one if necessary. Use some of
his power now, but only a little. Anything more and you will become one. But
how can I- BROTHER there is no time if you have ever trusted me do as I say!'
"Do you accept my proposal Human?"
'Alright I'll trust you brother...' Ranma mentally took a deep breath.
"I accept."
***************************************************************
Ranma finished his tale with a small frown on his face. He hadn't told
them the whole truth... he didn't think they could accept that.
"When did this happen?" asked Soun.
"During my little trip." Ranma responded.
"So he's in there with you?" Akane looked at Ranma. 'That won't change
anything I still love him.'
"No. I only have his knowledge and power. A demons consciousness can
only survive for a short time outside of... where ever they live. When it's
in a body and not in control it dies. I'm still the same Ranma you all knew
except now I have more power and I'm a little smarter." Ranma would be killed
before he spoke of the Dark Lust or the other changes. He smiled at Akane who
smiled happily back. Then he sensed Dr. Tofu's alarmed thoughts. 'Damn. He
knows, he's better then I thought.'
Dr. Tofu watched as Ranma smiled at Akane then almost audibly shouted.
He looked into Ranma's eyes again. 'It.. it can't be.. not Ranma...' Ranma
looked at him. No words were said but the eyes spoke the message. "Say a word
and your dead."
Ranma's gaze lowered back down to the table and the girl lying on it.
Smiling he brushed a hand along her face. "She's our daughter Akane, even more
then any other daughter could be."
Akane looked at the child. "Our daughter?" She looked closer. The
eyes were obviously hers, the hair too. Her face was Onna-Ranma's, her body
too although it was not quite as it was not quite as... large. 'She probably
got that from me.'"A daughter..." She suddenly realized she wanted this. She
had always wanted a child, if this was how she was to get one she wasn't
complaining. "I did want a daughter... even if this isn't quite how I
pictured it." Ranma's hand clasped hers and Akane smiled at him lovingly. The
people around the table watched the newly formed family and each felt a small
sense of loss, Ranma and Akane had grown up. Nabiki felt it more then anyone.
'It's already started. Everyone is leaving.' She knew that Akane and
Ranma weren't literally leaving, they would still be at the dojo, but they
would have their own family and she wasn't part of it.
Ranma felt Nabiki's sadness. "Maybe we can get Nabiki to teach her how
to pay the bills." He smiled warmly at her. Nabiki brightened and smiled back.
"I don't know, do we really want our daughter blackmailing us?" Akane
giggled. That seemed to break the mood for a little while as Nabiki scowled
playfully and the rest of the room laughed.
"Ranma... If some of my soul is in her can it hurt her?" She looked at
Ranma fearfully.
"No, not as long as you two stay close to each other. If you were
separated for long periods of time it could do something, but otherwise your
safe." He smiled encouragingly at her, hoping he lied well just this once.
Akane was silent for a moment then nodded.
"Ranma, could I speak to you?" Dr. Tofu stood.
"Yeah." Ranma stood and followed Dr. Tofu outside. They walked off
the Tendo property, following the street, and eventually came to a small
empty park. As they walked his eyes went dark, his body soon did to in a
way... absorbing some of the light around it. Suddenly Dr. Tofu spun and
threw a small slip of paper at Ranma, who caught it. "A spirit ward? Well it
would work against a full demon Tofu-sensei, but" he ripped the paper in half
"it only irritates me." A dark shadow formed around Ranma, matching his shape
perfectly, Dr. Tofu realized what it was. His battle aura.
"Just had to see if it worked Ranma. No need to get upset." Dr. Tofu's
calm outward appearance betrayed his inner feelings of panic. 'If spirit wards
don't work then Akane better hope he's still human enough to resist-' his
thoughts were cut off.
"I think you found out something important today, there's such a thing
as too good." Ranma's eyes were bottomless pits, boring into Dr. Tofu.
"Yes... Ranma why?" He sighed.
"Why?" Ranma laughed. "Why you say? There's no reason! Has there ever
been a reason?" He looked very seriously at the doctor.
"No. We've never been able to understand the Dar-" He was suddenly cut
off as Ranma's battle aura shot out a shadowy arm and clutched his throat.
"Don't even say it sensei." Ranma's was relaxed as the shadow continued
to hold Dr. Tofu by the neck. "Maybe later after I tell her, but until then
your going to keep quiet." Seeing he agreed the shadow arm released and
surrounded Ranma again.
The doctor took several deep breaths then found his breath again.
"Ranma, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Please, let me help you. You
can get rid of this with my help."
Ranma's eyes flickered briefly. "You really mean that don't you." It
wasn't a question. "I'm sorry sensei, but I'm beyond help. It was a willing
bond." Ranma felt Dr. Tofu's disgust, but he no longer cared about things like
that.
"Willingly!? Ranma Why!?" He stared through his glasses.
Ranma smiled a little. "Akane, Tofu-sensei. Who else? You don't think
The Lust was just created do you? It was always there, buried deep. Of course
I unconsciously repressed it, or else you, Ryoga, Shinnosuke, Prince Toma,
Kirin and anyone else who has dared to harm or steal her from me would be
dead."
"Me?" Dr. Tofu stared at him. 'Has he gone mad?'
