Ryoga walked relentlessly toward his goal. The place where he was now didn't matter. He had to find Ranma to make Akane happy. He had to. "How dare he make Akane cry by leaving !" he yelled to the gods. However, the gods weren't listening at this particular moment. Just after Akane had returned home in tears, he had managed to get away and back into human form. He grabbed his bag, his umbrella and left on his quest. It pained him that Akane was crying because Ranma was absent, but this didn't matter. He had sworn he would make Akane happy, even if it meant to give her up to his worst enemy. And so he had left the Tendo dojo to wander around seeking Ranma. He knew that he didn't have any sense of direction, but he also knew that he had found Ranma with his non-existent sense of direction before. So it didn't bother him. He would just walk until he had found Ranma or he was dead. And he would find Ranma, that he was sure... But a thought kept getting back in his head for no reason. It told him that maybe he was to blame for Saotome's sudden departure. The day he disappeared, Ryoga had fought Ranma. And for what reason... For the fact that he didn't eat Akane's cooking. And he knew how her meals tend to give nausea and severe stomach ache. He banished the thought for the thousandth time, saying that it was always Ranma's fault. When Ryoga would find him, he would give him a piece of his mind... ******************************************* Sagas of Another World Part 1 : The New Frontier By Thierry Chartrand-Chamblay (Snapdragon@videotron.ca ) ******************************************* Chapter Three : Love Serenade of the Water Mystic "It's me. Ranma. Remember, I told you about all this..." Ranma said to the others who obviously weren't recognizing him. Asellus again was in her state of true and total confusion. She could no longer ignore what Ranma had told her, she had the proof before her eyes. That meant that everything else was true. Chi attacks, cursed springs that transform you into something else, 300 year-old matriarchs, love-potions, fiancées, everything... but how could that be... During that time, White Rose had gone to the back room and had looked inside. It was empty. "Where is the other Ranma ?" she said, visibly very disturbed by what she had seen. "There is no other Ranma." He answered. "I'm the female one too." "But how ..." "Let me explain" Ranma said, and went into his usual explication of curses, amazons, girlfriends, enemies and the like. White Rose took it rather well, considering how Asellus had believed it the last time he said it. "So how do you change back ?" Asellus said. She looked like she was over the confusion now. She had decided that his story wasn't so different from vanishing people and getting killed a few times... "Cold water changes me into a girl, hot water into a guy" he pointed out. "So how did you change ?" Asellus asked, curious. As an answer, he pointed at the coffee mug in his hand. "Ok" the two ladies said. "Were about to land in Owmi. Please get to your seat." the pilot interrupted. We could see a port a the distance. ******************************************* When the trio had stepped out of the aircraft, they were blinded by the sunlight. They had gotten used to Facinaturu and the dark atmosphere there. They had to shield their eyes for a minute before they were able to see normally under the sun again. "Welcome to Owmi." the pilot said "We're gonna be here for a few hours while I resupply, then we head for Shrike." "Well, I've got to think alone for a while." Ranma said, preparing to jump "See ya later !" With that, he jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he was out of sight. "Wait !" Asellus cried out, but he was already far away. ******************************************* Ranma sat on the roof of the mansion. He had found here a perfect spot to meditate on his current situation. He hadn't done it in Facinaturu because he always felt like someone was gonna appear while he was talking to himself and he didn't want his thoughts to be heard by anyone. "Now what happened ?" he said to himself. After a few moments of concentration, he found his answer : he had wished to be in another world. He remembered that clearly now, what he had said then and how the lady had reacted. That was why he was here. But now how to get back ? His problems in the other world were nothing compared to what he was experiencing here... And he still didn't know what he had really become. His hair had turned green in girl form instead of the red she had earlier, and he felt a new power in him now. And he had been killed at least twice. He knew that didn't make any sense, but he had seen and felt the steel blades passing through him and his blood surge out of his body... but he didn't really want to think about that. The memories of these moments hurt more than the events actually did. For now, his curse seemed unimportant to him, like it was a nuisance more than anything... He had to have a plan. Ranma rarely admitted this fact, but he truly needed some strategy right now. How could he get