Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Umbra Aureola ❯ Chapter 25 - Open the Gate-o ( Chapter 25 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

CHAPTER XXV: OPEN THE GATE-O


Ranma-chan set down the backpack with a sigh. Now came the hard part, the explanation. Attempts at delaying this inevitability had only met with one single cold hard fact. Ranma-chan was quite frankly too good at packing. Even moving as slowly as was unreasonably possible had resulted in her having finished putting in a mere fifteen minutes. Given her meager belongings, and that Ranma-chan left her stuff ready to be packed in a moment stretching it to fifteen minutes had been a miracle. As such here she was, ready to face the firing squad called family.

"What is it Ranma?" Kasumi asked innocently. The sweet girl was lightly playing with the scrying sphere. The sight of it, and the reminder of what it meant brought a lump to Ranma-chan's throat.

"Can you gather up Soun, Pops and Mom. I have something to tell them." Ranma-chan eventually managed.

Kasumi nodded. "Of course Ranma, I would be delighted to." Kasumi said with a light smile. As she was getting up to leave she called out softly. "And don't worry, I will help smooth things over when you are gone."

"Thanks Kasumi." Ranma-chan said in all honesty sitting herself down on the ground. Frowning Ranma-chan tried to figure out how Kasumi would know that they were leaving in the first place.

Kasumi returned swiftly having gathered both Soun and Genma in record time. With them came Akane her aura burning with a subdued fury. Akane, the one person that Ranma-chan really didn't want to face right now. Well her pops too, but Akane most of all. "Where is mom?"

"Nodoka is shopping, she will return soon." Kasumi said providing an explanation.

"What is it boy?" Genma seemed a bit agitated, Ranma-chan could sense and edge of worry worming its way through the old man's aura.

"Hey pops." Ranma-chan said wearily. "Nabiki, Anito, and I have been discussing-"

"Anito! Everything is all that wizard's fault! If we had never let that wizard stay here everything would be fine! Everything would be normal!" Akane declared angrily her aura no longer subdued.

Control came from the place least suspected. "Let the boy speak." Genma growled sounding almost like a bear despite being in his human form.

"Now Genma no need to talk to my daughter like that." Soun said nervously glancing from face to face as if trying to decide whose side to take. The faces he watched the most were those of his daughters Kasumi and Akane.

"What is normal? What is fine?" Ranma-chan said quietly in a dark voice. The words had an edge of humor and were aimed mostly at herself.

"You aren't defending him are you!" Akane raged.

"Akane." Kasumi scolded.

"Let him talk Akane." Soun said with a sniff. Tears leaked from the Tendo patriarch's eyes at having to stand against one of his daughters. He didn't like it, but if Kasumi was giving Ranma-chan a chance how could he call himself a man and do otherwise.

"Hmph, like he has anything to say anyhow."

Ranma-chan ignored Akane's words. Somehow it was easier than it had been only months ago. Strangely this told the redhead exactly how far their two worlds where separated. It used to be that Akane would have been the first to know, the first to experience all the oddities that came with his life. Now it seemed she was the furthest from everything. Even Kasumi stood closer to what had happened than Akane did.

Belatedly Ranma-chan realized that maybe, just maybe, that was the reason why Akane was so angry. Angry at the giant gulf that had opened between two people that had been so close. A separation between those that had shared terrible moments together. It was almost ironic that Akane would be angry for living a normal life when so often she had been angry at the exact opposite. Darkly Ranma-chan thought to herself, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Already that gap between them had chipped away at Ranma-chan's feelings for the girl. So perhaps that instead was the secret behind the girl's anger. If such was the case Ranma-chan could not help but feel a bit sad, for if what Nabiki had said was true it may be a long, long time before they see each other again. Ranma-chan couldn't help but feel that after that long of a time the gulf may be one which never can be breached again. Even if that should not be both of them would still have changed so much that their hearts would never again connect in the same way.

Taking a deep breath Ranma-chan began again feeling the weight of what she needed to say on her shoulders. "Nabiki, Anito, and I have been discussing what to do with what happened. A decision has been reached. The military wants to strike at us, so we will have to make sure they don't attack here. So we are going to have to leave."

"You are going to run away." Akane retorted.

"Ah, the founding principles of the Saotome Secret Technique." Genma said nodding wisely.

