Demonic Summoner

Belldandy followed Urd at a more sedate pace, and gracefully stepped up beside her, to peer into the small windows that lined the outside of the warehouse. It had been Urd's task, assigned by Kami-sama himself, to find the location where the summoning would be attempted, but Belldandy was more than willing to assist her. After all, it had been her fiancee, Keiichi, who had inadvertently overheard Mara's gloating, and she was far more skilled than her sister at detecting magic use. Besides, Mara was more her rival than Urd's, and knowing Mara, there was a strong chance that this summoning was directed at breaking up her relationship with Keichii, preventing the fulfillment of his wish.

Even as she focused on the scene inside, Belldandy knew they were too late. A frisson of fear passed through her and she breathed softly, "Father, let Keichii be safe." The swirl of color above the unusually large and ornate summoning circle was evidence enough that the summoning had been completed. At any moment, the summoned would appear, and if Mara's gloats had been accurate, then this would be a very bad day for them all. Apparently the artifact Mara had found or been given had claimed that it described the means for awakening and recalling one of the Ancient Ones. They should be seeking a way inside, but they could not take the chance, with the summoning as far along as it was, that it would be completed and Mara fled, before they could find an entry. At the least, they needed to see and know what had been summoned.

Even as she pondered this, and her sister cursed under her breath beside her, the light cleared and the summoned appeared in the circle. Within the room, Mara was near beside herself with delight. After completing the ritual, she had felt the absolutely tremendous surge of power as the spell took effect and finally allowed herself to truly believe it had worked. "Soon, Belldandy," she muttered, a feral and delighted grin briefly crossing her face before she suppressed her delight and resumed the expression of calm control she would need in her negotiations with the power she had awoken.

When the light cleared, Fey Ranma looked about him. Even as he had been drawn through, he had felt of the spell, and known that somehow it had been tuned precisely to him, and more so, had been tuned to draw him through at a time when he was in his draconic form. He also thought that he recognized in the form of the spell the touch of his old enemy, Arkus, whose life he had saved by slaying Fey.

Mara stared up at him, feeling a sudden warmth. She had expected a being of immense power... but hadn't considered that he might be so gorgeous. He was humanoid as most of the greater demons and gods were, but less so than most, the black horns rising from his head nearly brushing the metal rafters, his overall mass barely fitting within the circle she had drawn. He was heavily muscled, though his fine scales had not the same appearance as skin, looking more like a tight bodysuit outlining his strength. Demonic a motif as the claws, horns, and leathery wings might be, he seemed to carry an innate nobility that occasioned a second look. Breathing deeply as she gazed at the gorgeous dragon, she called out, commanding him to heed her, her voice exultant with relief, desire, and expectation.

Fey ignored the woman, for the moment, and focused his draconic eyes on the runes about him. Turning slowly, he examined the entire circle. Outside, Urd and Belldandy saw him ignore Mara and begin his slow turn.

"Quick, now's our chance to get inside," Urd hissed. Belldandy nodded, and followed her sibling. They found a side door, and to their great surprise, it was actually unlocked. They slipped inside, and Urd found herself licking suddenly dry lips. Not only was the summoned being absolutely delicious, the power rolling off of him was frightening. She lifted the device Skuld had given her, and looked at it in shock.

"Belldandy," she whispered, "this is unbelievable. He's an ancient, alright, I'm detecting that energy. But there are two other energy sources on him, and what's more, there's a peculiar field about him... I'm not sure, I don't understand these readings like Skuld could, I'm sure, but his mass and weight don't match. It's like for some reason, he weighs thousands of times more than he ought to..."

They were both startled when the beast's laughter rang out.

Fey had examined the entire circle, and found that Arkus had made the same mistake that the old Lord Fey had, in spite of having watched the failure of Fey's work, assuming, of course, that he was right about it being Arkus. The sealing circle held no defense against ki. He laughed aloud, startling the woman before him.

"Send me back," he commanded, in a firm tone that seemed to echo within itself.

"I-I-I c-can't," stammered Mara. This wasn't right. Evil beings trapped in nothingness for millenia were supposed to be happy to be free, not wanting to go back.

Fey sighed to himself. It figured . . . why would Arkus want to provide a means for return, anyway?

Mara's mouth hardened, her lips pressed into a thin line. It didn't matter, he was bound. "Even if I could, why should I? I have summoned you, you will obey me," she insisted in an imperious tone.

Fey used the tiniest bit of ki to slice through the glowing lines of the circle behind him, and the circle fell dark. Mara gasped in dismay, and Urd groaned quietly.

"If you cannot send me back, then there is no reason for me to stay and listen to you," replied Fey, and Mara shrieked in fury when the beast simply disappeared. She screamed in sudden fear when a bolt of lightning hit her from the side.

"Urd!" she shouted, "Damn you!" Mara turned and fled, her anger rising even hotter as she realized that it had been Belldandy she had spotted beside the lightning throwing Norn, but Urd did not pursue.

"This is definitely not good, imoutochan," sighed Urd, "we have no idea what that thing's plans are now."