back... He couldn't the way he had been sent, the person who did was in another world. Did he have any other means he could think of ? No .He didn't have any. So he would just go along with Asellus now. She knew this world, an advantage which he did not possess. And White Rose, even if he didn't like to admit it, looked like she could be trusted. And she surely knew much about this land. So, this was his plan. He would wait for an opportunity and grab it when the time comes. In the meantime, he would try to learn the most he could about this world and the mystic blood that now flowed through him... With that he started to move again, using his newly- found powers to guide him toward the other half-mystic... ******************************************* "Oh. Look at all the flower petals in the river." Asellus said, looking down from the bridge where White Rose and her were standing. White Rose realized something. "They're forming letters...." "Can you read it ?" The other girl asked, rather impatiently. "... Water mystics are looking for the missing daughter." she answered. "Water mystics ?" Ranma said, jumping down on the other side of the bridge. Both girls turned around to face the new arrival. "So where were you all off a sudden ?" Asellus asked, rather curious. "Only needed a little privacy to think about the latest events. Nothing that should bother you." Ranma answered, trying to convince her that it wasn't that important. "So, what are water mystics ?" "They are mystics that live in large bodies off water ; Like rivers, lakes or in the ocean. They're very timid and you can rarely see them. Some must live in this lake." White Rose explained to the rest. "A lost one. Just like me." Asellus responded, sadness in her voice. "You want to go and find her ?" Ranma demanded, hoping it would remove the sad face Asellus was portraying. "You think we can find her ?" She answered, little hope in her voice. "Sure. Leave it to me." Ranma said in his overconfident, "I always win." voice. And so they began walking in the town, looking for clues to the young missing mystic... ******************************************* "Have you heard ? Our master is taking care of an injured water mystic." The lady said. "Say WHAT ?!" the three said in chorus. They were in Owmi's main pub, and were asking around for a missing mystic. "Our master is taking..." she repeated. "Yeah we heard you !" Ranma said, a little shocked. "How did it get hurt ?" "It was caught in a net while some fishermen were in the lake. They had to move there since we expanded the airfield." the women responded, not losing her calm. "Were does this master live ?" Asellus asked politely. "In a manor north of town." She responded. "Thank you." White Rose answered politely, then the trio walked away. Once outside the cafe, they resumed their conversation. "This is rather rare." White Rose said. "Why ?" Ranma asked "Like I said, water mystics are usually very careful about not being seen or caught. I served the Lord of the mystics for long, and have never heard of such a case..." "So, do we help her ?" Asellus demanded. "Sure. We ain't gonna leave her there. So let's go !" he said, and lead the other toward the manor, on whose roof he had meditated earlier. ******************************************* The manor was an impressive sight. It was four to five this larger than any building in the vicinity. Around it were elegant green gardens that were carefully tended. After the trio passed the twin maple doors, they realized that the inside was as impressive as the outside. The floor was of marble with a beautiful drawing in the middle of the room. They were paintings everywhere, and each was more beautiful than the last. Large medieval armors guarded some of the doors of this mansion. A young blond man suddenly came down the stair and greeted our heroes "What can I do for you ?" White Rose responded "We've heard that you were keeping a water mystic." "Yes and..." "The other water mystics are looking for her." she continued. The young man seemed surprised at this fact. "You must let her go." Asellus said with strength. "GET OUT !" the young man cried out instinctually. But as we were walking out, he apologized and said "No. Please wait. Is what you just said, true ?" He looked at us uncertainly. "Yes." White Rose replied with conviction. "What should I do. I know she'd be better off in the lake but I... I" He was nearly crying as he said these words. "Calm down..." White Rose said with a Kasumi-like look. Ranma, himself, didn't know what to say. He knew inside that the young man was in love with the water mystic, but this only helped him towards his memories of Akane. It had not been a month since he was in this world and he already missed her. He felt like it wasn't his place to say anything, for all that had happened in his own world. "Let us speak with the mystic." Asellus demanded gently. "All right. Follow me..." the man said, then lead us to another room. ******************************************* "This is the room." The man had lead us through the house to an isolated room at