"I DIDN'T DO IT!" said Akane. "At least I don't think I did."
"Well, at least he doesn't think he's a daisy this time," said Miss Hinako.
Ranma was really getting concerned about this daisy thing too.
"It seems he doesn't remember anything about wraiths," said Yuka.
"Man, you must'a clocked him pretty good, Akane," said Hiroshi, who oddly enough wasn't staring at any of the naked girls around him.
Akane growled something.
"What's a 'wraith'?" asked Ranma.
"Okay, now if Miss Tendo can avoid any further hits to the head," said Miss Hinako, sitting on her desk and bringing a coin to focus on the tank of fighting fish. Just to "top off her tank" as it were. "We'll just go over the basics so Mister Saotome can stop straining his brain about something perfectly normal."
"Well, at least I don't have to water him or something," said a clothes-wearing Ukyo. Though it looked like her clothing was held together by velcro and she wore anklets and bracelets that COULD be chained together.
"Uhm," said Miss Hinako, looking over the class. "Hiroshi. Explain paraversal theory."
"Okay," said Hiroshi, standing up. "Our universe has thirteen known dimensions, though we can only directly perceive four. The rest are folded real small into Kubabi-"
"Kalabi-Yau," corrected Miss Hinako.
"Right, itty bitty folds," said Hiroshi. "Anyway, ours isn't the only universe and stuff can come through those folds. Mainly the wraith."
"Right," said Miss Hinako. "Daisuke. Put the motorcycle magazine away, and tell Saotome about the wraith."
"Wraithsnakes are the common invader," said Daisuke, standing up as Hiroshi flopped back down into his chair. "They're masochists, sort of. They enjoy causing pain and suffering and death, but they're not physical - they need to possess someone to affect this world directly. Male chi is poisonous to them. Female chi they can handle for brief periods. So when they manifest, they go after females manifesting chi in the levels they can handle."
"That's good as far as it goes, but they can only manifest in women of childbearing years - again because it is exclusively female chi that they can tolerate and only within that narrow range," said Miss Hinako. "Gosunkugi? Oh, he must be sick today. Sayuri? Symptoms of wraith infestation?"
"Actually, I'm here," mumbled Gosunkugi.
Sayuri stood up. "Marks on the skin, which the wraith have not been able to disguise. Epileptic fits, which are caused by the struggle for control as the wraith try to override the host's nervous system. It feels really creepy too."
"Yes, dear, nobody enjoys the wraith, but they have been a presence since Neolithic times, as the cave paintings in France indicate," said Miss Hinako. "Prior to that, you see pictures which actually depict women wearing clothing if you can imagine that."
Various scoffing or offended noises resulted to that. Ranma merely continued to listen in such shock that his usual reactions were offline.
"The wraith are repelled by various things which everyone knows about," continued Miss Hinako. "They cannot cross a sanctified threshold or the threshold of a home. Streets and common ground are therefore where they normally manifest. Yuka, what else can hold off a wraith possession?"
"Spirit wards or religious symbols, if they mean something to the wielder and are fairly established," said Yuka. "I remember the time my Aunt Mitsune tried to brandish a sake bottle saying she had faith in THAT."
A few laughs indicated that people had heard that story before.
Yuka looked embarassed at the laughter, then continued. "They can't cross running water, and there's theories about how certain herbs can poison a woman's chi for them."
"Those are dangerous," said Miss Hinako. "Always check with a physician before trying anything like that."
"Yes'm," said Yuka, sitting back down.
Miss Hinako sat on the edge of her desk, considering. "Anything I miss?"
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(Posted Thu, 30 Nov 2006 18:17)
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