"Yes, oneechan," replied Belldandy calmly, "but you have readings of his power signature, and at least we know that Mara was unable to control him. That makes it much less likely that he will be targeting us directly. That should give us more time to find him, ne?"

Urd sighed again. "I suppose you're right, imoutochan. Let's go home, and see what Skuld can make of this."

---

The next morning, after breakfast, Skuld led her sisters to the living room, where they made themselves comfortable. Urd found herself having to restrain shudders as she observed the pained and frightened look on the youngest goddess' face as she settled into her seat. She noted the whiteness of Skuld's knuckles where she gripped the small clipboard, and this time she failed to hold in the convulsive shivers, as she felt an icy chill flow up her spine.

"I . . . I'll begin at the beginning, I suppose," Skuld said, looking at Urd, and for once, not including a harsh comment or needling insult directed at her elder sister. This restraint in itself sent another shudder down Urd's back. Skuld was never this subdued, and she always jumped at the opportunity to tease Urd.

"The data you collected, oneesan, confirms that the being does in fact have access to the power source used by the Ancients. The amount of the Ancient's energy in him was minimal though... less than the lifeforce of an average human."

Urd looked up in surprise, her face brightening, "But that's wonderful! If he isn't very strong..."

Skuld was quick to interrupt. "No, oneesan. I suspect that it is more of a conduit. What it really means, is we have no way of knowing how much of that power he can draw at need, nor how fast."

"Oh . . .," sighed Urd, her face falling again.

"There's more. You know what Ki is right?" She waited for their positive responses before continuing. "Well, from the perspective of another martial artist, this guy would be strong, among the top twenty fighters in the world."

Skuld ignored Urd's startled gasp and continued, as Belldandy sat in attentive silence. "But my sensors are more sensitive than most..."

Here again Urd was startled by the casual and quiet way this claim had been made. It was much more like Skuld to dance about, singing the praises of her devices. Seeing her speaking like this was really making Urd nervous.

Skuld continued, "and so I was able to detect two things. First, this guy is hiding his ki quite well, and I'd say he's probably carrying around more ki than anyone else on the planet by a fair margin."

Again Skuld ignored Urd's startled exclamation. "It gets worse. The readings indicate that his body is behaving as if it were in a very intense gravitational field, though it is counterbalanced by an opposing force on the soles of his feet, so that it is not transmitted to the ground."

Urd groaned. "Could you repeat that in a normal language please?"

Skuld merely continued. "After examining the readings, I have concluded the purpose of this to be two-fold. One, it is a matter of constant strain on both his body and his ki, providing constant exercise, in any situation. More importantly though, I suspect it acts as a limiter to his power. If he can consciously control it somehow, and reduce that pressure on himself, he should get a triple boost. First, since it looks like he is using ki to accomplish the feat, the ki he had been using would be freed for other purposes. Second, the natural speed and strength of his body would seem to increase dramatically. And third, I suspect that the lesser strain on his body would increase the rate of ki production, which would both deepen his reserves, and speed up their replenishment. In other words, Urd, we cannot be sure how strong he is, except to say that he is probably the strongest martial artist in existence, and can probably increase his power at will, to an indeterminate degree. This is without even considering the fact of his access to the power of the Ancients."

Urd groaned and put her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry, oneesan, but it gets worse."

"Worse!!! How can it be any worse, Skuld!?" shouted Urd. She calmed quickly when Belldandy laid a hand lightly on her arm. "Sorry, Skuld. Go on," she sighed.

"This is the last thing, oneesan . . . but I fear it is the worst. The evidence the sensors collected say that his body could not have been more than an hour old, at the outside. The implication is that he created it, which means we must assume he could create another. So we don't necessarily know what he looks like, even discounting the possibility of illusion spells, and such-like."

Skuld sighed as she finished her account. Her elder sister really irritated her at times, but there was no question that beneath it all, Skuld loved her. Now Skuld was truly afraid. Urd would be facing up against a being that she had no real hope of defeating. Though she didn't want to say it, Skuld had quickly realized the real implications of her readings. To defeat this being, if it came to that, would require the united efforts of the gods of heaven, and inevitably, some would die in the task. It was simply too powerful . . . and her sister was on the front line.

---

Fey disappeared from the warehouse, and reappeared in the woods some distance outside of Tokyo, in an area his senses claimed was deserted. There he stopped and considered. After a while, he decided that he needed to determine how drastically this reality diverged from his own, so that once he started hopping dimensions on his way back, he would be able to tell whether he was getting closer or not. Unless, of course, by some terribly unlikely stroke of luck, he came across someone here who like the Lady Alana was able to pinpoint his plane of origin and return him thence in a single step.

His best bet then, would be to attempt to find himself in this world, if he existed here, and see what the differences were. He couldn't be sure about the time frame, but from what he could sense of the city, it did seem to be Tokyo, and much like the one he had been living in. So he would need to head to Nerima. It was likely that this world's Genma would also have made the arrangement with Soun, if Ranma existed here, since the arrangement was made prior to Ranma's birth.

