Theo wasn't in the best of moods, for obvious reasons. Two days ago he had lost not only his father, but also his wife. Right before his eyes even. All he wanted to do right now was wallow in his own self-pity, but the boy just wouldn't let him alone! "Get out." he snarled as the boy moved straight for his bed.
Ranma didn't waste any time, grabbing Theo by the arm and hauling him out of bed roughly, "Julia's alive man! Some guy just stopped by and said Julia was at Gneiss place, and she wants to see her family!" he smiled brightly as he said that.
Theo blinked as his words began to penetrate the haze of depression that had settled over him. "She.. she's alive?" he grabbed the boys shirt, new life sneaking into his eyes.
"Yeah!" Ranma nodded, before grimacing, "Theo, man, you need a bath." he pushed the older man away, "God, you stink." That wasn't really true, but the man hadn't bathed for over two days now, and he doubted Julia would be very happy if her husband showed up smelling like a garbage dump. "Take a shower and get dressed, I'll get the girls ready, kay?"
Theo nodded, moving with renewed life as he tore through the room finding something to wear. Ranma thought this was funny, since the man always wore a mage suit, he couldn't understand what was taking him so long to choose.
***
"Come on Gina! Let's play!" Brittany grumbled. It was soooo boring! Gina just never wanted to have fun anymore! All she did was cry in her bed, or for a change of pace she would cry in daddy's lap! She just wasn't fun.
Gina sniffled, hugging her pillow tightly to her chest as the excitable happy little girl tried to convince her to get out of bed and have fun. How could she? She wasn't that old, but she understood enough of the situation to realize her mother wasn't coming back.
Ranma knocked on the door before calling, "Girls?"
"Hi Daddy!" Brittany chirruped, as Ranma picked her up in his arms, "Can we play tag again? Gina is crying again!" she pouted.
"Not right now Brittany, we need to get dressed. Were going to go pick up momma Julia." Ranma smiled brightly, pointedly looking at Gina.
Gina blinked, wiping some drying tears from her eyes, "Mommy?" she looked hopefully.
"That's right Gina." his smile, if it were possible, grew brighter. "Come on, lets get you two dressed."
***
Julia grimaced rubbing her arms to massage away the pain she felt. Gneiss had just gotten finished telling her what had happened since he discovered her a little over two days ago. She had been unconscious due to an overload of ethereal energy in her aura, an overload that had almost killed her in it's intensity.
"So Theo is coming?" she asked from where she sat on a bed. She didn't even want to imagine the emotional roller coaster her husband and family had to be experiencing because of this. Theo must have thought he lost his father and her at the same time, not that he could fault him that. If he had been blasted and thrown here she would have thought he had been killed also.
"Yes, Carfax returned earlier. He didn't get the chance to inform Theo personally, but he did tell that boy.. eh.. what was his name?" Gneiss hmmed, tracing his trimmed beard in thought.
"Ranma." Julia grunted as she hit a particularly painful spot on her arm, "He's the boy who think's he's been sent from a different dimension to protect the last were-cheetah."
Gneiss nodded, "Very well."
"What is going to happen with that... web thing?" Julia asked with a sigh. She wasn't a Mage, she never pretended to be, so she had no clue just what the hell had happened to her in the first place.
Gneiss shrugged, "Don't know. I'll need some time to research what it did to you, but it doesn't seem terminal in it's effects. It's resisted all my attempts to expunge the foreign influence from your body."
"Great." she drawled. All she wanted to do right then was see her family, and go home to sleep the god-awful pain that erupted over every inch of her body. Gods above and below, she had only ever felt this bad one other time in her life, and that was just after she beat G'nolga and became the Armsmasters. She was totally worked over from head to toe in bruises and injuries after that win.
Gneiss chuckled, "Don't fret. I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out and get you home in no time." he didn't really believe his own words, but he felt it was best to calm the woman down some. She was so tense.
"I hope so."
***
"It's so bright daddy!" Brittany cried, hugging her father around the neck to shield her sensitive little eyes.
"Shhh." Ranma cooed, patting the girl on the head as he focused his own vision. He wasn't a big fan of teleportation; the sense of vertigo did hell to his senses. Heck, he's puked once or twice because he hadn't really been ready for mass of jumbled and disturbing sensations.
"Let's go." Theo said anxiously, squeezing Gina's hand as the group traveled the fifty feet from Gneiss's front door.
***
Carfax smiled as he lead the group through Gneiss's tower, "I'm see you received my message, Mr. Diggers."