"Yes, Saotome old friend. I can remember how many times that great technique saved us when facing down the evils that the old master could bring." Soun returned thoughtfully.

Kasumi scolded all three of them. "Let Ranma say everything he needs to."

Ranma-chan schooled her thoughts and continued. "Thanks again Kasumi. Now Anito has left magical defenses just in case they strike again. Kasumi has been left in charge of them and knows how to operate them. These defenses, at least according to Anito, should be able to protect you against even a more powerful assault." Ranma-chan felt a slight smile cross her lips when she felt the worm of worry in her father lighten itself. For much of her life Ranma-chan would have thought her father incapable of caring for other. Now she understood that the old man merely hid it well.

Ranma-chan continued not letting the realization halt her speech.. "The three of us will be leaving into the Aether almost immediately, which as Anito says will be well out of their reach."

"Wait you are taking my daughter!" Soun raged leaning in closer to Ranma-chan threateningly having finally figured out that we included Nabiki. "How dare you!"

"Damn it! I would leave her here if I could, but they used something called the Eye of Eldritch on the three of us so they know she is involved." Ranma-chan shivered remembering they eye, and how it slid through her mind shifting through her thoughts and memories. She couldn't say for sure how the Eye worked, but it didn't take much expertise to figure out it was some sort of oracle or scrying device. Why else would it be called an eye?

Ranma-chan continued mostly out of fear she would be interrupted again if she stopped. "We can't leave her here alone! Especially since they are after the three of us. She would be a sitting du- Urk!" Ranma-chan was cut off when Soun suddenly latched himself to her burying his face in her bosom.

Crying his eyes out the Tendo patriarch declared, "You will protect her won't you Ranma? Protect Nabiki from all the dangers from all the bad men and make sure she comes back safely?"

"Yeah yeah, so get off." Ranma-chan said trying to push Soun away. Having a man burying his face between her breasts was not on Ranma-chan's list of good things. In fact it only slightly rated above being grouped by Happosai, an event that universally rated as an eldritch horror.

"Hmph you are just going to do something perverted with my sister aren't you?" Akane scoffed.

"Akane." Ranma-chan said softly seeing that the youngest Tendo just didn't get it. "We probably won't be back for a year, maybe even longer."

"In that case you will take Akane with you." Soun declared seeing an opportunity to try to put the two together once again.

Ranma-chan shook her head. "No."

"Boy!" Genma raged, "She is your fiancee!"

"Fiancee or not, she isn't coming. Akane is not involved and she would only make our job more difficult than it already is!" Ranma-chan shouted in return.

"Are you saying I am not good enough!" Akane yelled back.

"Boy, don't talk to your fiancee like that!" Genma threw in.

Ranma-chan gritted her teeth everything was disintegrating into a yelling match like she feared it would. Control, that was the key to conversation. Ranma-chan after so many times facing down Nabiki had finally realized that. Anito and Nabiki accomplished what they wanted through words by first maintaining control of themselves, and then making sure the others had control in turn... or baring that Nabiki would make sure she controlled her opponent. That she kept them off balance. Latching onto this idea Ranma-chan took another path of attack.

"Pops, when I am gone I want you to promise to protect the Tendos." Ranma-chan said with dead frozen calm.

The shift stopped the elder Saotome cold. "Son I am too old be running around doing heroics." Genma said with edgy fear of what Ranma-chan was asking.

"No heroics pops, I just want you to help if they do get attacked. You can promise me that can't you."

"Of course he can." Nodoka said making her entrance. "Isn't that right husband?"

Genma's mouth moved as if he was going to speak. Instead his shoulders slumped down in defeat. "Yes dear. Boy you better come back you got that?" As gruff as the man was Ranma-chan would never have been able to identify the parental worry if it wasn't for her aura sight.

"I was planning on it Pops. After all a Saotome never loses!" Ranma-chan declared with a mighty confidence.

Genma perked up slightly. "That's the spirit boy! Come back and crush your enemy and make me proud!"

"Hey! Are you forgetting about me!" Akane yelled out further enraged by the fact Ranma-chan had ignored her.

"You are not coming sis." Nabiki said coldly as she walked into the room heading toward Ranma-chan . "If you left it would indicate that more than three where involved, even though it is untrue. That is the last thing we need. Besides of everyone in this family you are the least capable of defending yourself."