Now, he had to think of how best to get close enough to Ranma that he would be able to catalogue the differences. What could he be that would allow him to remain close to Ranma for a sufficient period of time? He could pretend to be related, or another fiancee, but he would have no supporting evidence. He could be a pet, but most of the pets he could think of had the danger of being given away, etc . . . no guarantee they would be kept. A cat would be good, most people understand that you can't really make a cat do anything. They are independent creatures. But if this world's Ranma had not been through what Fey had, then he might very well still be affected by the Neko-ken, making a cat the worst possible choice.

Besides, he wasn't sure Ranma was the type to have a pet. Perhaps someone near him . . . If this world's Ranma hadn't gotten to spend time away from Genma, he would likely not be in a good position to resist Genma's plans for him. That would imply that he would be engaged to one of the Tendo daughters, and given Genma's freeloading nature, they might well be staying at the dojo.

One of the sisters then . . . but which? Akane, the youngest, would probably be the one Ranma would be engaged to, given that it would be Genma and Soun making the decision. He wasn't sure about Soun, but Genma would certainly be blind enough to assume that the martial artist would be the best match and they were the closest in age. Assuming of course, this world's Akane was a martial artist.

At this point, he reminded himself, I don't even know whether the Tendos and Saotomes exist in this world. But I want to be at the center of information . . . I want as much knowledge as I can get . . . and the middle daughter, for the short time I knew her, seemed the type to be focused on it, the way she ran the school, the betting pools, and her dislike of secrets being kept from her. Yes, if Tendo Nabiki exists here, then she is the perfect choice.

But now, what kind of pet would appeal to her? A cutesy pet would likely be given to Akane or Kasumi . . . that's just not Nabiki's style. A snake, maybe, she's certainly cold enough . . . but that's not really mobile enough for my liking . . . besides, its hard to really grow affection for such. It would be a symbol for her, and no more. A cat would be perfect, aloof and independent, just like her. Ah! A mix of cat and snake . . . the fire dragons I made once. Cat-like attitude, with the style of a snake . . . plus they look like dragons, and everyone knows dragons are associated with treasure . . . yes, that fits Nabiki perfectly.

The fifteen foot dragon shimmered with a brilliant blue light as it shrank, collapsing inward until finally it was no more than a couple of feet long, a little fire-dragon, with sinuous body, strong wings and ki-powered claws and teeth. He focused, concentrating on concealing his ki until his aura was minimal.

Then he slowly released some of his hold on the gravity technique, diminishing the pull on his body to a point where the ki flowing in his body became enough to counterbalance the gravitational pull, making him near weightless. By this stage, his ki had bloomed enough to devastate the nearby forest for nearly thirty yards, and the ground beneath him began to slowly bubble as it melted.

He focused again, reining in his ki until he had it thoroughly hidden. Then he reached for the Neko-ken, and drew up enough of it for it to affect his behavior and senses to a mild degree.

He leapt and soared into the air, not even needing to beat his wings to gain altitude, with the ki filling him. His wings served merely to guide his flight.

---

Skuld leapt from her bed at the frantic beeping of one of her many devices. It took her several moments to find it, and when she did, one look at it sent her racing from the room, shouting for her sisters. Keichii poked his head out of his bedroom with a puzzled expression that changed to one of mild shock as she blew past him fast enough to cause a strong breeze against his face.

The three Norns converged on the living room, where it took Skuld several minutes to calm down enough to speak clearly.

"We . . . we've got him. Massive energy spike, outside the city limits." She pointed excitedly at the device in her hands, then looked down at it in surprise. "Whoa . . . it's gone now. Anyway," and she pulled out a map from somewhere, and looked at the device in her hands for a moment before making a mark on it, "here's where it spiked. Maybe you'll find something there, Urd."

Urd looked at the map for a moment, then looked up in disgust. "Chikuso, look how far it is from the roads. I hate hiking . . . I'm sure there's no TV's near there . . . Skuld-chan, there's probably some water nearby . . . please?"

Skuld looked into her sister's pleading eyes, ready to brush her off, or needle her . . . when she realized that she was rather curious about the energy spike, and what it might have been for.

"Sure . . . let's go, oneesan."

Urd looked rather stunned at having received such a positive response with so little effort.

Nabiki

High in the air, Fey looked down with dragon eyes, and his sharp sight easily picked out the high school, then traced along the streets until he located the Tendo Dojo. He watched it for a while, before deciding that they must be out, for the only person he saw was Kasumi, hanging out clothes to dry.

Scanning across the neighborhood, he was quite startled to see a sign saying 'Nekohanten.' There had been a Nekohanten in his world . . . but why would the Amazons here in this world have come to Nerima? Could it be that this world was much closer to his own than he thought? His attention sharpened when he saw a purple haired young woman dash out of the restaurant and hop onto a bicycle. Circling lower, he saw that she was carrying a single takeout box.

He steadily dropped his altitude, until he was flying only a few hundred feet above the girl. He considered her path, and realized she was heading for the school. He glanced up at the sun, and realized that it was just approaching its zenith. Midday . . . lunchtime, and she was just now heading for school. There was a difference. In his world, she would be attending school, assuming that this was indeed Xian Pu. It was possible school was out here in this world . . . he wasn't sure that time moved the same between worlds, but if it was out, then there would be little reason for her to be going there.