Theo nodded hurriedly, "Yes. Thanks. How much longer?" Needless to say he was getting impatient
Carfax chuckled. He didn't know the whole situation, but he could tell it had been a rather emotional ordeal for all involved. Ah, he'll enjoy seeing the looks of happiness on their faces when they get reunited. "She's right through here." Carfax said as he opened the door and stepped inside, followed by Theo and Gina.
"Daddy?" Brittany looked at her father curious when he stopped a few feet from the door, "Why aren't we gonna see momma Julia?"
Ranma sighed, before chuckling, "We'll go see Momma Julia in a few minutes dear. Lets give them some time alone, okay?" He nuzzled her cheek, "It's one of those tense emotional moments."
Brittany nodded, even if she didn't really understand what the heck was going on. "Wanna play patty cake?"
"Sure."
***
Julia saw the door open, and smiled when her husband and daughter stepped into the room. Pushing herself off her bed, she moved to hug her husband and child...
Only to pass right through them!
Gneiss blinked, looking thoroughly shocked. "What the?!"
"Gneiss!" Theo shouted, "Where's Julia?" he looked around the room, confused. Maybe she was somewhere else?
Carfax blinked, "Uh.."
Julia turned around, "Theo?!"
Gina sniffled, "Daddy! They said mommy would be here!?"
Carfax spared Gneiss a glance, "Gneiss? What's going on?"
Theo frowned, "Gneiss! What's going on? Where's my wife?"
Gneiss opened his mouth to explain, before it snapped shut. Just what the hell was going on? There was something on the very edge of his mind that was tickling him about this situation, but for the life of him he couldn't bring that itty bit of knowledge forward.
Shaking his head, he eyed the people in the room. Carfax was as confused as he was, which wasn't unexpected. Julia was phasing in and out of reality each time she tried to grab on to her husband and child, Theo looked extremely agitated and Gina looked on the verge of tears.
Gneiss frowned. What did he know of the situation so far? Julia seemed unable to touch her husband and child, phasing in and out of reality each time she tried. Her aura had been covered in a strange magical field that some how was messing with her ability to reach her husband.
He knew he could touch Julia, so that just annoyed him. Why could he see and touch Julia while Theo and Gina couldn't? It sounded like the after effects to Balthazar's plan to be rid of Fauntleroy. But that's impossible! Only the Conclave knew of Balthazar's plan, no one should..
Jonathan.
Jonathan was on the Conclave.
Jonathan was the one who cast the spell that sent Julia here.
"Oh fudge." Gneiss grumbled, shaking his head. This just got much more complicated.
***
"What." Theo deadpanned.
Julia whimpered, "No.. no that can't be true!"
Carfax wisely kept his mouth shut.
Gina sniffled, "Does this mean I won't ever be able to see mommy again?"
Gneiss sighed, "I assume the spell Jonathan hit Julia with was a modified spell to what Balthazar was currently working on to rid us of Fauntleroy. The results seem some what similar, though it is different from the end product we were expecting."
"Explain." Theo eyed the room, completely missing Julia who was behind him.
"The spell was designed to seal Fauntleroy into his human form, and banish him to Earth. He wouldn't be able to return to Jade so long as he remained cursed. Like I said, this seems to be a modified version."
"Modified How?" Julia and Theo asked at the same time, though Theo didn't know she did.
"Well, " Gneiss shrugged, "Fauntleroy, if the spell worked as it was designed, would simply be unable to return to Jade. He could still manipulate people and items from Jade. Julia obviously can't handle people or items from Earth."
"How do you know that? Maybe it's just us?" Theo ventured to guess.
Gneiss shrugged, ripped off his smiley face button Jonathan had given him from earth, and threw it at Julia. The woman instinctually raised her arm to catch the projectile, but she phased out as it passed through her hand. "Just as I suspected."
Gina sniffled, "What?"
"That amulet was a gift from your father, Theo, and was crafted on the Earth." Gneiss explained.
Theo nodded, "How do you dispel the curse."
Gneiss gulped, "Eh, heh. You don't."
Julia growled, "What?"
"The spell was designed to rid the world of a sadistic Questing Dragon. We designed it so it couldn't be dispelled!"
"No.." Julia whimpered again. She might as well be dead if her family could see, hear, or touch her!
***
"Daddy?"
"Hmm? Yes dear?" Ranma picked his daughter up. He had left them alone for thirty minutes, which should be more then enough time.
"We going to see momma Julia now?" Brittany asked hopefully, giggling when her father tickled her sides a bit.
"Sure."
***
Ranma walked into the room, the heads of everyone present snapping to him. "Uh...."
Brittany piped in, "Where's momma Julia?"
Ranma opened his mouth and said "...
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(Posted Sun, 25 Jan 2004 01:59)
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