"Oh yes, she had quite the crush on you. I'd rather you didn't tell her
I said that though." Ranma eyes had gone dark again.
Dr. Tofu ran over a few things in his mind, absorbing what he'd just
been told. "But Ranma, if that's true why didn't you just marry her? And how
did you bring yourself to insult her?"
Ranma shrugged. "I was protecting her from myself without knowing it. I
also have a good level of self control thanks to my training."
'Maybe you do in some areas Ranma.' He then thought about the case
'Kami-sama, if he still was under the influence of the scroll now.' The doctor
visibly shuddered.
"Well if were done with this little conversation I'd like to go see my
daughter." Ranma walked away.
***********************************************
Akane and her family watched as Ranma walked away with Dr. Tofu. "We
haven't even checked if he's cursed anymore!" Akane said her thought out loud.
Nabiki burst out laughing immediately soon followed by the rest of the table.
"If it didn't I don't want to be anywhere near Happosai!" Soun said
between laughs. Genma laughed even harder at that while the Tendo girls
suddenly got quiet. "What's wrong Akane?" Soun looked at his youngest
daughter.
"I thought you knew... Happosai's dead." Akane was looking at the table.
Soun and Genma looked at each other for a long moment. "The master-"
"Dead?" Genma completed his friends thoughts. "How did this happen?"
Akane told them the whole story, noticing that Genma went visibly pale
at mention of Ranma's twin. "And then a giant energy beam burst through the
wall and killed him."
"Ranma's twin... I had nearly forgotten." Genma's face took on a cold
look. "I can never forgive him for that, but I still feel a sadness at his
passing." Soun nodded after his shock about Ranma's twin wore off. The table
was silent a long moment, each lost in their own thoughts.
Akane soon found herself looking at the girl that was still lying on
the table. She was still having a little trouble coming to grips with it. She
and Ranma had a daughter. She wasn't more then 6 years younger physically, but
Akane wasn't sure about mentally.
Nabiki found herself thinking about her own life. She had to make
some changes soon she knew. Making money was fun, but it was also a lonely
business. She found thinking 'what if' again. What if she was a little more
open, what if she hadn't been so quick to pass on Ranma, what if....
Kasumi watched the others with looks of concern. Akane seemed to be
thinking about her new daughter and Nabiki was probably feeling lonely again.
'I'll have to do something about that soon, maybe that nice Kuno boy, or
Ryoga.' She glanced out the open door again and saw Ranma walking back alone.
'I hope everything went alright.'
Ranma's eyes lightened and went back to looking human as he entered the
dojo. Smiling he sat down next to Akane. "Hello love."
Akane looked at Ranma in surprise, then blinked. 'Did he just call me
love?' She smiled brightly and hugged him. "Hello Ranma-chan."
"So has our daughter woken up yet?" Ranma absently toyed with a little
bit of fabric on Akane's blue dress.
"No, not yet." She cocked her head to one side. "What should we call
her Ranma?"
"How about Ranko?" Offered Nabiki.
"NO!" Akane shouted, Ranma echoing the answer a little more quietly.
"How about..... Akana?" Ranma smiled at Akane.
"Akana?" Akane smiled. "Akana Saotome..."
"Mother?" The newly named Akana said the word quietly and moved a
little.
Ranma carefully helped the girl into a sitting position. She smiled and
hugged him. "Father!" Ranma grinned and hugged her back, a little awkward due
to her sitting on the table. "Mother!" She jumped off the table to Akane, who
was able to both catch the girl and remain standing.
"So you already know how to talk?" Akane asked her.
The girl cocked her head to one side. "Mother." She said firmly. Akane
laughed. The girl's head spun suddenly and she pointed through a wall of the
house. "Father!!" It sounded like a warning.
Ranma felt something from the direction Akana was pointing. "Everyone
get back." His voice was emotionless and his eyes had gone dark again. The
household scrambled away from the wall. Ranma stood silently and waited. There
was a sudden sound and the wall collapsed.
"Hello." A man said, standing in the hole he had just made. He was
dressed in a gray business suit with slicked back black hair. "I've come to
collect."
"Collect what?" Ranma's voice was cold.
"Her actually." The man pointed at Akane. "She performed the ceremony
but never paid." He looked at Ranma. "You should know that."
'Kuso.' Ranma thought quickly "She is mine. I have the right."
"You are a halfling, you must mark her to make that claim." The man's
visage seemed to shimmer.
"She's mine." Ranma's shadow like battle aura surrounded him.
The man smirked. "It's been a long while since I've seen that, let
alone in a human. Very well I'll give you six hours, then I come back to claim
her. Adieu." The man faded away.
"R-Ranma who was that?" Akane stared with wide eyes.
"A demon."
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^
Author's Notes: Here's another one of those important chapters. I've gone
through things real fast, but most of them should be made clearer within the
next 3 chapters or so. Now for Akana's name. The reason is I'm really
beginning to hate the overuse of Ranko in fanfics and it would sound really
unoriginal. The name Akana is really just the first letters in Akane combined
with the a at the end of Ranma, not incredibly ingenious but it works ne?
Shattered Soul's homepage can be found at Http://members.xoom.com/Syithe__/
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