Surprised that his usually much more verbose sister was making a statement like that, Keiichi turned to see what she'd seen.
A wolf, barely visible as if it was not quite a part of the world, whose shoulder was taller than Keiichi's head. It looked curiously at the engine as if trying to decide if it was a treat.
"Uhm, you must be Sif's shikigami," said Keiichi, beginning to get used to such things. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Keiichi, this is my sister Megumi. Sif is out shopping with Belldandy right now but they should be back soon."
The transparent wolf nodded, and Keiichi saw by the coloration that wolf might not be appropriate. More a Siberian Husky.
"Gakk," repeated Megumi, staring at her brother now.
"No, actually I don't think he'd be any help," said Keiichi, wondering how he was going to explain this to Megumi.
Megumi for her part came out of the shock and decided that Sif was a REALLY good shrine priestess. Maybe she should get a blessing before that physics test. Couldn't hurt.
A week passed with Mara sending a minor constructed daimon to test the Sailor Senshi living at the shrine. Sif and her shikigami dealt with it fairly easily.
Urd spent most of the time in research, and when she was ready cast the spell to have a conference with Ranma in Sif in a dreamscape.
Ranma stood there looking at Sif.
Sif looked back.
"It's my life!" Ranma said angrily. "Get out!"
"It's my life too!" Sif said unhappily. "I don't want to die."
"You're not real!" Ranma insisted. "Just some fake caused by a head injury and this damn curse!"
"I am TOO real!" Sif cried out. "I live, I breathe! I have hopes and dreams! I have friends!"
"You're both right," said Urd, fading into the dreamscape. "I've had a chance to do some research."
"SHUT UP!" Ranma yelled. "You're part of this mess!"
"Yes," said Urd, "which is why I'm going to try and fix it." She waved around a thick book. "This Is Your Life, Ranma Saotome."
"Huh?" Ranma said, as the lettering on the cover of the book did proclaim it to be exactly that.
"You're incomplete, Ranma, your father raised you to be that way." Urd said, pointing to a section in the book. "He raised you to be a 'man among men' but had no idea what that actually meant. He treated you like a disposable resource and you never developed as much as you could have."
Ranma blinked and pointed at Sif. "So, 'repressed aspects' like you said earlier?"
"Exactly," said Urd. "The Ranma raised by Genma was mostly two-dimensional. Anything that wasn't part of the Ranma that Genma wanted you learned to suppress. Hence Sif here."
"Gee, thanks," said Sif with some sarcasm.
"You two are just different parts of the same person, now that Ranma is dead, those other parts were given a chance to grow," said Urd.
"I'm dead?" Ranma asked.
"Yes," said Urd, conjuring an image. "When you hit the canal wall, you were knocked unconscious, you hit the water and drowned. Belldandy revived your body but you were what they call clinically dead, no heart beat or brain activity, for thirty seven seconds."
"So it's kinda like reincarnation," said Ranma thoughtfully. Being dead put the whole thing in a different light. Even if it was only for thirty seconds, he'd heard enough about the whole life-death-life bit to come to terms with it in that regard.
"Yes, in a way," allowed Urd. "Though there are some differences."
"Whatever," Ranma waved it off. "So would Sif here be considered a step up?" In other words, had he done well enough in this life to be rewarded as opposed to being sent back to live as a slug or something.
"Well, yes, actually," said Urd, trying to figure out without mind reading what was going on in Ranma's head. Things were complicated enough without trying to do something like that. "Her adoptive parents are Thor and Sif, the Norse god of thunder and the goddess of battle."
"Ah," said Ranma. Good. He was still going to be a martial artist in the next life. Not some wimpy frilly girl.
"The solution I've come up with," said Urd, "is:"
(Posted Thu, 27 Mar 2003 11:10)
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