Ranma turned slightly, looking at the two cats beside him, as his father raced further away. “Okay, ignoring the question of how the Avatar forms of two Egyptian Goddesses acquired a bag of Japanese money; was it really a good idea to give it to him of all people?”
“We needed time uninterrupted for your training,” said Sekhmet.
Ranma smiled brightly. Finally, he was going to learn the true Nekoken!
“Of course, it also allows us to send you on some quests,” said Bastet.
The smiled faded instantly, as a pit developed in his stomach. “Quests?” he squeaked out. “What quests?”
“We do not doubt your sincerity in wishing to learn the fighting style, young warrior,” said Sekhmet. “But we cannot give such away for free. Every favor from the Gods must come with a price. To give it away for free would diminish the value and create the image that all one need do is ask and the world shall be at their whims.”
Ranma slowly nodded at that. “Makes sense, you should have the desire to work hard for something.” Heaven knew how hard he worked to develop his martial arts and magical skills.
“Normally, those of the true Nekoken dedicated themselves to our temples, performing works in our names in a lifetime of servitude,” said Bastet.
“Sadly, we are lacking a temple at the moment, our followers are either all dead or a bunch of otaku, and the Old Ways are pretty boring, not to mention unnecessary in this new world. So there are few really worthy quests anymore.”
“So how am I supposed to do a quest to earn the teachings of the Nekoken?” he asked.
“Young warrior, these days we mostly inquire with other Pantheons; seeking to see if they need help. Some Pantheons have rules about directly interfering in their domains. However, this does not mean they can’t… as you say, outsource help.”
Ranma just arched an eyebrow. At least he was learning a bit about how the higher-level beings acted. He’d have to put this in the Book for others to know. “And these quests aren’t going to be some impossible task—like make Pops an honest man—is it?”
“Oh heck no, you’d have an easier time holding the world for Atlas,” said Bastet. “Your first quest to earn some of the nuggets of knowledge is a simple rescue mission for a Goddess I know.”
Ranma blinked. A rescue? Well, at least it was starting simple.
“SIMPLE MY ASS!” yelled Ranma as he darted through the tunnels of the Underdark, making his way to the surface, avoiding a flurry of bolts, daggers, arrows and other implements of death which his Drow pursuers launched at him.
Looking down at the small Drow female child in his arms, he poured on the speed, his eyes spelled to see perfectly, no matter the illumination. He didn’t know why this girl was important to Bastet-sama’s friend, but he had promised to rescue her before she was sacrificed on an altar.
The problem was that he was underground, which limited the variety of spells he could use. Lightning needed the sky. His Earth spells were still weak and could bring more trouble down on him as well as his enemies if he lost control. Same with Water.
Of course, he didn’t need to kill them, just really delay them. “Glacies Parietis!” he yelled, palm facing behind him, as the nearby moisture crystallized into an ice barrier, sealing off the tunnel behind him.
It wouldn’t hold for long, not with the weapons and strength of his pursuers. Nevertheless, it would add some distance between them, hopefully enough where he could reach the surface and take the child to one of Eilistraee’s temples.
“WOAH!” he yelled, narrowly missing an axe that would have taken off his head. Apparently, they didn’t have just one route.
Well, now he knew. “Flamma Offendo!”
“Teleportation spells suck,” Ranma mumbled, appearing in the Promenade under Skullport.
The passenger with him nodded slowly, removing the glasses Ranma had placed on her when they exited the Underdark.
“Keep them,” he said when she tried to hand them back. Sunglasses weren’t that hard to come by in his own world. Here though, they would be a luxury item for those who had trouble dealing with bright lights.
The child nodded as she folded them back up, clutching them close to her body.
“You have returned, young warrior,” said one of Eilistraee’s clergy, as she approached the duo. “Our Goddess and your companions await you in the main chamber. This way, please,” she responded, bowing deeply.