"What and you suddenly have an expertise in martial arts!" Akane returned angrily.

Nabiki smiled coldly. "No I have these." The ribbons slid into reality almost as if in response. "Face it Akane power comes from many paths and you just don't have enough of it. You are not coming."

Having put in her words Nabiki turned to Ranma-chan. "Come on Ranma it is time to go."

"Thanks." Ranma-chan said quietly to Nabiki as she stood getting ready to leave.

"I'll put it on your tab." Nabiki returned.

"Hey! You don't think you can leave just like that now do you!?" Akane yelled out with a hint of desperation and fear in her voice. For a moment Ranma-chan felt sorry for the girl and perhaps a bit sorry for herself.

"Son as your mother I demand a better explanation." Nodoka added in as well.

"Sorry Mom, but we are just plain out of time. Kasumi can fill you in can't you Kasumi?" Seeing the eldest daughter nod in agreement Ranma-chan and Nabiki headed down into the basement.

"You you can't just leave like that." Akane cried out tears starting to fall from her eyes. The youngest Tendo made a move to follow the two but Kasumi stepped into to stop her.

Shaking her head slightly Kasumi said, "I am sorry Akane, but they have to go."

Akane turned to face her eldest sister now crying in earnest. "He, he will come back won't he?" An undertone told of a second question. The question that Ranma-chan would still care for her when he returned.

Kasumi looked at her sister sadly. "He will be back." She could at least say that with surety. Her eyes though conveyed a doubt about the second that cracked the shell of her sisters heart. For Kasumi could not lie, and she couldn't believe that their feelings still held the depth to survive such a trial.

Soun said nothing through all this. Instead he watched his second daughter walk out of sight. Quietly with a strange sort of calm he spoke. "There goes my middle daughter. Even when she returns this will no longer be her home, and she will no longer be the child I remember." Tears leaked out of the old man's eyes at the thought.

Genma set a hand on his old friends shoulder understanding exactly what his friend had said. He felt the same thing when he watched his son walk off. That this, in some strange way, was when they would strike out on their own and afterwards they would never truly be children again. "So it was with us Soun old friend. So it is with all children."

Nodoka sniffed slightly as well. It was sad watching her baby walk off again, this time on his own two feet. "My son is becoming a man." She said tearfully leaning into her husband's arms.


*******************


"Got everything you need?" Ranma-chan asked Nabiki curiously. The girl was hefting a pack that was already looking to exhaust the cold hearted girl in the few minutes she had been caring it.

"Of course." Nabiki said looking back at her backpack as though attempting to evaluate whether her words had foundation in reality.

Ranma-chan shrugged as she shoved open the door stepping in to, what Ranma-chan had affectionately come to know as, the war room. Settling down at the table Ranma-chan tossed her backpack on the ground. Nodding in greetings to Anito she declared. "I don't know about you, but I am ready to go. At least I am as ready as I am ever going to be."

"And you Nabiki?" Anito asked.

"If I say no will you knock me out cold and drag me along anyway?" Nabiki shot out at the wizard.

"Oh the thought crossed the mind. I am rather partial to slinging you of my shoulder as well. Then there is always the rescued princess carry, but it doesn't work as well on conscious and resisting specimens."

Ranma-chan chuckled lightly at the images that danced through her head. "I wouldn't be so sure about the last two Anito. Those ribbons of hers look to pack a nasty punch."

Anito's grin didn't fade into the least, but Ranma-chan swore she heard him grumble. "Why did I have to add the teleportation damper effect..."

"We are here. We are ready. You told us you would tell us about the Eye. Talk. Now," Nabiki snapped.

"I will explain while I am preparing. First we go to our next destination." Anito said his eyes darkening.

"This had better be necessary." Nabiki replied.

"Oh believe me, necessary only begins to describe the kind of danger we could be in if what I think is true. Luckily they won't follow us through the Aether... they don't have a reason to." Anito didn't sound quite so sure about the last.

Nabiki's eyes narrowed. "Earlier you declared that the Aether was beyond their reach."

"Things changed." Anito replied. "There is no time we leave now." The wizard's words were final.

"Wait, were are we going?" Ranma-chan spoke up.

