[Episode 204097] [Episode 204097]Nerima
Damn primitive Terrans. Ten thousand years and they never figured out how to make a decent sleeping tube. How can they expect me to sleep without zero-G. It’s gonna be—
“Akane!”
“Hstfgl…unh?”
“Get up already! It’s almost eleven in the morning!”
This went right over Carmellia’s head. Each planet had had its own timekeeping system out of astronomical necessity. It was that, or standardize planetary orbits and revolution periods, which had been deemed silly. In any case, the Venusian day was nearly as long as its year, so the meaning of Nabiki’s statement went right over Carmellia’s borrowed head. The former noble explained this as follows: “Zgnfr.”
That did it for Nabiki. She was the one filling the morning zombie niche in this household, and she was going to ensure that things stayed that way. “Come on, little sister,” she said as she entered Akane’s room. “We’re getting you downstairs and caffeinated.” She dragged the covers off of her sister’s body, leaving nothing on it. This gave her a brief pause. “But first we need to get you something to wear.”
“Szlgdt.”
“Akane!” Kasumi immediately felt her youngest sister’s forehead. “You don’t seem to have a fever. I was worried you might have come down with something. You slept right through breakfast!” Her expression was a mix of concern and shame at having allowed this to pass. “I would have waited for you, but Mr. Saotome insisted on us eating at the usual time.” She brightened. “Ah! But I did save you something. Sit, I’ll go get it.”
Carmellia sat, impressed. ‘Wow,’ she thought, ‘it’s like she’s making my cover story for me.’
“Here you are!” The matronly girl set a plate and chopsticks before her sibling. Then she saw said sibling’s uneasy expression. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing! Nothing! It just all…looks so…good…” Internally, Carmellia decided, ‘Something is drastically wrong with any society that considers rice, pickles, and soup a breakfast.’
“Mornin’, Akane.”
‘Now beefcake on the other hand…’ “Good morning,” she said cheerfully. “Would you like any of this? I’m not really hun—”
private static DiningProtocol(Edible food)
{if (food.onTable() == true)
Ranma.eat(food);}
“—gry.” Carmellia paused. Ranma was tipping back the rice bowl to get at the last grains. ‘Oh yeah, this has to be Zoamel.’
She decided it was best to broach the subject as delicately as she could. “So, know where either of our Amulets is?” The operative phrase being “as she could.”
Ranma, who had been finishing the tea, did a spit take. “Wh-what’re ya talkin’ ‘bout, Akane-chan?” If his fiancée knew he wasn’t just meeting with girls stronger and bustier than her but was inflating their short-skirted ranks, he was a dead man.
“Guess you don’t remember anything,” muttered the girl. She smirked mischievously. “Or do you?”
“I don’t know nothin’!” the boy cried frantically.
“Thought so. How ‘bout that time I snuck into your dad’s office and shredded the report he’d been working on all night?”
On Ranma’s forehead, the dodecagram flared into visibility. “That was you!?” The voice rang with ancient fury.
It echoed in Carmellia’s memories. “V-Viscount Zoamel?” ‘Well, I’m boned.’
“That had been the culmination of months of intense research! I’d have asked Queen Titania to banish my own daughter had I not been at risk of such myself! And you, you little egomongering, self-righteous maverick, you were the responsible party!?” Ranma blinked and the twelve-pointed star winked out. “What th’ crap?”
Carmellia caught her breath. Gustav Zoamel, father of the last Sailor Aquarius, Martina Zoamel, had been one of the few people actually capable of frightening her. The royal family of Saturn could do it because of the unspeakable power they commanded. Her mother could manage it thanks to the strand of fear that is part of any healthy child-parent relationship. But Viscount Zoamel was, other than his daughter, the only person who saw through her “tough girl” façade, but unlike his child, he would not tolerate it. He was the one challenge to her pride she could not intimidate away, and that scared the crap out of her.
“Indeed, little sister,” drawled Nabiki, between sucks on an ice pop. “What the crap?”
Both Ranma and Carmellia jumped. “How long have you been there!?” demanded the ex-noble.
“Oh, somewhere around when Ranma’s forehead started glowing,” the mercenary girl responded nonchalantly. “So, I’m guessing you aren’t actually Akane.”
Ranma groaned. “Don’ tell me she’s possessed again.”
Carmellia shifted uneasily. “Eh, not exactly. See, I’m sort of a…preincarnation of Akane.”
Nabiki raised an eyebrow at this. “‘Preincarnation’?”
“Basically, I’m who Akane was in a past life.”
“That’s a new one,” commented the aquatransexual. “So, how far back are we talkin’ here?”
Carmellia sighed. ‘Might as well lay all my chips on the table.’ “Would you believe ten thousand years?”
“No,” Nabiki said flatly. “People hadn’t even figured out the connection between seeds and plants yet. You’re awfully articulate for a cavegirl.”
“History has more than a few holes in it,” countered the alleged cavegirl. “And I know your language ‘cause of the few memories of Akane’s I’ve got access to. You ever hear of the Silver Millennium?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“It’s stuff t’ do with the Sailor Senshi, Nabiki,” Ranma clarified.
“The Senshi? I figured they were either urban legends or rabid cosplayers.”
Carmellia shook her head. “Neither. I am one. So is Akane. Same one, if you want to get technical.”
“Really? Then let’s see you transform.”
The girl shrugged. “Sorry. No can do. I was conned out of my Amulet, my transformation device, shortly before I died. Had to fight without my powers, and when you’re up against energy sucking demons from another dimension, you’re not gonna fare too well without ‘em.”
“I’d imagine. So where’s Akane?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
Ranma glared at the face of his fiancée. “What,” he said menacingly, “is that s’posed ta mean?”
Carmellia swallowed. “Nothing threatening! Really! She went unconscious. I don’t know why. Now stop looking at me like that! It’s really creepy!”
The part-time female sighed. “Well, that makes four then.”
“Saotome?” Nabiki was growing confused.
“I got good news for ya. I’m kinda in charge o’ makin’ sure all the Zodiac Senshi are found.”
Carmellia smirked. “Really? Well, congratulations. Carmellia d’Eros, currently inhabiting Tendo Akane, reporting for duty as Sailor Leo.”
Washington, D.C.
It was the middle of the night. The Senshi were all peacefully asleep. Well, those in one of the hotel rooms were. In the other…
“Haruka…”
“Heh heh, you like that, don’t you?”
“Ah! N-no! Not the-ah! Not there!”
“Oops! It’s Opposite Day! ‘Not there’ means ‘Keep going!’ H-hey! What are y—?”
“You said it was Opposite Day. That means I get to tease you.”
“Ah! Mi-Michiru…”
In the other bed laid Motoko, eyes wide open, though carefully directed away from the...activities in the adjacent bed.
It wasn't helping.
Unspecified Tokyo ward
Yomi dragged herself out of unconsciousness, blinking wearily. “What a weird dream,” she muttered to herself. “That’s what I get for trying that all-sea-cucumber diet. Definitely not a keeper if I’m going to dream of Osaka and some weird squiggle.” She rubbed her temples and groped for her glasses. “Hopefully, this is a one time thing.”
Unbeknownst to the self-conscious girl, she was not the only pupil of Tanizaki Yukari to receive a portentous dream. Nor was she the only one to write it off as the result of something strange that was eaten the day before. In any case, among her peers in this respect was:
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(Posted Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:13)
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