The official negotiations stopped when the kitchen doors opened, presenting four girls. The first was Ukyo, wearing her usual outfit, followed by Kasumi and Shampoo, and finally Akane, who was pouting and carrying more food.
It was obvious that nobody had let her cook.
As the members of the table dug in, Kagome accidentally spilled some tea, pouring it on Ranma. She gasped as the boy shrank, grew breasts, and showed a dynamic hair change. As she did this, Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “Figures. After everything else I’ve seen today, even this would have to be true...“
Setsuna laughed, “Everything I told you back then was true, for a given value of it.”
Kagome continued to goggle until Jade got up, took her aside, and gave her the spiel they had received concerning the cursed pools of Jusenkyo earlier. After five minutes, she managed to sit back down, nearly calmed down. “Anything else you guys want to tell me about?”
“Probably,” Cologne cackled, “but nothing comes to mind as of right now.”
Inuyasha was forced to hold Kagome back from repeatedly thumping her head against the table.
As lunch began, and the servers left, Ranma, showing a significant amount of restraint (both in not inhaling his food and not going for hot water), turned to Setsuna and asked, “Um, Pluto...“
“Yes?”
“A couple of months ago, I saw a couple of newscast showing your senshi, or whatever you call them...Exactly how many of them have any skill in the Art?”
Setsuna winced; she had a feeling this would come up, “Well, Uranus and Jupiter have black belt level skills, though neither of them have gone much further than that, and Mars has had some prior training, but.... well...“
Ranma sighed, “Thought so.”
The green haired senshi tried to explain herself, “Well, Venus has the most recall when it comes to her past life’s fighting abilities, and...“
“And nothing!” Ranma irritably snapped, “No offense, but the only thing that has kept you guys alive is a lot of luck and teamwork. Most of your tactics involve spamming your magic attacks at the enemy, and hoping they hit. It’s helped you now, but exactly how long will it be before you end up facing off with someone who doesn’t follow the rules?”
Pluto tried to reply to this, but after a few false starts, she just sighed, “Sooner than I’d like...“
Ranma sighed and shook her head, “Tell you what: I can try to find some time to set up a proper fighting class for them. Mind you, the good stuff will have to wait until we get rid of this Akuma guy, but at the very least I can get them better at dodging, right?”
Setsuna sighed in relief, “True, though I’ll have to try to bring that up with the Princess; you training us would mean that we’d have to show you who we are, and while I can get away with showing who I am, many of the others may not feel comfortable with it.”
“Then I’ll train who I can. Um, not to steal anyone’s line or anything,” the redhead glanced over to Uncle, who shrugged, “but one more thing: what’s up with Saturn’s ki?”
Saturn blinked at this, and then goggled at Setsuna, who slapped her forehead and started rambling in several forgotten languages. It was obvious what kinds of words she was using. Cologne and Uncle, on the other hand, just looked at Ranma curiously.
Finally, after a minute of this, she stopped, and then glared meaningfully at the boy, “In all honesty, I was hoping to just let this happen; taking everything into account, it would be inevitable, especially considering what happened in the alternate timeline, at least in 42% of the possible outcomes.”
She then reached behind her, grabbed Saturn by the arm, and then forced her to sit beside her, “Sorry, my dear, but you’ll need to change back into civilian mode.”
Hotaru blinked at this, but did as Pluto asked anyways; among all of the senshi, there were only three people who she would trust implicitly: Usagi, Usa, and Setsuna-mama.
“By the Goddesses!”
“Aiyah!”
Inuyasha could only growl. As the magical transformation ended, there was an obvious shift in her energies, and though the inu hanyou could not sense her ki, he still had the instincts of a dog, and dogs know when someone is vitally sick.
Pluto turned to the group, eyes downward, “When the first Sailor Saturn was commissioned by Serenity the third, she was intent on finding a powerful weapon. As her magic was based on life itself, and was focused on healing, she then sought to find the nature of death, and force it into mortal form. She succeeded, but at a price. Those who suffer under the mantle of Saturn do not live long lives, and tend to suffer from constant fatigue and weakness.”
Saturn looked on in horror at her mother figure, who seemed lost in thought, “When Serenity the fourth took the throne, she was intent on finding a way to fix this. Where her mother favored war, she favored peace, and it did not sit right with her that innocent young girls had to suffer. Unfortunately, she could not find one. By the time her reign ended, fifteen Sailor Saturns had come and gone.”
“By the time Serenity the sixth came into being, the royalty had taken to treating these girls like a favorite cousin or sister, making their short lives comfortable. Some railed against their fates, channeling their negativity into minor destruction, giving the title of Sailor Saturn a bad reputation amongst the other planets. Still, the royal house of the Moon stood by them, doing what they could to make their lives more comfortable. Their average lifespan was fifteen years, and not one lived past age twenty five, in a time where others could live for a few centuries.”