"Stonehenge."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Stonehenge and what is there?"

"I'll tell you in a minute." Anito said concentrating hard.

Lines of energy uncurled casting themselves about the room like glowing thread dancing lightly upon the currents in the air. The purpose, the shape and the movement was far from chaotic. Each fell into the point it was meant to. Each connected to one another in a dazzling complexity. Each flowed with perfection. The lines of power arranged themselves into three circles, one upon the ground, one nearly touching the roof and the last midway between.

"Full Teleportation Circle!" The wizard announced finalizing the spell. Then it flared to life every string glowing with potent force as they swirled into a final form. A form that Ranma-chan could not grasp for the speed at which they collapsed into a single column defied her imagination. All she knew is that one moment they stood in the war room beneath the Tendo house and the next the stood amongst the open air surrounded by tall well placed stones dropped dead center in the middle of Stonehenge.

Nabiki turned all the way around as if trying to fathom what had happened. The girl though maintained her cool despite the sudden shift in scenery, the shift of day to night, and of course the more disabling absolute understanding that at this moment there was no going back.

"So, speak." Nabiki said at last.

Anito grinned. "Don't mind the preparations. I will work as I talk. You asked why Stonehenge? The answer is simple. Stonehenge is an ancient gate, a gate created at the very end of the Demon Wars. The story though starts long long ago and includes answers to many other questions that you might ask. Given this I may as well start at the beginning."

"Early in the age of man Demons, spiritual creatures, living ki, walked amongst the world uniting themselves with flesh beings be they animal, fish, or even man. Through this means they could live in this world, in this reality. To them though humans were things that deserved as little heed as a wild creature does to man. Something to be ignored, hunted or kept as a pet."

"Early man did not like his neighbors, but could do nothing about it. For as strong as man can be..." Anito looked at Ranma-chan pointedly as though making an example. "The power of the demons was just as great or greater and they a hundred times more numerous than man's strongest. Instead man begged from these creatures their power. Man was thus granted contracts and such was born the wizard. In those days wizards became common, often any village with more than a hundred people would have at least one and sometimes more. To organize the affairs wizardry the council was created. So things were and continued to be for a great deal of time."

"The council though was unsatisfied. Man does not like to beg for scraps at the hands of a greater being. They wanted the power for themselves, or at least to no longer be at the mercy of these demons. Thus the council created a secret agenda, the annihilation of demon kind."

"Man though could no more then turn upon his masters, than he could in the beginning. The council needed power to fight them, power that did not rely on those that man sought to strike down. Power is what man found. Through a mark of both genius and chance man came upon a secret, a terrifying method in which a demon could be destroyed and then fed to an infant's soul thus giving that person magics like that of the creature slain."

Nabiki nodded. "A soul merge."

"You mean like the demon did with me?" Ranma-chan replied.

"Not exactly, this method was controlled by man, and while the power was drawn from the spirit the side effects where minimized through various and often terrible methods. Still the spirit was tainted by the demon's energies so the council took great care in who they gave power to, how much power they gave, and what type of power was granted."

"After experimentation it was determined that elemental magics were by far the best and safest when combined with man. Near that time they found that infants grew better into their power than any grown man could. Such children were named adepts. Trained from birth and united since the same they wielded their power like we breath the depth of their control beyond your imagination. These adepts became both the council's enforcers and their greatest warriors."

"The creation of the adepts angered the demons. Many considered it an atrocity of the highest order. Humans though are cunning beasts and the council drew upon the backing of demon factions that wanted others destroyed. With this they started their war at the behest of their allies destroying some now so that there would be less as time went. Fighting now so that their armies would be organized trained and ready when the sword fell upon all demon kind.

"All while this happened the council worked in secret on a project far far greater. One that drew upon the power and genius of the greatest of wizards. With all their power, and all their knowledge the council had forged three great artifacts. The first of which was an item called Daedalus's key. "

"The moment it was finished the key bound the world in a shell deep within the Aether. A shell that could not be broken from the inside or out. That however was not all, it filled all things between heaven and earth with a labyrinth of incredible horrors, of nightmares born from the most terrible and depraved minds. In this all demons that existed between the edge of the shell and earth were trapped and forcefully condemned. Between them and escape stood seven gates, gates that only Daedalus's key could open."

