"You get used to not only seeing girls with blue skin about to bounce out of their bikini tops, but giant piles of rock selling seeds as well?" Nabiki asked as they passed examples of said figures.
"Pretty much. You see it enough, you learn to deal with it. I, of course, learned how to handle it faster, if I do say so myself."
"And that is the case... why?"
"I am a martial artist, and as such, know how to adapt."
The middle Tendo daughter turned her face away from the man and rolled her eyes. "Right...."
"I am a martial artist too...." Akane muttered, her mouth pulled down into such an intense frown that her face started to have folds.
"Which is important in which way, little sis?"
"I don't see how it could be so easy to just leave it alone. I mean, there are monsters here."
"Yes, and demons, robots, humans, and the occasional 'mishap' every so often," their father's friend told them.
"Eh?"
"This is the place where they are supposed to be. Welcome to the Netherworld."
"What?!" went the two younger Tendo daughters.
"You can't seriously mean that this place is...." Nabiki trailed off, her mind working hard to handle the possible physical proof that religions might not be quite so much like the 'superstitions' that some people thought they were.
Her younger sister just stared at Genma in dull shock. "'Netherworld'. That means...."
"A place, or plane of existence where damned souls are sent to be punished in the afterlife," Kasumi helpfully stated, smiling reassuringly at her sisters.
That led to much staring at the eldest of the Tendo girls.
Genma gave the Tendo family his own smile. "Ah, yes. Well, this place isn't exactly that bad. To tell the truth, it's actually quite cosy and comfortable, depending on where you are."
"This isn't a place where they torture people for the fun of it?" Akane asked dubiously.
"Oh, not at all. At least in this corner, it's actually quite nice. And my son is doing much to improve it."
"He would be...."
"The ruler of this... planetoid, I believe that it's supposed to be called."
This caused the Tendo girls to stop and pay more attention to what was going on.
"Now, if you'll come with me, I'll show you what it's like before I bring you to see my wife and son."
"There is no problem with that, old friend," Soun commented, patting the other man on his back. "No problem, indeed."
"Very good then. Let's start with what's over in that direction. A nice food court, if I say so myself."
As Genma led them down the walkway past the shops, Akane kept her eye contact on the belligerent looking ape that seemed to have taken an interest in her.
Nabiki didn't hide the way that she measured the appearance of a horned woman who was apparently doing the same to her with intelligent and experienced eyes.
The flower fairies were so taken with Kasumi, that they asked her to visit them when she had the chance. She only had one problem with this. "Would there be enough time for me to look in on them?"
"Certainly. We'll just swing on in that direction soon enough. Just remember that they can only have a few minutes of your time. And not all of the folks are going to be all nice," the Saotome patriarch told her.
"It is not as if I needed to be told that right now."
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Kasumi responded, and kept close to her father.
Shrugging, Genma led them onward, past the shops, and over to the food services area, while:
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(Posted Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:43)
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