Ranma just gulped, wondering what was it with all the lack of clothes, before chalking it up to a society thing.
“I celebrate your return, young Ranma,” said Eilistraee with a smile—and little else—as the human entered with the young maiden.
“Told you he could do it,” smirked Bastet, still in cat form to conserve energy in the foreign dimension.
“I trust the task was acceptable?” asked Sekhmet.
Ranma fingered his torn clothes. “Yeah, piece of cake,” he muttered. Man, I just got finished enchanting these things too…
Eilistraee approached the duo, kneeling before the rescued young maiden. Little one, you have such an important future before you. The young Drow would one day help carve through much of the distrust about Eilistraee’s order, one of the reason’s Lolth had been so vigorous about seeing the child sacrificed. “Do not worry, Young One. You are now safe. We shall care for you as well as we can.”
The small girl looked up at Ranma, before latching on to him.
“Told you it would work out,” he said with a smile, patting her head, as she cried into his tattered shirt.
“Do not worry, Little One; Ranma will not depart until tomorrow,” said the Drow Goddess in a calm voice. “Come, we need to attend to any injuries you might have, while Ranma converses with his Goddesses.”
The small child nodded, before releasing her hero, allowing herself to be escorted away.
“She going to be okay?” asked Ranma.
Sekhmet nodded. “She will be brought up to be one of Eilistraee’s Dark Maidens, a member of her clergy. It is much more preferable to being torn apart on a slab for a Demon-Goddess.”
Ranma just nodded. He hated leaving her like that, but it was her world. He was just happy that she was going to live a long life. “So, when’s my first lesson?” he asked, focusing on something else.
“Thank you,” said the small child named Eliria, hugging her savior once more as he and the two cats prepared to return to their dimension. “Will I ever see you again?”
“That is all but certain,” said Sekhmet. “I am quite certain Eilistraee will require his aid once again.”
That was assuming her currently bound female sister didn’t permanently ruin relations between the group by thinking with her libido.
It really isn’t proper when a Goddess asks you what favor you would like for your assistance to her, to reply ‘her cherry’. The child has barely entered puberty and yet she already seeks to corrupt him with the powers of the flesh. She had been hoping for a few more years to train their chosen warrior before her sister tried to turn him into a Casanova.
Luckily, Ranma had simply asked for some spells, a few weapons of Mithril, and one of Eilistraee’s pendants.
“Mrrrph!” cried the bound and gagged cat in a backpack beside the two.
Giggling lightly, Eilistraee bent over, once again making Ranma internally comment on the type of style of the Drow, before kissing his forehead. “Then I wish you luck on your journey, Young Warrior. I shall call upon you and your patron Goddesses again someday.”
Blinking and wondering why he felt some pressure in his nose all of the sudden; Ranma blushed. “I hope I can help you again.”
“Bye, Warrior Ranma!” waved the Drow child as the portal opened.
“Boy, where have you been?” demanded Genma, reeking of alcohol, staggering into their campsite in a dirty gi.
Ranma looked up from his Book, pointing at Genma. “Aster,” he said, invoking the first spell he read from what Eilistraee had given him.
Genma twitched, expecting to have been struck by lightning, as was the Boy’s usual way of trying to attack him. However, when no massive burst of electricity struck him, he stood tall.
“Hey Old Man, did you get any supplies for us with that money?”
“Of course not, Boy,” said Genma, smiling. “I spent the last few days at several bars and buffet restaurants!”
“So you didn’t actually do any research for our training trip or restock our supplies for the next leg?”
“Of course not, Boy,” snorted Genma. “We can steal that stuff later on. If need be, I can always engage you … for…” he paused, finally noticing the words coming out of his mouth.
“Truth spell, Old Man,” smirked Ranma as he stood up. “Now, what do you mean by ‘engage’?”
Genma clamped his hands over his mouth.
Ranma however, decided he had heard enough. “Levitas!”
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(Posted Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:03)
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