Anito continued, "The spirits were of course horrified and immediately declared total war upon man. Tens of thousands of wizards found themselves stripped of power overnight. The demons however did not know how useless this act was. Holding the key and millions of demons hostage with seven gates between them and escape the council bargained every wizard's power restored and then some. At the same time they opened up magical armories and handed out weapons to every human hero that had the skill and power to face the demon horde."

"So did the two sides clash. Man and the few allies he had left on one side, and the demons on another. The world shook with their wrath, cities were obliterated and people were slain in the millions. So did the war pass for generation after generation a boiling genocide that went both ways. The demons though despite the key were winning. In a dramatic battle they finished off the jewel of humanity, Atlantis destroying the city and throwing it into the human's own Labyrinth, where no man could survive."

"It was a dark and terrible day for humanity. Many feared that it signaled the fall of man. Instead though it drove the forger of the next great artifact mad, and within his madness he grasped the solution that had evaded all others at last finishing the device. Thus one month from the fall of Atlantis, the day the demons stopped their celebration was born the Eye of Eldritch."

Ranma-chan perked up. "About time you got to that." She muttered.

"Wait if the Eye is built by the Council then-" Nabiki started

Anito grinned and raised a hand indicating that Nabiki halt. "You catch on quickly however there is much more to this story that is pertinent."

"The Eye of Eldritch was a item of cunning design. It had the power to scry upon all places in this world and from there it could look into the deepest depths of any heart be it man, beast or spirit. With that it could tell not only what it was that the creature was doing, but also what it was going to do. It was to put it simply, the ultimate spy satellite, the epitome of big brother and there was no place on earth that you could hide from it."

"To know every tactic that your enemy would employ, every movement, every thought. To know how to strike to break their heart and will, to destroy their morale or where they left weakness in order to strike. To know every time they take a risk to deal a fatal blow and to capitalize on their every mistake. That is what the Eye means. There was no escaping it. There was no fleeing it. It was said that it the Key bound them to this world, and it was the Eye that decided their fate. To have the Eye turn upon you meant that your time was measured and the Council had already decided when and where you would die."

Ranma-chan shivered a second time in memory of the terrible feeling that the Eye drew upon those on which it looked. She could imagine exactly how those demons must have felt when they passed under its gaze. Knowing the importance of tactics in battle, and how much could be decided by fore knowledge or a clever ambush Ranma-chan finally understood why Anito had insisted they leave now. "So that is why you wanted to leave immediately."

"Part of the reason Ranma, merely part. Though it plays a very large factor in my insistence of speed." Anito explained. "First though let me finish my tale."

Ranma-chan scratched her head thoughtfully, "Wouldn't the war have ended with something like that on their side?"

"Three Ranma, he said three artifacts." Nabiki said her eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

"Yes, Ranma one would imagine that such a tool would end the war and so it had been intended. The fall of Atlantis though had greatly weakened the Council. Many warriors of great stature and tale lost their lives in the fall and so to were lost many lesser items. What is more the Labyrinth had only a finite number of demons to draw from and in the harshness of the war it was becoming harder to replace powerful wizards. Thus it was many years before things turned back to human favor and even then the fighting was harsh flowing from side to side. For the demon's too were getting desperate, fearful that if the war did not end soon that it would end forever on the side of humanity."

"They were not wrong in such thoughts, for man produced the last great artifact five hundred years from the creation of the Eye and a thousand from that of the key. It was a sword of godlike might named by its creators Tenmou, Heaven's Wrath. The weapon's power was terrible for with every demon it killed the sword honed itself upon the creature's power becoming stronger and stronger. Its blade burned like the sun as it filled itself on the blood of its enemies."

"The day the sword was finished it was plunged into the hearts of a thousand demons. Then the Council handed it over to the adept of light Gyoukou who with his four companions marched upon a battlefield. Here ten thousand demons fought a barely surviving host of five hundred men. It was said that it was dawn when the five arrived standing on a hill overlooking the battle. The Eye burned down on the army of spirits as baleful as the sun in an unforgiving desert. As terrible as its visage they laughed, for their strength was beyond that which man could stop no matter his knowledge. So it was that they declared in challenge to the adepts, 'Come and die'."