He looked ahead, and over the school walls, he could indeed now see people pouring out of the school onto the grounds. He followed the girl as she leapt the wall on her bike, and landed with her wheel planted in a young man's face.

She called out a happy greeting, and Fey watched in amusement, realizing that the young man was Ranma, and the girl beside him was Akane. That implied that his assumption about Genma's behavior was accurate. Then he heard something that quite startled him . . . Xian Pu, and it was her, for he heard Ranma call her Shampoo, called Ranma 'airen.'

So . . . that explains the Amazon presence, Fey thought to himself. Then he glanced about, until he spied Nabiki sitting beneath another tree, dealing with her factors as she ate her lunch. He sailed down towards her, and settled onto a low branch over her, where he could watch her.

Nabiki was feeling a little tired, and more than a bit depressed. She had arranged for the breakup of Akane's wedding, and three weeks later, things had gone back to the way they were. Now, on this return visit, she had observed that Shampoo was hounding Ranma again . . . but Akane wasn't taking things well at all. She hadn't attacked Ranma for it . . . so she had been able to see that Ranma really wasn't enjoying her behavior. But she had grown steadily more despondent, ever since Ranma's reaction to Ukyou's attack at the wedding had led him to finally explain to her why he felt he could not choose.

When Nabiki finally understood that Akane had in fact wanted to marry Ranma, and that Ranma's constant waffling was not due to his dislike of Akane, but to his inability to choose without staining his honor, and the honor of his family, and the honor of two of his fiancees, she had felt like a heel. She had thought she was protecting Akane . . . instead she had hurt her, badly.

What was worse, was that it made her realize that Ranma was not the thoughtless jerk she had thought he was, but a surprisingly caring and sensitive guy, whom she should have been happy to have as a friend. Instead, she had tormented him to keep from having to admit her own desire for him, and in the process, locked herself away from affection from anyone. Never had she felt so lonely.

Indeed, that was a considerable part of the reason she had come back to Furinkan several times this week, to meet up with her old . . . associates. She could not call them friends, unfortunately. She had not allowed herself to have friends while she attended here, and she found herself regretting that now.

She was startled out of her discussion when one of her former factors suddenly turned pale, and started back away slowly, pointing up into the tree. Nabiki felt a sudden chill, and spun quickly to look up, but saw nothing. She looked back at her factor, but saw her already some distance away, stumbling through the crowd.

"I wonder what that was about . . ." she mused to herself.

Fey sighed inwardly. He had noticed the girl's reaction a moment too late. He had instantly vanished, pulling invisibilty about himself, but it was too late. Now Nabiki would be on edge. He would have to think of some other way of insinuating himself into her care.

---

It took only five minutes to get from the stream to where the readings had come from, and no time at all to verify that they were at the right place. Skuld and Urd stood at the edge of the burn, staring at the scene of destruction.

"What happened here?" breathed Urd, swallowing the sudden lump in her throat.

Skuld tested the wavy, glassy looking ground with a stick, before walking slowly into the clearing, scanning it with the small but complex device she held.

When she reached the center, she looked up at Urd, and Urd was startled to see the fear in her eyes. "He raised his battle aura for a short time."

"What?! You mean he didn't even do anything? This wasn't from an attack?!" Urd sputtered, gesturing at the charred trees and glassy ground.

"Nope, no sign of such. But the aura he had when you scanned him earlier couldn't have done this. I suspect this is confirmation of what I feared . . . he released his limiter some, and his power flared before he brought it back under control. I don't think this was deliberate . . . there seems no reason for it."

Urd whimpered. "You're saying he's even more powerful right now?"

"Yep. Hmmm . . . Alright, I've got all I can get here, let's go home."

---

Nabiki sighed again as she entered the house. She greeted Kasumi absently, still thinking on Ranma and Akane, and wondering if anyone would ever love her, ever trust her again. As she moved slowly up the stairs, she wondered if there was anyone who even really liked her anymore.

She entered her room, and went about her normal routine for several minutes before pausing suddenly. Something was wrong . . . something was out of place . . . She looked around, fully awake and aware now. What was not where it should be? She saw it at once.

On top of her dresser, her photos had been moved aside, and a large bowl sat there, cradling an exquisite statue of a dragon lying on a bed of gems. Her mind reeled as she tried to imagine its worth . . . even fake, ceramic as she suspected it to be, it would be worth more than . . . she moved to look closer at it, and as she did, she saw the way the light shifted as it moved through the gems, and she realized with startlement that they were not ceramic. Perhaps not real, but . . . If this thing was actually made of metal and crystal, its worth had just shot up considerably.

She reached out cautiously, avoiding the statue for the moment, to touch one of the gems. She gasped when the gem she touched shifted. She picked it up, and held it up to the light, where it gleamed and sparkled. Was it possible . . . could this truly be real? She set it down, and reached out to feel the metallic looking dragon. She brushed her hands across its scales, then jerked her hand back in shock. It had been warm! She reached out slowly, laid a single finger on its side, and pressed lightly. It gave slightly under the pressure, and to her distinct shock, she felt the beat of a heart. She leapt backwards, scrambling for the door, eyes locked on the sleeping beast, comforting herself with the fact that it had not moved.

