“Spill, Setsuna!” said Haruka, as they arrived back at the home of the Outers, after the battle. “Who or what is Ran?”
“Is he like the Starlights?” asked Minako.
Setsuna sighed, as she sat down in her favorite chair. “It will take some time to explain.”
“Then you better start,” said Rei.
“Where any of us engaged to him?” asked Makoto, little daydreams floating in her mind.
“No,” said Setsuna. “I would never have forced an arranged marriage on him.”
“Who was he, Setsuna-mama?” asked Hotaru.
Sighing, Setsuna stared off for a bit, before she stood up. With a flick of her wrist, a crystal appeared in her hand, which she sat on the table. “This is a holographic image of him, about a month before the Great Fall.”
With that, she turned it on.
The man formed in the image was regal looking, indicating he had been dressed for some function, his cape with the symbol of Pluto on it, a jeweled sword strapped to his side. The Inners were somewhat reminded of a Dark General’s uniform, as well as it appearing to be crossed with the battle form of Mamoru.
“Hunky!” smirked Minako.
“But his ... er ... her hair wasn’t all green,” said Ami. “Her hair was red mixed with green.”
“Ran wasn’t sent forward by the Queen,” replied Setsuna. “Without that, there was no guarantee that he would be reborn looking like he used to.”
“What was he like?” asked Usagi.
“You have to understand that back then, he was more feared than Saturn was,” sighed Setsuna.
“W-w-what?” stumbled Michiru.
Nodding, Setsuna continued. “His father was a man who had arrived from outside Sol, crashed on Pluto. We never really found out who he was or where he’d come from, but in the short time I was with him, I can honestly say I was never more in love than I was at that moment.”
Usagi sniffled. “That ... that’s so lovely!”
“He never found out I with child before he passed on, injuries we didn’t even know about until he died.
“But when Ran was born, those with power saw him as a threat.”
“But why?” asked Haruka.
“You have to understand that the lineage of the Royal Lines was a simple process. This was that the first child conceived would always be female, the next in line for the throne. Since my first child was born male, they insisted that something was amiss. And when he tested extremely high for chaotic energies...”
“They saw him as a threat,” finished a sad Hotaru.
“Was he?” asked Rei.
Setsuna shook her head. “He never would have hurt anyone. I had the hardest time finding him tutors who would do their job, and not belittle him or show him spite.
“But he was also not going to show weakness,” said Setsuna. “He trained in ways I would have called torture; gravity rooms that nearly crushed him to death, simulated attackers that could have slain an entire army, and you don’t want to know what he did to toughen his body. All these were done without any aid of magic, except to heal him.”
“Did it work?” asked Makoto.
“He could tear an enemy apart with his bare hands,” admitted Pluto. “As you can imagine, those that witnessed him on the battlefield often added to the rumors that he was a monster.
“But he ignored them. Hell, he even worked for the Queen at times as a Black Ops agent. But the stories continued to spread, and though he never admitted it, I knew he hated that he was feared by all but a few, despite the fact he had proven his loyalty a thousand times over.”
“That’s so sad,” muttered Usagi.
“Did he have anyone?” asked Minako.
“Not that he ever told me,” said Setsuna. “But to be honest, I doubt there was anyone. He was a lonely man before he took up any duties, and I was all but certain he would be until Death came for him.”
“And now he’s back as a she,” stated Haruka. “She’s even more powerful than you.”
“I know,” said Setsuna. “I just hope that whoever they are ... they still want me in their lives.”
“Great,” mumbled Ranma. “I spend days looking for a way out of this damn forest, and I can’t finding one!”
“I would be most surprised if you found one,” said a voice, as a form walked out from the woods.
Ranma could only stare. The guy looked like he was wearing a military dress uniform, but the part that struck him the most was that the guy ... looked exactly like him, green hair and reddish eyes aside. “Who the heck are you?”
“I am Ran.”
“Who?”
The figure sighed. “Must you always be such a thick headed buffoon?”
“Hey!”
“I am most serious,” said Ran. “You seem to take extreme delight in your lack of sophistication and crude behavior.”
“That ain’t true!” yelled Ranma.
“Oh, so then why do you not study your school books on your own? Find help for what you do not understand? Put the same drive that you use to master a move into mastering your mind?
“Am I cursed to be reincarnated into a fool?”
“I ain’t a fool!”
“History tells differently, I’m afraid,” said Ran, as he walked around Ranma.
“So what!” yelled Ranma.
“If you do not grow, you will die,” said Ran in a flat voice. “You allow others to control you, dictate what and who you should be. You allow useless battles to continue, and allow yourself to be enslaved by the wills and dreams of others.
“You are not a man, you are a scared little child, still playing in the dirt.”
Ranma darted forward, his fist outstretched, as he connected with Ran’s chin, sending the green haired boy into the sky. Ranma darted into the air, connecting with a snap kick, before releasing a chi attack into Ran’s gut, sending the boy rocketing to the ground. “How’s that for a child?” yelled Ranma with a smirk.
“Proof that what I said is true,” said Ran, standing up, the attacks not having done any apparent damage. “You recoil from the truth, fight anything that doesn’t support your will and expectations, but mainly whatever makes you feel like ‘less of a man’.
“It would seem that you need to learn yet another lesson the hard way.”
“And that is?” asked Ranma, slipping into a fighting stance.
“That you don’t fuck with the Demon of the Dark,” smirked Ran.
And thus the fight was joined.
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(Posted Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:50)
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