the end of a long corridor. "But she won't talk to you. She hasn't spoken a word since the first day I got here." He added. "Please, we need to talk to her in private." White Rose said. "But..." Not waiting for the rest of his answer, we entered the room. The room was itself was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to her. She was a mermaid, anyone could have seen that, but not any mermaid. She had flowing white hair that gave her an impression of profound wisdom. Her skin was of a deep blue that seemed to have a tan. Like the all legendary mermaids, she had a fish-like tail, but this one looked like a beautiful blue dress. She had eyes of the purest blue that seemed to stare right through you. She opened her mouth, and her voice as clear as crystal could be heard "The smell of a noble mystic...." "But you are only humans." she added, disappointed. "Actually, we're kinda both." said Ranma, not knowing how to explain the situation. "Did I offend you ?" the mermaid replied, a little fear in her words. "No, you're right. We are half human and half mystic." Asellus informed the water mystic. "May I ask your names, nobles ones ?" "Ranma." "Asellus." "Lady Asellus and Lord Ranma.... Sounds classy." The water sprite said. Ranma idly wondered if she and Kuno had the same ancestors. "They inherited Lord Orlouge's blood" White Rose said, moving from behind the duo. "Lord of all mystics, Orlouge ?! Forget my insolence." "Why are you scared ?" Asellus demanded. "I'd perish if I ever offended Lord Orlouge." "Not to worry I ain't any mystic lord." Ranma said. "Me neither" Asellus added. "We're just here to help you." "My name is Mesarthim. I lived in the lake with my family. But, I was caught in a fisherman's net." "You should be grateful." White Rose said "The master of this house saved your life" "I know he's been good to me. But I can't stand the stench of humans." Ranma and Asellus winced at this. "I can't breathe... I want to go home." Mesarthim cried out, visibly sad. "So let's go !" Asellus said cheerfully. "You shouldn't stay if you don't want to." "But, he loves this water..." White Rose said. "No one should be forced to do something if they don't want to." Asellus quickly silenced her. "Trust me she's right. I know from experience that the longer she'll stay, the worst it will end up." Ranma couldn't believe what he had just said. Ranma Saotome, giving love advice. This was truly a weird situation... "But he won't even let me out of the house." The water mystic replied. "There must be a way out." Asellus said, and the newly-formed quatuor stepped out of the room. ******************************************* The young master was waiting outside. When he saw that the water mystic was with us, he cried out "What are you doing ?" "Can we just walk around in the mansion ?" Asellus said simply. "If that's what she wants. But, please don't leave the house." He then left his guard post and returned to his room after making sure the front door was locked. They then methodically searched the house top to bottom. First the group searched the attic, hoping to go down a window. That proved impossible, for Ranma could not carry four people a once and survive a thirty meter fall at the same time. But they did find some weird gun lying there, which White Rose grabbed, for they would probably have to fight again. Since high was now out of the question, they headed low, hoping to find some secret exit. In the basement they came to a sealed door, locked with chains. Finding the presence of such a door rather curious, they tried to open it. Three long faces, a busted door and a Mouko-Takabisha later, they continued their descent... ******************************************* The stairs were long and led deeper than any of our heroes expected. This descent continued for nearly ten minutes, when the stair abruptly stopped, leading to a small room. Ranma was the first to enter this room... and instantly jumped back by instinct. There were monsters down here. Three bug-like creatures attacked them, along with what the Ranma thought was a skeleton. He had nearly gotten sliced by the slice-like claws these insects possessed. Ranma instinctually drew the sword the Lion Princess had him (or her at the time). Behind him, Asellus drew her own blade, a flesh red sword that seemed to glow in her hands. White Rose aimed her gun at one of the monstrosities, and Mesarthim unsheathed a small black dagger. The fight then broke in earnest as the beasts charged at them. Ranma had a little problem dodging. "These things are fast" he thought, as he parried another strike. Fast but not that bright, he corrected, as he struck deep in the monster's stomach. It had given him an easy opening... Asellus fought like a possessed woman. Ranma had to admire her talent, and her trainer's talent as well. She had little problem in blocking the various slashed aimed at her. She then dove and sliced the creature's neck off. So much for the advantage of surprise... White Rose kept the thing at bay with her gun. Whenever the insect would try to charge at her, she would