She forced herself to stop at the door. She was not a silly girl, she was not going to go running to find someone to rescue her. She was going to stand here, and think logically about this. Now . . . there was a bowl, containing gems, and a live . . . dragon-type thing on the dresser. Why? If it was meant to frighten her, it would be hidden in her bed, or somewhere she would notice it when least expecting it. If it was meant to hurt her, then again, it would be concealed, to strike when she was unaware. In either case, would it be lying on a pile of gems . . . potentially, real gems? No.

It was not some creature that had invaded her room on its own . . . or it would not have a bowl of gems to lie in. So . . . it was put there . . . by someone. Probably so they could see her go screaming into the hall, hmmph, she wasn't going to play that game! Or . . . could it be a gift? She moved slowly back into the room, locking the door, and sat lightly on her bed, pondering.

Now that she considered it, it almost seemed symbolic. First, she was called the Ice Queen of Furinkan High . . . while this was a . . . or at least looked like, a lizard, a 'cold-blooded' creature. Second, she was well known for her love of money, and dragons were known to hoard wealth . . . and indeed, this one seemed to have a little hoard.

The problem was, if it was a gift, symbolic or otherwise, who could have given it to her? Only the Kuno's had that kind of money, and Tatewaki would never have given such a thing in secret. Not his style. As for Kodachi, she'd have no reason to. She supposed, given its symbolism, it could be a trap from Cologne to get her out of the way . . . but then why hadn't it gone off, when she prodded it?

She heard a rustling noise, and eeped when she looked up to see the dragon awake and looking at her, its wings half spread. She forced herself to remain calm. Think ice, Nabiki, ice. Don't scare it, and it won't hurt you . . . She stood up slowly, very, very slowly, and moved carefully towards the dresser, doing her best to appear non-threatening.

Now that it was moving, she was enthralled by it. It was absolutely beautiful. Its scales were an iridescent dark blue, with a hint of green, and its eyes were pools of deepest crystalline blue. It shifted slightly in the bowl, and reached out with one delicate claw to grasp the edge of the bowl, its claws tapping against the ceramic surface as the gems shifted beneath it. It followed her movements with its eyes, but didn't seem frightened.

She reached out one hand slowly, towards the creature. She was startled, when as soon as she was close enough, the little dragon moved, butting its head against her hand. It took her a moment to place the behavior, then she realized it was acting like a cat, demanding attention. She rubbed her middle finger on the top of its head, and it pushed up against the digit. She scratched lightly behind the little flaps where it ought to have had ears . . . she thought they looked more like little wings . . . and it seemed to croon softly, like a purr, but more musical, the miniature winglets twitching and rattling as they unfurled wider, as if to obtain greater sensation.

She reached out with her other hand, and slowly, gently, slid her hand under the little beast. It didn't seem to care, and when she lifted slowly, it draped itself about her hand. She brought it close to her body, and placed it in the crook of her left arm. She felt its musical purr against her stomach, and a slow grin formed.

Her eye was caught by something in the bowl. Rather than being full of gems, as she had expected, there had been something else beneath the little dragon . . . a book. She picked it up, noting that there were indeed more gems beneath it, and read the title as she walked back to the bed. "Care and Feeding of Your Dragon. By The Lord Fey"

She sat lightly on the bed again, then shifted, and set the dragon on her pillow. It curled up there, and she thought that it seemed to be watching her face.

She looked away from it, back at the book she held, noting the excellent realism of the image of the beautiful castle, with the peculiar white rose bush in the foreground, then opened the hard cover, and looked at the first page.

It was signed . . .

To Tendo Nabiki, May this book find you in good health, and relentlessly plying thine trade. Thy dragon is unnamed, and is thine for but a time, so waste not thy efforts on solving the mystery it poses, but enjoy it while it lasts. If answers ye seek in spite of my warning, then its time with thee shall be short indeed, for like thyself, dragons are beings of secrets and mystery. Treat him well, and enjoy his company while he is with thee. It is time that thee opened thy heart once more, lest when thee try, thee finds the lock has rusted shut.

Ironically yours,

Lord Fey, Ruler of the Land of Fey, Beloved of the Dragon Alana, ArchMage of the Court of Farallon

She stared at this for several minutes, before muttering beneath her breath, "This kind of stuff doesn't happen to me . . . I'm not the weird one around here." Sighing, she lay back on the bed, not noticing the little dragon's quick leap from where her head landed, and turned the page to begin the book proper. She did notice when it crawled onto her stomach, as she was surprised that its claws did not prick her skin in the slightest, even as it used them to make its way up, and then ignored it as it simply curled up on her belly. She did glance once at it, and note that again it seemed to have positioned itself to watch her face.

She quickly became engrossed in the book. It seemed very curious . . . it looked to be a properly published book, very professionally done, and yet the printed pages themselves seemed written directly to her, mentioning her by name. It was rather unnerving, particularly when it used things she had done in the past as examples of what to do and not do in caring for her companion.

