Still, she had to be amazed how things had occured. It wasn't of a 'wow' sort, but more of a sick dread that came from watching a bad accident in slow motion. Somehow each of the girls had managed to be at a cardinal point in time to raise the item to the right height so that the crystal in it could be hit by the sunlight as just the right point as to activate the power it contained. That meant that in exchange for for lives, they now had an interesting, yet very disturbing, lawn sculpture. If one did not know better, they, and Nodoka as well, would look to be nothing more than an amazingly lifelike sculpture.
Which had Mousse camped out at the base of the stone form of his 'love'. Even when it was not his turn to watch over the cursed girls, he refused to leave, neccessitating food being brought out to him, which with his constant vigil, left only Kasumi willing to bring him food.
As for the eldest Tendo, there hadn't been a reaction from her upon finding out what had happened. Not that she had been callous and disregarded the situation, or at least she thought that was the case. The girl was just going through the motions, and not even her perpetual 'everything is okay' attitude was in play. She spoke rarely, and smiled not a bit. It had goten to the point that she entered the room, refilled the Amazon Elder's tea, and left without a word, or even waiting for a 'thank you'.
Watching the tall girl walk away, she spotted the middle Tendo supposedly 'doing her homework' at the dining room table. Instead, it looked like any concentration that she had was sorely being tested, and the mercenary was in danger of showing her emotions in a very explosive manner. Her eyes passed over the pages in front of her too quickly to see anything, and her jaw was locked in a clench.
Slamming her pen onto the table, Nabiki gave out a heart felt "AARRRGHH!"
"Is there a problem, Tendo-san?" asked Cologne softly.
"Problem? Problem?!" barked the brunette sarcastically, "What makes you say that?!"
"The way you are acting."
"Oh, that? Naaah. My sister's a statue and I'm just peachy."
"And if you lose control, you will be of no help whatsoever."
That made the younger woman deflate. "It's just..."
"I know child. Did you forget that my great-grandaughter is affected as well?"
"No..."
"Then there is nothing more that we can do than what we have been."
"That is the problem."
"Unfortunately, those that are left are not as well prepared for such a trek."
"Yeah, I know that. It was how I got Kuno-chan to pay for Ranma and Ryouga's little trip."
"Exactly. And if Shampoo were... mobile, I'd have her helping as well."
"You know, if she had done this, you'd be congratulating her and running back to your Village with Ranma."
"Hardly."
"What then? Treasure? Some kind of award? A 'well done' handshake?"
"Exile and total removal of Amazon status would be the least of it."
"Huh?"
The Amazon Elder sighed. "Doing something like this is without honor, or courage. If Shampoo had even tried to do something like this, she'd be going against what makes us Amazons."
"But the Kiss of Death..."
"Is not a definate. If one can beat, or somehow makes it impossible for the Amazon to complete it, then it could be defeated."
"Oh."
"Yes. 'Oh'. And I won't be offended about the implications that you just made."
"I... I'm sorry," murmured Nabiki.
"It is alright child. You are stressed and one who caused it is not within striking distance, so you are looking for a subtitute.
Nabiki looked off into the distance. "Do you have any idea where he could be?"
"That is something I do not know. His crimes must have given him the reason to find a hundred bolt holes, and he's been gone for too long to find him quickly."
"So what do we do then?"
"As I have said, wait and do what we have been doing. Try to find things that may help us with our ... problem. Keep track of Ranma's progress. And try to figure out what it is about statues, however they are created, that seem to attract pigeons when they are outside."
A thrown spoon got rid of the one that had landed upon Ukyo's head while they were talking. The damned things had been seemingly flocking to land on the girls ever since the incident had happened. They were fewer now, but occassionally, there was one that apparently either didn't know, or was unaware of the 'dangers' of landing there.
Shaking her head at the memory of Mousse's assault on one poor pigeon that had perched on Shampoo's head, Cologne settled down and sighed. with all that was going on, she had to wonder:
(Posted Thu, 30 Jan 2003 05:23)
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