"Then it was that Gyoukou unsheathed Tenmou and the sky itself split. The demons took one look upon the sword and where filled with a terrible fear. At that moment a death toll rang for their kind. The eyes of the gods bulged with fear and by dusk the entire host lay dead every last one of them slain by Tenmou. That day spelled the beginning of the end. Every army sent from the day that Tenmou was first wielded was gutted, crushed and destroyed. Such was the strength of the three artifacts in combination that from that moment no man, no demon, and no god dared dispute the Council's power."

"One to bind, one to measure, one to cut." Nabiki said thoughtfully.

Ranma-chan scratched her head. "Heh, kind of sounds like the three wyrd sisters to me."

Anito grinned at Ranma-chan. "Excellent Ranma, exactly the three fates. One who spins the thread of fate, one who measures its length, and the last who cuts it. At least so it is in Greek and Roman mythology. The same connection can be applied to the Norns though not quite as specific in its application."

Nabiki blinked in surprise. "How did you manage to make that connection Ranma?"

"Long story, lets just say it involved a stupid technique called Lachesis's Eye, a rare order of monks and one of my pops normal dumb ideas." Ranma-chan replied.

"Lachesis's Eye sounds interesting what did it do?" Anito asked.

Ranma-chan just looked at him. "Well pops thought it was some secret technique for seeing in the darkness. It turns out it was some weird ass technique for correctly measuring cloth when you can't see. The monks it turned out were to cheap to buy candles and lived in a temple on the east side of a really tall cliff so they didn't get much day light. They did know a lot about the fates and stuff though, but nothing like you said with the artifacts and all."

"Interesting, in any case there is more." Anito said.

"More?" Nabiki asked.

"Yes, you asked the connection of Stonehenge did you not? Well, now we are to that point of the story. With all three artifacts finished the war became completely dominated by man. The Council though over years had changed hands many times and few wished for the genocide that their predecessors had advocated. Instead most simply desired the war to end. The council's allies were in agreement and actively encouraged this new path."

"Driven by this idea the Council used Daedalus's key a second time in a bold and dangerous move. They sliced through the labyrinth and through the shell of the world a corridor. Bold and dangerous for the demons in that sector of the Labyrinth attacked in vengeance, flooding through the gate like a tsunami. Enraged past the point of caring about their lives for the horror that was visited upon them and the price asked for freedom."

"Their revenge though was doomed from the beginning. For there they met both Tenmou and the Council's army. While the army fought wizards moved with desperate speed to build a fortified gate that controlled access through this corridor. That gate was Stonehenge or at least the larger circle is the true gate, the rest was added later."

"Stonehenge became the diplomatic tool that ended the war. For at that moment the Council offered not merely death, but escape as well to those demons that tired of fighting. With the dread artifacts many accepted this offer fleeing into the Aether. Thus it was that the war finally came to an end two thousand years from whence it began."

"Are you done?" Nabiki asked the moment the wizard paused.

"Yes."

"Good then tell me what exactly the council has to do with the problems we are in now? I thought we were only dealing with the US." Nabiki asked.

Anito sighed. "I truly don't know."

Ranma-chan tried to follow the conversation then finally she made the link Nabiki made so long ago. The Eye was made by the council thus it had to be the council who used it. Then again..., "Couldn't the US just use the Eye without the council?"

"Not a chance. Only the Council knows how to use the Eye and it is against the law of the circle to tell anyone else. For a member of the council it is literally physically impossible to break the law of the circle, any attempt to force them to do so will fail, or result in their death." Anito explained.

"So it is the Council then that used the eye. So why did they use it and did they do so at America's behest, or simply for reasons of their own?" Nabiki spoke less in a question rather than to organize her thinking out loud.

"I haven't the slightest idea the reasoning behind the councils decision. Further, I have no intention of sticking around long enough to find out." Anito said the last with a grin. "My entire design of coming here so fast is so that they will not have any time to take advantage of the knowledge gained from the Eye, or more importantly bring to bear other resources."

"Scared of Tenmou?" Ranma-chan asked the wizard.

"Only a fool wouldn't be. It is however, unlikely that they would bring that blade back from where they put it as after the demon war the weapon picked up a powerful curse."