She was quick to note the way the book always mentioned the dragon as a companion, and never as a pet. She was not surprised in the least when she read the section describing the similarities between the beast and a cat, for she had noticed them herself already.

When she finally finished the book, she looked up, feeling as though she had spent several hours reading. She was quite surprised to note that according to her alarm clock, she had been reading for no more than fifteen minutes.

"Nani?" Oh well, too weird, just ignore it.

She sat up slowly, and the dragon dropped into her lap. She looked down at it. "So I need to name you, huh?" It nodded, to her surprise. She hadn't really quite credited the book when it mentioned their intelligence. "And the note said you're male?" It . . . no, he . . . nodded again. "Uhm . . . well, you came to be on a bed of gemstones . . . ooh . . . what has your color . . . Sapphire? No . . . that sounds too . . . female . . . Why not just go with Diamond? They're worth the most." The dragon cocked its head at her, then nodded slowly.

She glanced at the clock again. "Chikuso, dinner's gonna be ready soon, and I need to catch up on my homework. You don't mind, do you?" Diamond shook his head and leapt easily from her bed to her desk, where he climbed back into the bowl and curled up on his bed of gemstones. She grinned, pulled out her school books, and started in on her homework.

When she heard Kasumi call out that dinner was ready, she stood quickly, and turned to the door. Just as she paused to turn back and ask Diamond if he was hungry, she felt him land on her shoulder. He lay there, and curled his tail lightly about her neck. She shrugged, which jostled him, eliciting a startled chirp, which she realized was the first real sound she'd heard him make, and started down the stairs.

Everyone except Kasumi was already at the table when she entered the room. She flushed slightly as every eye focused on her, and tried to maintain her icy facade, but ended up flushing harder when she heard a startled "Oh my" from behind her. She moved quickly to the table and took her place, ignoring their questioning gazes.

Soun gave the traditional "Itadakimasu" and everyone began eating, but all eyes remained on Nabiki as she ate her meal. She considered just telling them what happened . . . it was a delicious story, after all, and she could just see their reactions now. It would be even better if she could combine those reactions with a bunch of yen. So she ignored their pleading expressions, and just ate, enjoying the tortured look on their faces. She knew they were dying to ask, but afraid of the price.

She especially enjoyed the near universal gasp of surprise when she lifted a piece of fish to the dragon's mouth and he ate it. She realized then that they had assumed it was a toy of some kind, and were curious about the gift. Now that they knew it was alive, their looks of hunger were pure pleasure for her, and she wondered if maybe this was one secret she might just enjoy not selling at all.

Everyone jumped when Genma reached out to snatch a pickle from Nabiki's plate and his chopsticks fell into pieces. Only Ranma was really good enough to see the motion, and had there not been interference, no-one would likely have realized that Genma was stealing from more than just Ranma, but he froze in shock when his chopsticks were diced, and thus let everybody realize what he had been attempting. Nabiki smirked at him, as he slowly drew back, shaking slightly.

The rest of the meal passed in silence, as no one else had the temerity to question Nabiki, though whether for fear of her and her predatory ways, or of her new pet, was an open question. After dinner, as Nabiki walked back to her room, she considered more seriously whether or not she should sell the information about her dragon.

As she settled into the chair before her desk, she came to her decision. The book had talked several times about the mystery of dragons, and their secretive ways. If dragons preferred an air of mystery, then this one's mysterious appearance would certainly provide that, and she would not be the one to dispel it.

Nonetheless, she wondered if there was someone she could take into her confidence. She was a little nervous. All the strange things that had happened around Ranma had seemingly inevitably led to a fight, often a very dangerous one. Most often these fights had centered around Akane or Ranma . . . but if this dragon was an indication, the next might center around her, and that made her uneasy.

It had been a long time since Nabiki had studied the Art seriously, but she had maintained the knowledge that she had gained. It was one of the reasons that her incessant snacking had so little effect on her figure. It amused her to no end that all Akane's fervor in the art couldn't keep her from gaining when she ate sweets, but then, Nabiki did have enough skill in the Art to see that Akane's style of practice . . . breaking bricks and demolishing training dummies . . . was not really an effective workout. Of course, much of that had changed with the arrival of Ranma. Akane's endless attempts to pound him, in spite of her anger over his unwillingness to properly spar with her, had indeed had a profound impact on her skills and speed, though she did not seem to realize it herself.

Nevertheless, while her skills might suffice to protect her from boys her own age, or street thugs, or the like, it would be as nothing to the sorts of villains that regularly seemed to star in the sideshow that was Ranma's life. So who could she trust with this, and who could help her ensure that she would not be a victim in whatever it was that was coming up, she wondered.

Cologne is probably the most knowledgable, and the most likely to have the power to help, but she's not really trustworthy, Nabiki thought to herself. Ranma certainly has the power, but not the brains to prevent whatever is coming. Besides, he will come after to save me even if I say nothing to him . . . so confiding in him gets me nothing.

Aha! Now it came to her. Dr. Tofu. He had disappeared some time before, but her concern for her sister had led her to seek him out. He did not know that she knew where he was, but she did, and he could help her. However, she still did not know why he had left, and was unsure whether she was up to facing him. She had no doubt that Dr. Tofu could assist her in this . . . but was it worth the price?