Pluto suddenly seemed to shift, showing herself as Meioh Setsuna once again. She raised her eyes up to meet Ranma’s horrified stare. The young Journeymage was shocked to find a pleading look in them, “One day, a young Earth girl on a training trip wandered into the Royal Garden, where a rather sickly Saturn was staying. Her life expectancy was less than a year, and she was sobbing quietly to herself. Chi magic was rare in those days; only Earthlings could use it, and they tended to wander the system after attaining mastery. Seeing this girl in pain, the Earth mage used one of her techniques to sooth the Senshi of Silence’s pain.”
“They soon became quick friends, and for the next month and a half, they played together, the mage healing Saturn whenever she felt sick or weary. After she left, her father having decided to move on, she was taken back to the Moon Castle, the Doctors ready to do what they could to help her have a quiet and peaceful end.”
A sardonic smile seemed to flicker across the woman’s face, “To their surprise, she looked as if she had just recently accepted her post; even better, in fact. As the greatest minds in the Solar System boggled at this, the girl soon started telling the Princess and the Queen all about her new friend, who was learning to be a Chi Wizard.”
Everyone’s focus was on Setsuna now: Cologne and Uncle with curiosity, having just heard a part of history long since forgotten; Kagome and Jade with open wonder; Hotaru with naked hope in her eyes.
However, Inuyasha and Ranma just stared at her in suspicion. Inuyasha knew there was more to the story. The pigtailed Journeymage, on the other hand, was trying to hold off a rather bad feeling. She had lived with three fiancés, numerous wannabe fiancés, and other such stuff. As her new innate skills had opened her mind more, she was finding it easier and easier to put the pieces together.
“Setsuna-mama, how long did she live after that?” Hotaru asked.
Setsuna never took her eyes off Ranma’s, “She lived until the age of 193, about middle aged for a normal member of the Moon Kingdom, and rather young for an established senshi. Then again, I’m sure you’d be able to remember yourself.”
Hotaru’s eyes widened comically, and then paled slightly as several memories concerning her death in her last life flickered vaguely through her mind. Ranma, on the other hand, asked, “And the mage?”
Setsuna smiled softly, never looking away, “They met again after twelve years, when her father swung back by on business. After another eight years, they met again, after she had graduated from her apprenticeship. By that time, both were in what was considered to be ‘mid-teens’ for our life span. Between those two periods of time was about two months, in which both girls hung out and played together. Saturn was fading again, and the Doctors had a field day when their estimates were proven wrong again, as the mage continued the healing techniques that she had used on her friend before.”
“So what exactly does this mean?” Ranma asked.
Setsuna shook her head softly, “Chi mages do not reincarnate like other people do; once they pass on, their lives return to the Earth, joining the Chi they once wielded. It is a fact of balance, and one that makes your kind impossible to track by the Time Gates...to be honest, I was resigned to the fact that Hotaru would never live beyond her eighteenth birthday until I got Cologne’s call. I’m not looking for any kind of commitment from you, though you and Hotaru becoming friends would be nice. I just...“ she sighed, “I just didn’t want to tell my daughter that she wasn’t expected to live to see adulthood.”
Hotaru gently hugged the time guardian, who had started to sob. However, she was gently pulled away by Ranma, who had moved towards them. “Come on, let’s see what I can do for you.”
They walked away to a soft, “Thank you,” from a still teary eyed woman, who knew too much for her own comfort.
Once the door closed, however, Cologne snorted, “You do know that you’ll never be able to use those gates of yours again, right?”
Setsuna nodded her head, sniffling.
Jade cocked her head in confusion, “Uh, what are you guys talking about?”
Uncle replied for them, “Chi magic comes in many forms. Uncle is Talisman user, so my craft has a wider range of skills, but cannot exceed a certain level of power. Ranma, however, is a Channeler; his magic flows through him, restricting it in many ways, but also allowing him to make it more powerful by using his emotions. Many of his healing techniques create a bond with the healed because of this.”
“Which means...what, exactly?”
Cologne snickered, “My dear child, Ranma is a pure soul, who cannot help but care for anyone in need. While he may cover it up with bravado and ignorance, I know for a fact that he cares for everyone around him, even if it is undeserved. Hotaru, being weak and rather cute, will immediately draw his concern and worry, which will in turn be passed down to her as she is healed.”
“In fact, that’s part of the reason why Chi Wizards of great talent tend to attract many women. They do not go looking for them; they just try and help, and the girls...or guys, depending on the Wizard’s gender and his or her own preferences, just follow.”
Jade blinked, and then blushed bright red, having gotten what the deal was. Setsuna, on the other hand, made to take Kagome and Inuyasha to the side, explaining exactly what was being discussed.
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(Posted Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:54)
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