Anito continued, "No my greater fear is their other resources. Should they be paired with America or be working in favor of them, the Americans will now know where we are and more that I will not strike with maximum force unless sorely provoked. Which means they can throw every soldier they want against us without reservation. I personally have no desire to face down twenty of those armors while dodging air support. Worse if the council is acting on its own concern we may have to face the council's adepts." Anito replied.

"Err... I suppose you have a good point. So lets get going before they show up." Ranma-chan returned.

Anito grinned. "I agree completely. Thankfully I am finished with my preparation. Now there is only the matter of opening the gate. So you will excuse me this will require all of my concentration." With that the wizard turned from the pair and started to chant. Ranma-chan could feel the energy course through the air in response. Slowly one after another the fifty six Aubrey holes that encircled Stonehenge, lit up light pouring out in a rising column that reached all the way to the stars an illuminated the night.

Ranma-chan looked at Nabiki. "So what do you think?" She said conversationally to her partner.

"You tell me Ranma, the mystical is far more your expertise than it is mine. I usually indulge myself in matters far more mundane. I can say though that I fail to see the reason that Anito would lie about this." Nabiki replied.

Ranma-chan blinked. "You think that Anito would lie?"

"He is perfectly capable of deception should it meet his obj-" Nabiki was cut off by a huge surge of wind as the wizards chanting rose in volume.

The around the pillars of light which encircled a huge volume danced fairy light. Slowly the dancing willow wisps began to spin faster and faster. The air moved in tandem with the ethereal light rushing to higher and higher speeds until it was like a giant Hiryu Shoten Ha.

Standing where they were it was like they were caught in the center of a super storm. Trapped within the eye of a tornado. The inside was a dead calm but Ranma-chan heard the epic roar of wind that clawed at the heavens and earth. In a moment a century of erosion vanished under the titanic force. The ground scoured by powerful wind and reshaped by even stronger magic.

As the energy surged blinding Ranma-chan's aura sight with its potency, she cast her head to the sky. The pillar of light and wind reached high into the air where it formed into a vortex that encompassed an entire kaleidoscope of colors. A sense of weightlessness swept over the pigtailed girl. She could almost almost feel the land dropping away from her. Looking at the ground Ranma-chan found herself floating a centimeter and then two, then four above the ground.

"Whaaa!" Ranma-chan waved her arms in the air in an inelegant display as the martial artist tried to retain balance. That state though did not exist in this aerial displacement. Reasserting her mental discipline Ranma-chan used her knowledge of aerial movement and a little bit of ki to regain control over her movement.

Nabiki on the other hand looked rather irritated, despite this the cold hearted girl maintained her dignity as she slowly floated in turned in a circle. Instead of complaining she instead looked at the vortex they where approaching at a slow but increasing velocity and said, "Well at least that explains how we get up there."

Anito appeared near Nabiki and stilled her with a hand. The wizard's excellent control of ki, and no doubt prior knowledge saved him from the display the other two had made of themselves. Seeing the wizard grin Ranma-chan briefly wondered if the arch-mage had neglected to tell them this would happen just for the shear amusement of seeing their reactions.

Grinning the wizard spoke up, "You know Nabiki I am half tempted to give you a little push."

A ribbon slipped into existence wrapping itself around the wizard's arm. Nabiki smiled sweetly. "Go right ahead."

Anito's grin didn't falter in the least. "I would be delighted to take your offer. Unfortunately, duty calls." Anito let out a dramatic sigh of disappointment and pointed up to the vortex that was still a few hundred meters away.

With that the arch-mage wiped out a large cylindrical device. Its shape reminded Ranma-chan of a paint can, but about three times as tall. Out of the bottom and top a bunch of antenna like wires protruded in a wickedly spiky monstrosity. Around the center of the silvery cylinder was a wheel like ring. Grinning Anito grabbed hold of this ring. "I suggest that you two grip this with at least one hand, the results of not doing so will not be pretty."

Nabiki grabbed on quickly shooting Anito a look of annoyance. Ranma-chan further away had to use light amounts of ki in order to swim her way over to the device. While reaching out to grip the ring her backpack bounced off the pigtailed girl's back and slid free flying off into the distance like space debris.

Nabiki watched Ranma-chan amused. Ranma-chan glared at the girl. "What?"

"You might want your bag." Nabiki replied.