fire a thick black beam with her cannon, and push the creature back. It would surely give up or die at some point. Mesarthim fought with all her strength. Even if her opponent wasn't as difficult as the others, her talent was not in fighting. Luckily, White Rose helped her by firing at her foe, ending the conflict. She had finished her bug- like opponent and her weapon easily disintegrated the undead warrior's bones. The fight was over, for now... ******************************************* They had gotten even deeper underground. They had fought countless times in the floors above and would probably need to do so again. They had taken times to rest after each fight, to make sure that the next one would not take his toll on the group. They were currently walking down more stairs, when suddenly Ranma yelled to Asellus, who was in front "STOP !!" A second too late. A large tentacle pound her directly into the wall, and then retracted to dodge Ranma's mad lunge aimed at it. Then their new enemy showed itself. It was a large white octopus, with two tentacles as long as his body hanging in the air, and countless smaller ones helping him up the stairs. He glared at the group and moved his hands down. All except Asellus jumped back by instinct. She, helped by the shock, regained her senses and got into a defensive stance. Twin columns of water rose at the side of the squid, and a large wave engulfed our heroes. Ranma cursed and changed. The force of the wave had really hurt, and salt in their wounds was not what they had hopped to get. Ranma looked around to see if everyone made it out ok. Asellus had regained consciousness and was busy dodging and deflecting attacks of one the tentacles. White Rose was shooting as much as she could with her gun, but it didn't seem to affect their enemy much. Behind himself, or rather herself, Mesarthim was speaking strange sentences with her hands in front of her... Ranma's instincts reacted just in time to dodge another strike by the aquatic beast. She concluded that this was not be best time to be checking around and refocused on her foe. White Rose had been hit before Ranma could land a blow on the squid. She had been struck straight in the stomach, and flew a dozen meters back. But this gave Ranma an opening. She did a forward flip, intending to strike her opponent right between the eyes. Ranma never finished her attack. The octopus shot a ball of ink just as the half-mystic finished her flip, blinding her. He then lashed out at her, connecting with her head and smashing her into the wall. She unfortunately dropped her sword, which the squid shattered with another tentacle movement. "Damn !" Ranma cried out in her head, too much in pain for her voice to work. She succeeded in brushing the ink of her eyes ... only too see a white tentacle racing towards her head. "No !!" she tried to say, but failed, and closed her vision, expecting the blow... It never came. Ranma reopened her eyes to see that Asellus had dashed in front of her and was parrying all the blows which came near them. "I owe you one" Ranma said, and went back into a fighting stance. Rain. A light rain started falling. Ranma disliked rain, but mainly because it forced with it's cold tears a change of form. But this one felt strangely relaxing. The group's bruises and cuts healed, the rain removing them like they never were. Ranma felt revivified. Her back had stopped to hurt, and her strength had come back. With that returned her confidence. "Mouko-Takabisha" she yelled, and fired and energy bullet at the aquatic animal. The octopus swatted it aside. Ranma swore, seeing her favorite attack fail. Probably because of her lower chi. Having felt how hard his skin was, she doubted her fists would do much damage. An idea struck her. She channeled her chi in her hand, trying to form a weapon with it. "Work !!" she cried out in her mind, but it didn't help. Her chi evaporated as she tried to form a blade with it. In front of her, Asellus was getting tired. The octopus had decided that she was the most dangerous and was focusing all her attacks at her. As a last chance, she tried to use her mystic energy to construct a sword. Inexplicably, it easily formed the said weapon in her hand. This puzzled her, since she had tried and failed to create a chi bullet with her inhuman strength. But now was not the time nor the place to think such thoughts. Ranma jumped over Asellus, hoping to find her enemy off guard. The squid was barely able to bring one of his tentacles to ward off the blow in front of his face. They confronted for a second, the mystic blade burning against the creature's arm... A scythe sliced the beast's left flank. White Rose had used the squid's focus at Asellus to summon a monster. Blood erupted from the cut, and the beast winced in pain. On the other side, the parrying half-mystic also took advantage of the enemy's momentary distraction to land a deep cut on his right side. These twin strikes allowed Ranma to slip under the creature's guard and thrust her weapon straight into her opponent's body.... Her mystic power surged in