Gilgamesh was sweating while reading the printed instructions from his boss. "You know, that can get us all in major trouble if you screw it up."
'I know,' the calm voice replied. 'But think of it: When will I have a chance like that again?'
"I know you're right," Gilgamesh said while scratching his head. "But... damn, even I wouldn't have thought about something like that."
'Well, you're not as smart as the boss himself. That's the reason why you're still the messenger boy.'
Gilgamesh shot his conversation partner a dark look. "Okay, Mr. Funny, if you don't have anything better to do, why don't you go and prepare yourself for transmission?"
'You bet I will. This is the first chance for me to have my own body for years. See ya!'
----
Ranma and Yuna bowed before the fayth. The spirit smiled at them. "Well, I suppose, the two of you are ready to receive your new Aeons."
He spread his arms and a bright light seemed to surround Yuna. Ranma got worried, because it seemed to strain her body intensely.
When the light vanished, the fayth lowered his arms. "You now are able to summon Ixion, horned steed of lightning and thunder." He turned towards Ranma. "Don't worry, her additional summoner powers always make this kinda uncomfortable. But she'll be fine."
In his hand, Ranma could see another gemstone. He gulped. "Is... is that...?"
The fayth nodded. "Yes, Ranma. This is another Esper that is given to you in the form of an Aeon. But know that this one is special..."
"Huh?" Ranma asked. "What do you mean by that?"
"You know, we heard from Carbuncle about your little problem with something called... the Neko-ken. Am I not wrong?"
"Uh, yes," Ranma answered. "But Neko really improved over the last days. He doesn't seem to break out as often as he did in the past."
"But still, he dwells in your mind, unable to break out without controlling you. So we thought, we should help him and you... and there is another one that would profit from this act."
He lifted the gem. "You see... this Esper has been used by an evil force in the past, and the group of heroes that battled his sinister master was forced to destroy his former body. So he needs another host to once again become a full Esper... and you would be able to summon him. I assure you, he is a legendary fighter, with great courage and strength."
"Well, sounds good to me," Ranma shrugged. "But what exactly will happen to Neko and him?"
The spirit smirked. "They will simply... merge."
----
Carbuncle and Fenrir jumped to their feet, when suddenly their roommate Neko began floating up in the air, arms and legs outstretched.
'What the...?' Fenrir asked in surprise.
'I feel... so powerful...' Neko muttered.
And then, a bright flash surrounded his body.
----
When Ranma and Yuna came back to the antechamber, they could see their friends arguing with an unwelcome guest: Dona and her guardian Barthello were there and once again making trouble.
Kimahri was helping Yuna, as she weakly stumbled into the chamber.
Dona sneered at her. "You owe so much to your father," she said. "All these guardians... and Sir Auron, too? And I hear Maester Seymour's quite taken with you. The world must look different when you are the daughter of Lord Braska."
"That has nothing to do with my father," Yuna protested. I'm travelling on my own, as a full-fledged summoner."
"Oh, really?" Dona mocked. "Then try standing on your own two legs for once. Your guardians won't be able to protect you when the time comes."
Angrily, Ranma stepped forward. "I just have had enough of you," he shouted. "You wanna piece of Yuna? Then get through me first!"
Dona looked at him coldly. "How could they make a brute like you into a summoner? I'd suggest you stop talking to me like that."
"What will you do?" Ranma asked. "Send your goon after me, as always?"
Dona, who had seen how effortlessly Ranma had thrown Barthello through the Temple of Kilika, shook her head. "No, I don't think that will be necessary... but I challenge you to a summoner's contest: A fight between our Aeons!"
Yuna and Wakka gasped. Ranma stared into Dona's eyes. "Okay, I agree." he finally said. "But no dirty tricks, okay?"
"Of course not," she said. "If you like, we can assign a neutral referee for our match... he will judge the outcome of the battle."
"Okay," Ranma replied. "I'd suggest Isaaru, the man who was here before us. As he's a summoner as well, he'd be best suited."
"Agreed," Dona stated.
----
They allowed Dona to get her own Aeon from the Djose Temple first, so they had both the same number of Aeons to choose from.
Now, they were standing in front of the temple doors. Barthello and Ranma's friends were waiting next to the temple walls.
Ranma and Dona were facing each other. Isaaru - who didn't mind at all to be the referee - was standing in their middle.
"This is a one-on-one match between two summoners," he said. "No summoner is allowed to interfere directly with the fight, or to change the Aeon. Anyone who does one of these things, will immediately be disqualified. If one summoner calls back his Aeon, it will count as a surrendering."
Both opponents nodded. Isaaru stepped back towards the others.
"Ready... summon!"
Dona laughed. "This is going to be easy. I summon Ifrit, hellbeast of fire!"
And similar to Yuna's summon, Dona's fire Aeon appeared out of a fiery portal and growled at Ranma.
'She seems to think power is everything,' Ranma thought. 'Well, let's teach her a thing or two about that.'
"Okay, I've chosen," Ranma said. "Come out... ancient ruler over hurricanes and air currents... Show me your roar, proud lion... GRIEVER!"
A giant tornado came down from the sky. In it's middle, a dark figure could be seen. While it slowly raised its head, two curved blades materialized next to it. The Aeon grasped his weapons and with a mighty force, spread out his bat-like wings, which stopped the tornado.
Growling, the black-furred, winged, humanoid lion named Griever looked down at his opponent.
'Finally,' he thought. 'Finally, after all this time, I have once again a corporeal form...'
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(Posted Fri, 21 Jul 2006 16:09)
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