"This woman," Setsuna said, producing a picture of Nabiki. She then took out another picture, of Ranma this time. "and this man. We need to protect them."
"Okay, who are they and why do we need to protect them," Matoko asked.
"Well, say rather we need to protect the woman, Nabiki Tendo," Setsuna said. "For the next nine months or so."
"Ah so she's carrying some child that's important to Crystal Tokyo or something?" Rei deduced.
Setsuna bridged her eyebrows and shrugged slightly. Everybody expected that.
She didn't particularly know either. The child of a pair of enlightened immortals would be powerful, but there was no telling if he would be involved in Crystal Tokyo. Tracking the future of such a union was...problematic at best.
"So you don't care what happens to them as long as the baby's born?" Usagi asked cautiously.
"They're hard to get rid of," Setsuna said simply. "They are under the influence of a sort of...reincarnation spell. If they die, they simply come back later."
That was a watered down version of the truth. You could destroy their chi, and they'd come back. They could vanish in the pits of hell, and they'd come back. A demon could try to swallow their souls, and they'd come back. They could be driven insane and die of starvation, and they'd come back, fully healthy.
"Oh," Ami said. "Such as the Queen's spell to send us all forward."
"Something like that," Setsuna said.
"So the child must not be so protected then," Michiru said. Setsuna nodded. "What do they have to do with Crystal Tokyo."
Setsuna looked at Michiru with her, I-already-refused-to-answer-that expression.
"They are newly reborn," Setsuna continued. "It will be nearly a year before they recover the bulk of their knowledge, and longer before they receive all their former power. As it is, Ranma is quite a capable of defender, but Nabiki...was never the best warrior to begin with. She should be starting to recall some geomantric skills, however."
Setsuna also wondered what the reaction of the two would be when they recovered their memories. After centuries of marrying various mortals, the stubborn pair finally ended up with each other. Setsuna felt vindicated for all the seemingly vain trouble she went through on that part.
"And what do we have to protect them from?" Rei asked.
"Ami," Setsuna said. "Connect to the Osaka airport's security cameras and show the archives for the customs line for last monday, at 12:27? Thank you."
Ami blinked and did as requested.
"Display it for all please?" Setsuna said. And the screen showed Fei-Lei arriving in China. "This woman is seeking the child for reasons I have been unable to determine. I once had a run-in with her some hundred years ago. She is quite powerful, but the encounter was brief and neither of us acquired an accurate estimate of the other's capabilities. I am not sure by what name she is going by right now, but she is known as Fei-Lei...the flying thunder."
"What DO you know about her then?" Minako asked.
"She is a sorceress, she has been around for hundreds of years..." Setsuna stopped and frowned. "One moment please." She vanished and then returned quickly. "Hotaru..." the quiet girl looked up. "It seems that you're needed."
"I am?" Hotaru said nervously.
****
"Ranma-kun," Kasumi said. "She...she's getting paler."
Ranma stopped as he felt a growing wet patch on his back, and he gently brought Nabiki around.
"Damn it!" Ranma snapped. "He clipped the vessel!"
He frantically tried to think of a technique to stop the steady flow of blood from the cut under her armpit while planning what he'd do to Ryouga if Nabiki died.
"Don't worry, Nabiki," Kasumi said to the unconscious girl. "You're going to be just fine, right Ranma?"
"Yeah," Ranma said reluctantly as he applied pressure to the wound and reached out to link into Nabiki's chi, letting her draw off him for a time. "Kasumi, go call someone, I'll keep her good!"
"Oh, yes, of...AHH!" Kasumi gasped nad almost fell back as a young girl in a purple sailor fuku appeared.
"Excuse me, Saotome-san," Hotaru said nervously, reaching down with glowing hands.
"Who are you?" Ranma demanded. Hotaru flinched and pulled back.
"I was sent to help," Hotaru said. "Please let me heal her."
Ranma only hesitated a moment before relenting to the strange girl.
"If anything goes wrong," Ranma warned.
"They shall both be fine," Hotaru promised as she reached down to find the wounds and heal them.
"Both?" Kasumi repeated, then gasped.
See other episodes by Thrythlind
(Posted Fri, 15 Nov 2002 17:19)
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