her as something was drawn from her foe's body into Ranma. Her hair stood on end, and her chi disappeared. Ranma lost control. All she wanted now was to slay this enemy... He lashed at her, hoping to send her has far away as she could. Ranma, in her possessed state, saw the blow coming, jumped over the tentacle and struck deep into the beast's head. It wailed, and passed out. The squid's soul was drawn into Ranma's mystic body. The devil squid had died. ******************************************* Ranma regained control shortly after battle. She shuddered, and tried to remember what had happened. It came back to her easily... The way she had lost it, what she had done, and the weird energy the she had drawn from her foe. She concentrated on it, and suddenly, various memories assailed her. Striking Ranma into the wall, breaking his weapon, seeing the female half-mystic and felling drawn in.... All from the squid's point of view. She than realized was this energy was ... It was the beast's very soul. Ranma calmed herself. No use to go out of control again. It could only make it worse. She looked around. Asellus was taking deep breaths, resting on the basement wall. White Rose and Mesarthim were talking, until they noticed Ranma was back from his trance. "Are you alright ?" They both asked. "Yeah..." Ranma lied. He wasn't alright at all, but that they didn't need to know that. "So, when are we continuing ?" "Give me a second" Asellus replied from her corner. As soon as Asellus got her breath back, they resumed their descent... ******************************************* "I feel water this way !" Mesarthim said, overjoyed. She lead the group into a small room at the bottom of the stairs. The only special characteristic of this room was a large pool mounted on the far wall. "I can smell the lake !" she cried out of pure joy as she jumped into the water. She then turned around to face the rest of the group. "Thank you, Lady Asellus and Lady.... eh Lord Ranma" White Rose had explained Ranma's story to Mesarthim after his change during the battle against the squid. "Goodbye" With these words, she dived in the pool and disappeared from sight. "Bye Mesarthim" the trio said, but she could not longer hear them. "What's wrong White Rose ?" Asellus had turned toward her guardian, who had a look of distinct sadness on her face. "I feel sorry for that young man" she replied "Humans and mystics couldn't possibly be happy together !" "One-sided love should be broken as soon as possible" Ranma added. She mentally whapped herself. She really should stop giving such advice, given her track record in that area... They each waved a last time at their comrade, and started climbing back up... ******************************************* As they stepped back on the main floor, the young man intercepted them. "Where is she" he asked. "She left" White Rose replied. "That's what she wanted." The young man seemed to crumble at these words. "We are leaving also" she added "Do not try to stop us...." The man walked away, as if wearing a few tons on his shoulders. We did the same, and left the mansion, hoping never to come back. ******************************************* In a far away castle, someone had come to a decision... "Ciato" "Yes, my Lord" "Go get White Rose. Use any means necessary." "Yes, Lord" After this statement, the Lord disappeared. Ciato extended his mystic power. Four shadows appeared at his side. "Go capture White Rose. Use any means necessary. Kill anyone in your way" he ordered them. With their orders, they vanished.... ******************************************* The trio was in a plane. It was carrying them toward Shrike, where Asellus' supposed aunt lived. A chill crossed Ranma's spine. He couldn't identify what, be something was about to happen. Something that was obviously dangerous. And soon... ******************************************* Author's Notes : It took a while, but I finally finished chapter 3. I never thought I could find it so difficult to write.... I hope the next one won't take as long. Also, you will find the beginning of my theories of how mystic power works in this chapter. Hope you liked it. As always, comments are encouraged. I would like to thank Brian Payne and Troy Williams for the great work of putting this fanfic on the couch. I couldn't have done it without you. Also, great thanks to my pre-reader Mizukage for everything... and thank you all for reading my work... Next time: Ranma and Asellus learn a very important fact about their lives and also find out that their escape from Facinaturu wasn't so final... Be there in Shadows that hunt, the next chapter... Copyrights: Ranma 1/2 and all the characters from this series belong to Rumiko Takahashi and all places, people and objects from the Saga Frontier realm were created and belong to Squaresoft. It is a waste of your time to get me to justice, you have better things to do with your time. Written by Thierry Chartrand-Chamblay (A.k.a. Snapdragon) - May 2000 First and Second Correction - May 2000 Third Correction - September 2000 Fourth Correction - January 2002