She finally put it from her mind, and set to work on her books. She would worry about it later.

---

Nabiki moaned softly, as the insistent buzzing of her alarm clock impinged on her dreams, dragging her unwillingly back to consciousness. She reached out in a practiced motion, flicking the little switch that silenced the annoyance, then sat up. Such a strange dream...

She had had such dreams before. It was hard not to, hard to watch Akane being rescued in proper fairy-tale fashion, and not imagine herself in the role, not to see herself finally becoming entwined in the magical happenings that surrounded them.

A pleasant fantasy, but now she had awakened back to reality, she thought, as she stood slowly, and arched her back, stretching the sleep from her muscles. Releasing the stretch, she felt invigorated, ready to face the day. She selected her clothing quickly, and turned to leave the room, and head for her morning bath. She stopped in mid-motion, held transfixed by the glittering presence on her desk.

"Not a dream... not a dream..." Her mind caught in the cycle of thought for several long moments, until she was shaken from it by a slight rustle as the little dragon adjusted its wings and wriggled deeper into its bed of gems.

The full memory of the previous day's events crashed back upon her... all the details she had read in the book, taking the little dragon to dinner with her, the startlement and painfully restrained curiousity so evident on the faces of her family; all the memories came back to her now and her eyes narrowed.

Last night she had felt such intense relief at the lack of aggression, at the discovery that it was not something sent to kill her, that she had accepted things just a little too quickly. Thinking on it now, the most probable explanation for the existence of such a creature in the modern world was Jusenkyou. This was probably another Jusenkyou cursed martial artist using her to get closer to Ranma. Well, the book had mentioned that the miniature dragons enjoy water, and should be given regular opportunities to bathe.

She moved to the dresser and lifted the limp dragon in her hands. It awoke as soon as she touched it, a contrast to its lassitude the previous night. It threw off the lethargy of sleep rapidly, and stretched out on her forearm, wrapping its tail about her arm for support and resting its head in the palm of her hand. She smirked at it and picked up her clothes again.

In the bathroom, she noticed that the furo was ready, as usual. Kasumi always had her bath first and no-one ever rose before her, so in the mornings one never had to run the furo water. She set the dragon on a bathing stool, and splashed it with cold water. No change, and it didn't seem to mind the cold much. She lathered her hands quickly, and worked over the dragon's smooth scales, which felt much sleeker than she had anticipated. She splashed it with a second pail of water, washing away the suds.

She lifted the beast again and smirked as she walked to the furo and reached towards the hot water. She eyed the beast as she lowered it, looking for the tell-tale signs of apprehension, but instead she saw delight and expectation. Sighing, she sat the dragon in the water, and watched, as it spread its wings and floated on the surface, tail idly swishing back and forth. It dipped its head beneath the surface, sending a stream of bubbles up and she giggled. Okay, so maybe she hadn't been too quick to accept it last night.

She stepped back into the changing room and stripped then re-entered the furo, eyeing the little beast as she sat on a stool and began to soap herself. If it was a Jusenkyou cursed person under the effects of the Chiisuiton, which would lock it in its cursed form, then it should still show interest in the sight of a nubile and nude young woman. The dragon simply floated, occasionally raising an arcing sheet of water with its tail, or spinning itself about by blowing under water.

She dumped a pail of cold water over her head, shivering, then a second, to wash all the suds away, then stepped up to the furo, and lowered herself into the water. Again she watched for any signs of interest, and indeed, this time the beast perked up. Its tail thrashed beneath the surface, sending it moving smoothly towards her. It floated somewhat indirectly to come to rest by the edge of the furo just beneath where her outstretched hand lay on the furo side. It raised its head, and imperiously butted her hand, and let out a soft cry. She grinned, realizing that her fears were unfounded, and dropped her hand to its head, caressing it as she enjoyed the warm waters of the furo.

Behind the dragon's eyes, Fey calmy noted the success of his strategem. By using his experience with Neko and Ranko, he had split his mind again, dividing himself. The physical control of the body was in the hands of a very animal intelligence, lightly influenced by the neko-ken, and strongly influenced by the impulses gained when he partook of the dragon blood of his second mother, the Lady Alana. His consciousness proper was still there, but only acted by influencing the behavior of the lesser part.

He considered his time-sense, and when he felt she had soaked long enough, he launched himself from the water, as it sluiced from his scales, and landed lightly on the bathing stool. She was startled by his sudden motion, and sat up in the furo, watching him. Her eyes grew wide and startled when he heated his skin surface with his ki, causing the water on him to flash to steam, leaving him completely dry. She stood then and stepped from the furo, heading towards the towel rack. Before she could reach it, she was wrapped up in a warm wind that dried her rapidly, and left her skin feeling smooth and warm. She smiled... now this she could get used to very quickly indeed.

She slid open the door to the changing room and stepped through, noting Diamond's swift passage overhead before sliding it shut behind herself. She had thought to dress quickly then go back for him... but obviously he had other ideas. She dressed with practiced motions, not wasting any thought on it. Instead, she was already planning out her day.

