The subject of Setsuna's growing ire (why couldn't he leave the senshi alone even after what happened to the Universe!?!) was laying on a bunk in one of the cells of the Silver Moon's brig. The young man resembled his old self but looked older, in his early twenties to be exact, and was dressed in juraian robes.
Ranma, knight of the Juraian Empire and Heir to house Saotome, sighed. He wasn't that upset at being kidnapped and held hostage for ransom, no. It's just that he was slowly growing bored out of his mind.
The Killer Rabbit's band had attacked the commercial liner he had been in. When they saw his clothes and Michiru recognized him from one of the numerous balls held at Selenia before the coup, they took him with them, hoping his family would cough up a lot of money to free him.
He couldn't help but smile a little. He had wanted to put as much distance between Jurai and him at the time. Better be in that cell than dealing with his *shudder* fiancees.
It was a well known fact in the galaxy that Juraian nobility was polygamous. The emperor himself had two wives. Ranma, however, felt he was too young to deal with marriage, especially with so much girls. He wanted to roam the Universe in search of adventure and become a great warrior and master of the Jurai power before settling down. With the average juraian noble's life expectancy, he figured his nuptials could wait some more...
Unfortunately, Nodoka Saotome, Ranma's mother and current head of the family, had a peculiar view of manliness and held up her son to high standards. Surely, her manly son was up to satisfy two, three, four, five... or more wives! Think of all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, etc...!
To make things worse, his no-good father Genma encouraged her, wanting to get his hands on his fiancees' family fortunes (he had dilapidated the House Saotome assets with his spending habits and overall stupidity).
House Saotome was a minor noble house of Jurai but still an influential one. They were distantly related to the ruling emperor after all, making Ranma a prime catch and valuable hostage.
******
Back on Jurai, the news of Ranma's abduction had reached the concerned parties. None of them were too pleased with this turn of events.
"Mother! We have to do something! We must save my poor brother!" declared Ranko Saotome, Ranma's younger sister and fiancee (the impossibility of inbreeding in Jurai allowing this kind of matches). Some believed it was a way of strenghtening the Jurai power in noble family lines.
"I agree, Ranko-chan. But we don't have the money to pay the ransom" said Nodoka who glared at her husband. Genma cowered in a corner of the room. Those investments looked solid when he did them. It wasn't his fault! Just a stroke of bad luck!
"OHOHOHOHO! Fear not, dear Mother-in-Law. I, Kodachi of House Kuno, vow to rescue Ranma-sama from those harridans' clutches!" In the new reality, the Kunos were another juraian noble house "When I save him, Ranma-sama will surely see that only I am worthy of being his first wife!"
"I think not..." Of the former Ranma's fiancees brigade, Shampoo had changed the most. The chinese amazon was now a danitan warrior-princess. The cute and bouncy girl had left place to a statuesque and tattooed beauty. Since Ranma beat her in combat, they had been married by her people's laws "This is a job for warriors. I will save my husband from these pirates myself"
Ukyo Kuonji was now a juraian but came from a rich merchant family. She had been Ranma's childhood friend and Genma had arranged their engagement because of the money and ressources involved.Still, she loved her Ran-chan with all her heart "Don't worry, auntie. I'm going to use all of my family's contacts to help save Ran-chan. I'll be the one to rescue him!"
Nabiki of house Tendo sighed but said nothing. She didn't look forward to marriage with Ranma Saotome but she would be a fool to lose him now. The poor guy had no business sense and would need all the help he could get to manage what's left of his family assets. He could go play warrior or screw with his other wives while she would hold the real power in the family.
Her father had become a little nuts since Kasumi had eloped with a commoner. He went out of his way to secure worthy alliances for his two remaining daughters after that. Akane was now engaged to the scion of house Kuno (at his demand and against her wishes) while she was saddled with Ranma of house Saotome. She could have ended up in a worse situation. At least Ranma was a decent guy and an attractive one to boot.
******
At the same moment, Akane Tendo had already taken her personal starship and left the planet to rescue Ranma. She hoped he would be so grateful that he would ask that the Saotome-Tendo engagement be switched to her.
Be Kuno's wife? This was a Fate worse than Death!!! Nabiki could marry him. If she liked money and power that much, she could have him all to herself!
"Sayuri! Yuka! We must rescue Ranma and bring him back to Jurai at all costs!"
Akane's two bodyguards nodded "Yes, milady!"
******
"AHCHOO!"
Ranma wiped his nose. Normally, juraians were immune to mundane illnesses such as the common cold "Someone must be talking about me..."
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See other episodes by Jamil Nate
(Posted Mon, 05 Jan 2004 23:52)
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