He raged at her pure audacity. To attempt to murder the Daimyo of the Crab, to murder him in such a dishonorable way. There would be no mercy for the cowardly whore. None what so ever…
His mind went back to Kyoko. She saved his life. She took the dart that had been meant for him. She has surprised him non stop. She showed great skill in battle, risked her life on the wall, betrayed her clan for the good of the empire, and may have very well sacrificed her life for his.
He would have to reconsider his stance on her, but that would be later. He had an assassin to brutalize... if he didn't just hand her over to Ranma.
-------------------------
Kimuri was simply overwhelmed. She had been forced to banish Ranma from the room, the young Hida was delirious with grief. As much as he had wanted to help, he was just getting in the way.
She could hear his pacing on the other side of the paper wall. It was constant and non-stop. It was driving her crazy!
She shook her head and refocused on the task at hand.
The poison was very fast acting and veracious. Even her magic was useless here. It would take time Kyoko had been able to identify it but had fallen into a delirium before should could tell her the cure.
From her professional opinion, the Scorpion was lucky to have survived this long. Unless a there was some kind of miracle, she doubted the Scorpion would last the night.
None the less, she had a duty. She would not just sit back and let this woman die. She would help her fight until Kyoko was beyond help.
-------------------------
Kyoko slowly felt her life fading from her. She was going to die.
She was afraid. She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live! She wanted to be with Ranma, and what of her betrayal? She betrayed her clan? Would that dishonor damn her? Was she doomed to burn in Jugoku?
She fought… she fought the poison with all her will but it wasn’t enough. She still felt the life slowly fade from her. Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours. Time ceased to exist for her. She could only fight... only slow the poison.
Maybe if she fought hard enough the shujenja could cure her before she died, but she doubted it.
After what felt like both an eternity and a second, when she was on the brink of passing on, at the very edge of the knife, she heard a voice.
“Kyoko...”
The voice was pure as untouched morning snow. It carried with it a aura of pure benevolence and kindness. It comforted her.
Slowly, the world around Kyoko changed. It was like an image was being projected into her mind. She was standing in a field of snow at the edge of a great sea. It was as vivid as a dream.
Standing in the snow field was a beautiful gaijin woman, clad in fir and leather. Her hair was like golden straw, her eyes reflected both love and iron determination, and her face was decorated by blue symbols of power.
“Kyoko,” the woman repeated.
Kyoko stepped back. “Who… who are you?”
“I am Belldandy,” she replied with a smile.
“Why are you here?” she asked. “What do you want with me.”
“You must go back.” she replied, “This is not your time, Kyoko”
Kyoko gulped. She was confused and afraid. Who was this? What was this? Was it a hallucination brought on by the poison? Was this an Oni tempting her? Was this a Unicorn ancestor she didn’t know she had? What was going on here?
As if she was reading Kyoko’s mind, Belldandy walked forward and placed her hand on the Ninja-ko’s shoulder. “I am a goddess, Kyoko.”
Kyoko’s eyes widened in shock. She knew this was true. It resonated through her very soul, but it also left one question unanswered. “Why are you here, what would a gaijin kami want with a child of the Sun and the Moon? Why do you care wither I live or die?”
The goddess looked Kyoko in the eyes. “We are all children of Kami-sama, that should be enough.” She paused and sighed, “But there is another reason as well. You are Ranma’s beloved. In Asgard, we look out for our own.”
“You own?” Kyoko’s eyes widened with realization. “You! You are the Kami who chose Ranma! Why? Why him!? Why did you have to chose him to fight He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? WHY?”
“I didn’t choose him. He took this responsibility on through his own free will. He chose this. It was what he was born to do.”
Kyoko opened her mouth again to speak, but was shushed by the deity.
“Enough. We are running short on time. I am going to send you back.” Bell paused and added, “Tell Ranma that we would not send him back to his old world if he did not wish to leave this one.”
Kyoko opened her mouth to ask the meaning of this, but was lost in a crashing wave of vertigo.
Back in Kyuden Hida, she opened her eyes.
See other episodes by PsyckoSama
(Posted Fri, 08 Nov 2002 23:23)
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