Glancing at her shoulder Ranma-chan noticed her bag was missing. Looking around she noticed it floating slowly, but steadily, away already three dozen meters distant. "Damn it." Ranma-chan said with a sigh. "Just a second I'll be back."

Anito looked up noticing the vortex was getting very very close. "Wai- Ranma stop! Nabiki grab him!"

"Huh?" Ranma-chan said stopping herself slowly with ki.

"Wha-" Nabiki started.

"Now!" Anito shouted in irritation.

Looking annoyed Nabiki directed a ribbon at the pigtailed girl. The piece of cloth moved like lightning and Ranma-chan again appreciated the masterful artistry that went into the creation of Nabiki's item. The cloth snapped around Ranma-chan's arm almost painfully tight. It reminded Ranma-chan of Ryouga in how it lacked appreciation for its own strength.

Nabiki looked at Anito and asked, "Mind telling me what that was about?"

"Grab on hard add some ribbons. You should probably pull him up too." Was all Anito said his grin having returned.

Nabiki glanced down at Ranma-chan and two more ribbons snaked out at the same time. Ranma-chan felt them add themselves to the powerful grip of the first. Then suddenly she was ripped upwards like a bullet as the ribbons pulled far harder than necessary. Startled Ranma-chan didn't react in time to grab onto the device as she flew by still being accelerated by the ribbons. Up Ranma-chan went faster every moment until the ribbons went taut. Then in a single instant Ranma-chan stopped. Wincing in pain Ranma-chan nursed her arm. The force had nearly jerked it out of its socket.

Below Nabiki squawked jerked up as well as a small part of the momentum transferred to her. An arm snaked around Nabiki's waist before she could fly away completely.

Anito grinned at the girl still maintaining his hold even though Nabiki's movement had stopped. "Careful there."

Nabiki glared at him holding onto the handle with two white knuckled hands. "You can let go now."

"What about me?" Ranma-chan asked glaring down at the two from her higher vantage point.

Anito looked up to the vortex that was now only a second away. "Enjoy the ride."

"Wha- waaaaaaa!" Ranma-chan screamed as she passed into the vortex. The moment her feet passed it was like an icy vacuum pulling her up with suction force. The ribbons went taut again as Ranma-chan was pulled upward. Nabiki was jerked up as well, but this time her tighter grip and Anito's arm kept her firmly in place.

For Ranma-chan while dangling from the ribbon it felt like she was caught in a tug-a-war between giants. The powerful dazzling corridor of light she was now in pulling her one way and the ribbon another. Thankfully the excruciating moment lasted only a short time before Anito and Nabiki joined her on this side of the vortex. The instant they passed through it was like a huge weight was removed from her. Seeing that they where now shooting up at a very fast pace Ranma-chan quickly jerked herself down and grabbed onto the device next to Nabiki and Anito.

Looking down Ranma-chan saw the vortex was already a single point of light. Glancing about she spotted her backpack flying around in the powerful energy currents. Ranma-chan could almost swear she heard a muffled, "Bweee!" rising from the cloth bag, but the incredibly energy traveling the potent path was to great for her ki senses to pick out anything through the contrast.

"Welcome back." Anito replied removing his hand from around Nabiki.

Ranma-chan glared at the wizard removing the issue of the backpack from her mind. "That wouldn't have happened if you told us what would happen before hand." She grumbled out annoyed. Her poor arm hurt. At least the blood was flowing again now that Nabiki's ribbons were gone.

Anito grinned back. "Now now, I didn't have time for both stories now did I. In any case we are about out of the mouth so may as well activate the second function."

Ranma-chan tightened her grip as huge spans of light blossomed out of both ends of the cylinder wrapping itself around the pair in a giant dome. Below at their feet it expanded itself into a flat ground like surface. The entirety was perhaps ten meters in radius giving a comfortable amount of room. The moment in fully inclosed the three gravity reasserted itself settling Ranma onto the hard smooth surface below. Thankful Ranma-chan watched as Anito let go, and then did the same.

Grinning Anito looked at the two raising both hands he said dramatically. "Welcome to the Aether!"

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This chapter was SUPPOSED to be the last before the next story arch, however, that duty will fall onto the next one, as the sections in this one became quite a bit bigger than I expected.

Enjoy!