Doctor Mizuno and the two mooncats were there. So was Mamoru Chiba for all that he was only a few years older than the Senshi and Ranma.
Sailor Pluto frowned, looking thoughtful as she decided how best to put this.
"Ages ago, as the world reckons time, there was the Silver Millenium. A Lunar colony formed of refugees from a set of events that raged across this galaxy known as the Sailor Wars. At the end of that time, during a masquerade ball to celebrate defeat of the forces of evil they'd recently faced - it was revealed that the forces fought until that time had been just a fraction of their total forces."
Sailor Pluto paused for a moment, recognized that the two mooncats were ready to interject their own commentary, and made a simple gesture to them to indicate that such should wait. "This is oversimplified but I have to give this background. The Dark Kingdom is awake and operating now, but from what I saw - a large segment of the elite of those forces came awake about one thousand years ago. They broke out into a dimension that intertwines with our own, and would have used it to stage an invasion of our own universe.
"They were stopped, but at the cost of those who stood in their way at that time.
"Legend later took over from those with such gifts as could tell of these events, not as powerful as Rei's psychic gifts but along those lines, and these forces of the Dark Kingdom became most of the Jotunkin. Surtur and Ymir and the rest. Those who stood against them were those remembered as the Norse gods of legend. Including, apparently, Thor."
"And somehow there was enough of this Thor left for my son to inherit his power?" asked Doctor Mizuno.
Sailor Pluto weighed tipping how much she knew of Ranma's past, then decided she should address it anyway. "I've viewed Ranma's past. He had a father who had a scroll and attempted to do something. Exactly what I'm unsure. Whatever he released into this universe erased him as if he had never been. There is now no trace of that person in existence in past or present or future. Reality has rewritten in its passage. Now Ranma IS your son or a close relative at least, as far as genetic evidence would be able to determine. Except for this newest factor. Have you noticed that his height has increased slightly since he first became Thor?"
"Yes," said Doctor Mizuno. "Five centimeters."
"If you did a test of his DNA now, it would indicate someone else having a significant contribution to his genetics," said Sailor Pluto. "Thor influences Ranma, but the reverse is also true. Back to the event that occurred just before you found him - it left a weak spot in reality. A place where the walls of this universe were thin. A group broke through that hole, which is where Advanced Idea Mechanics doing business as 'Omnitech' came in. Bringing artifacts from their own cosm, they provide another enemy for us to deal with. Their exact capabilities and goals remain unknown at this point.
"More recently I've learned that while the events of Ragnarok occurred as a battle between the Dark Kingdom and the Aesir, the artifact that AIM brought from their universe served to stir the shades of the dead gods who stood against that outbreak of the Dark Kingdom. So we have a question now," said Sailor Pluto.
"How does this affect my son?" asked Nodoka.
"Not much more than he already has been affected," said Sailor Pluto. "His Thor form is a conglomeration of Ranma as he is and was, plus the essence of Thor himself. The Thor in the visions of Asgard looked different from the Thor that manifests when Ranma accesses that identity. I would expect some of the memories and other powers and affiliations to start showing up. No, that isn't quite the question I was thinking of."
"If there was a Thor and an Asgard, and Ranma is awakening one of those Asgardians," speculated Mamoru, "might there be others among the Asgardians whose spirits might awaken?"
"If we decide to meddle, almost certainly," said Sailor Pluto with a nod to Mamoru. "All I'd have to do is visit Asgard in these odd dreams of Ranma's and carry back some token. When I did the dream at last, I palmed a rock as an experiment. When the dream ended, I had the same rock in my hand."
"The Vikings were not a pleasant people," noted Doctor Mizuno, seeing what Pluto was putting on the table.
"No, they were not, for the most part," agreed Sailor Pluto. "Yet what people of that era were? It was the aggressive and dynamic societies that made the mark, and they tended to be unpleasant by those same qualities. I might point out what Japan was like in that same timeframe."
"So... if we want to check this out, and determine exactly what this would mean, we'd need to experiment. That means a volunteer," said Artemis thoughtfully. "I have to admit that the idea of a bunch of heroes being reincarnated, even if the mechanism is unfamiliar, does sort of fit in with us."
"I'm against it, let the dead remain dead," said Luna. "We could too easily awaken something best left sleeping."
"Yet the Thor which is Ranma is clearly influenced strongly by Ranma himself," said Sailor Pluto. "So there may be risks. There are also some pretty good benefits. Asgardians of myth weren't immortal, they aged though slower than human spans. A goddess named Idun tended a tree of golden apples which extended their lives further. On the other hand, they were clearly hardier than humans."
"It may not even be possible," speculated Artemis. "But aren't we the good guys? If lives can be spared by this method, other heroes rescued, our odds of survival against the menaces improved - doesn't it mean we should try?"
"You don't want to risk a Senshi in this," said Doctor Mizuno, frowning. "What about me?"
"I'd not want to risk you, even if you're volunteering," said Sailor Pluto. "As a physician, you can monitor for changes that indicate it is going wrong and we can attempt to break that connection then."
"So, someone with a strong will, someone who is at least inclined to be a hero, and someone who can be brought into the loop or better yet already is," said Artemis. He took a deep breath. "I know of someone to ask."
"I've already contacted her and she's on the way," said Sailor Pluto. "We'll ask when she gets here."
"I'm really not sure about you coming along," said Akane.
"We haven't been camping in a long time, Akane," said Kasumi. "I'm sure Nabiki will change her mind soon and be along and it will be a nice family outing."
"Uhhh right," said Akane, hefting the backpack. She'd been surprised to get the invitation. Especially as she'd been looking in that direction and suddenly the little envelope was suddenly THERE as opposed to appearing in a normal manner.
"The sewer line will be fixed in a day or so anyway," said Kasumi.
Akane didn't want Nabiki to find out about the Sailor Senshi being real, having normal identities, and so on. She loved her sister, but that didn't mean she trusted her.
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(Posted Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:39)
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