“I’ll do it!” Ranma shouted without any hesitation, being the heroic person to jump into any situation without looking first that he was. “How do I get there?”
Kasu noticeably frowned at that. “Now that’s something you’ll have to find out for yourself...”
Blinking his eyes once, twice, all Ranma could ask was, “Huh?”
“Yes, Ranma,” Kasu said as she looked up into his eyes. “The way into Ja’an differs from person to person. I can tell you it has to do with someone of this world entering a meditative state or trance...”
Considering that, Ranma asked, “So if I go to sleep...?”
“Maybe,” Kasu admitted. “Maybe not...”
Ranma frowned. “Why wouldn’t it?”
“Because if anyone could have found the way in their sleep, I’m sure we WOULD have had many visitors by now...” Kasu explained. “Every person is on a different mental wavelength, and so no one person should have the same ‘path’ to follow from this world to Ja’an.”
Considering that, Ranma asked, “So how’d YOU get here?”
“Magic,” Kasu answered seriously.
Visibly twitching at THAT response, Ranma slowly answered, “Okay... so can’t you just use your magic voodoo on me?”
Shaking her head, Kasu again had to explain. “The magic only works for those who have already come into contact with our world. Our souls all intertwine with the great spirit of mana, the ethereal stream which encases our faire realm.” She gave Ranma a sad look. “Not to mention I have an anchor.”
While Ranma wasn’t the brightest of people, even he understood that until he reached this Ja’an place, magic was a no-go. But... “What’s this ‘bout an anchor?”
Looking up at Ranma from her rocking chair, the Kasumi-look-alike continued to help Ranma understand the situation with travel. “Akane had mentioned I looked like her sister, so that gave me a ‘beacon’ of sorts to follow into this world. Once found I was able to ‘latch’ onto her and come into the general vicinity...” she then frowned as her body slowly started to glow lightly. “Oh dear... my time here is almost up.”
Ranma eyes widened. “Wait! You can’t go!”
“I’m sorry, Ranma,” the mage of one of the royal court of Ja’an apologized sincerely. “But the magic of Ja’an can only exist within this world for a limited time, so the method I used to come here isn’t as permanent as if I’d gone into a meditative state to transcend between the barriers between our worlds...” as she said that her form started to become translucent. “Remember! To reach us you must go beyond this world with your mind!” She said urgently before she disappeared completely, leaving behind glittering dust on the air where she had been.
Staring down at where she had disappeared, the pigtailed martial artist had some trouble grasping this. Not that he didn’t believe her, but he was a little slow on the mental uptake thanks to the training of his youth under the ‘guidance’ of his old man.
It took a few moments, but Ranma was able to get an understanding. Akane had crossed over to another realm in her sleep. She’d been kidnapped there and taken to the Realm of Shadows, meaning she’d be unable to return. No one of Ja’an could pass-over naturally so they needed someone who could, someone of this world.
And he’d been chosen for the job.
His eyes narrowing in determination, Ranma knew he couldn’t let the Tomboy down. Raising his right hand in a fist, the martial artist of the Anything Goes made a promise then and there that he’d find a way over to save Akane.
But how the hell was he going to do that!? How the hell was he going to just zone out and make his way over. Even when he was asleep, he was still active as it was engrained instinct to protect himself! He’d be on automatic, but his instincts were still going and keeping him moving.
Martial arts were out, too. Even if he went on instinct, how long could a battle last? Or Katas? Was it even safe to try that?
Damn, the only time he could ever thing of acting ‘conking out’ and truly being out of it was...
...
No...
Oh no...
Thinking desperately about some way, any way to truly be out of it, Ranma was hoping he could come up with some other option, any other way that could help him conk out and truly be out of it without having to resort to... THAT!
Shuddering as he realized there was NO other option, Ranma slumped his shoulders in defeat... it looked like he was going to have to bite the bullet...
Or in this case, a bite of Akane’s cooking.
Leaving the youngest Tendo daughter’s bedroom, Ranma made his way down the hall and down the staircase. He was trying to be quiet as to not wake up anyone in the house, but even he was having trouble concentrating. The task at hand was promising to be dangerous, but a martial artist had to be willing to sacrifice their own life for another’s if need be.
Finally reaching the kitchen, Ranma went to the fridge. Opening the door, he bathed the darkened room in the light from the refrigerator and looked through. He looked through the refrigerator, looking for any leftovers. In an instant, his eyes locked on the metal tray which seemed to have a visible odor leaking out from between the aluminum tray and lid.
“That’s it...” Ranma grimaced as he reached out for the tray, finding it oddly warm for something that had been in the fridge for over a week. Taking the tray over to the kitchen table, the pigtailed martial artist placed it down on the top and reached to peel open the lid. As soon as he did, he reared back as if he’d been hit as the stench hit him head-on.
Standing back to look at the disaster before him, Ranma tried to ignore the stink-cloud shaped like a skull and crossbones that came up from Akane’s bubbling concoction. She’d said it had been an Italian recipe of lasagna, but the thing looked more like sewer sludge with shreds of carbonized rubber from a car tire.
Shuddering, Ranma went to the drawer to get a spoon. “The things I do for Akane...” he mumbled to himself as he went back to the ‘food’. He stuck in a wooden spoon to lightly stir it. However, as soon as he took it out to get a bite, he noticed that the head of the utensil had disintegrated.
Tossing the spoon over his shoulder, Ranma once again muttered, “The things I do for Akane...” Grabbing the sides of the tray, Ranma lifted it up to his lips and tipped, trying to force himself to eat. As soon as the bilge touched his tongue, Ranma could already feel the bile rising up from his stomach but he fought it, allowing some morsels of Akane’s cooking to hit the back of his throat and go down.
After a few moments, Ranma slammed the tray back down on the kitchen counter-top. He reared his head back, screaming at the intense pain he felt coursing from his stomach and outward through every single part of his body. His body spasming, he fell forward, slamming his head on the kitchen counter-top before collapsing to the floor in a twitching mess, saliva bubbling rapidly from his mouth as his eyes rolled back into his head.
(------)
“Auugh... what hit me?” Ranma groaned. While he wasn’t feeling any pain now, he certainly felt groggy and nauseas. Opening his eyes slowly, Ranma shook his head to clear it of the fogginess and realized he wasn’t in the Tendo Home anymore.
A small smile came to Ranma as he realized he’d made it to Ja’an, and only at the small cost of having to deal with stomach ulcers later down the road.
And so it was that Ranma found himself in...
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Red Priest of the 17th Order
(Posted Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:45)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.