She smiled inwardly as Diamond came to rest on her shoulder when she turned to exit the bathroom.

After breakfast and watching Ranma and Akane head off to school again, she made her way to the train station. Shortly thereafter, she was standing outside a clinic on the other side of Tokyo. She took a deep breath to steel herself, then walked into the clinic.

The interior was as expected, clean, brightly lit, white walls with carefully placed images designed to soothe, soft music just barely heard. She stepped smartly up to the desk, giving the receptionist a quick once-over. Pretty enough, but not in Kasumi's class. Not a ditz though, either. Possibly a medical student.

The receptionist looked up and smiled at her, "Do you have an app..." She broke off, staring at the little face grinning at her from Nabiki's shoulder. Her eyes flicked to Nabiki's face, and they widened with recognition, which surprised Nabiki, and sent a thrill of concern down her back. She didn't recall ever meeting this girl before... was it possible that Dr. Tofu had warned her about them?

The receptionist smiled half-heartedly. "Uhm... excuse me just a moment, please?" She quickly pulled open a drawer, and opened what looked from Nabiki's perspective like a small book, and flipped through several pages, before glancing up at Nabiki. She smiled, nervously this time, and reached for the phone. She lifted it, eyes fixed on Nabiki, who was beginning to wonder just how weird this was going to get, and pressed a single button. "Dr. Tofu, Code Half Red in the lobby, Half Red in the lobby."

She smiled sweetly at Nabiki, though a sudden sheen of sweat was visible on her brow. "If you would take a seat, Tendo-san, the doctor will be with you shortly."

Nabiki eyed the girl, arching a single eyebrow at her, then turned towards the seats in the waiting room. Before she reached them, Dr. Tofu stepped into the lobby.

"Oh, Nabiki-san, it's you. Please, come to my office." He lead her down a hallway to a door that had his name on it, and into his office. She sat in the chair across from his desk, and watched as he sat easily in his seat. She searched but did not find any sign of nervousness about him.

"What can I do for you, Nabiki-san," he asked pleasantly.

She held a hand up to her shoulder and Diamond eyed her, then moved onto it. She set him lightly on the desk, then rubbed his head. "Do you know what this is, Doctor?"

He peered at it for a long moment, then sat back. "I have never seen nor read of such a thing. It resembles the mythical western dragon in outward form..."

"It was on my desk when I returned home yesterday afternoon, Tofu-san. It was resting in a ceramic bowl atop a pile of gemstones and a book." She held the book out to him.

He gazed at the title for a minute, then hmmphed. "Lord Fey... Court of Farallon? Never heard of it..." He opened the book and noted the signed dedication, then flipped through several pages. His eyes widened and he looked closer, then sat back and looked up at her. "Someone went to a great deal of expense for a one-time print. This whole book is written directly to you. Why should that be?"

"I don't know, Tofu-san. I was hoping you could assist me in finding out why."

"Hmm... yes... well, Nabiki-san, the author of this book titles himself an arch-mage. Now, assuming that certain legends and patterns are accurate, mages sometimes have familiars. The legends aren't terribly clear about the purposes for which they keep them. Some imply it is to borrow their energy for magical purposes, others imply that it is merely for companionship, and others say it is for collecting information."

"Information-gathering?" Nabiki's eyes lit up at the prospect, then some of the deeper implications of his statement began to hit her, and they dimmed, but before she could react further, he continued.

"You are not a mage, at least, I don't think you are, unless you've been keeping a rather large secret from everyone for a rather long time? Though I suppose if anyone could do it, you could."

"Anyway, I see three basic possibilities. If this creature is a mage's familiar, than it could have been sent to you so as to provide a means for the mage to focus his magic either on you, or someone in your immediate vicinity, or, and this second option gives at least a reason why you should have been chosen, it is his familiar and is being placed so as to gather information."

"The third possibility is that you have the potential to become a mage, and someone is preparing you for that."

"Eeep. Uhm... well, that's certainly something to think about. Anyway, Tofu-san, I hope this won't disturb you too much, but I don't know who else I could trust with this. I'm telling you about this to hedge my bets. If I should happen to disappear, then certain individuals will make certain that the Tendos and Saotomes know how to contact you. Just in case. Are you alright with that?"

"Certainly, Nabiki-san," he replied, then smiled softly, "and, to assuage your curiousity, yes, I will be returning to Nerima. My course of treatment should be completed in about two months, at which point I intend to ask your father for permission to court someone who's name I still cannot say."

"I... I see. I admit, Tofu-san, I was curious. I had intended to allow you to retain your privacy, but I thank you for your confidence. I shall speak of this to no-one. I... I will be very happy to see her finally have a chance at happiness." Nabiki grabbed the book, turned, and left the room quickly, wiping futilely at the tears that fell from her eyes. Come on Nabiki-chan, think ice... no emotion, no pain, no feelings. Chikuso! Only as she reached the outer door did she pause to take note of the weight that had returned to her shoulder, whereupon she firmed her stance, and strode from the clinic.

She took the train back to Nerima, but did not return to the Dojo, choosing instead to make for a small park, where she encouraged Diamond to exercise. She sat and watched his aerial acrobatics, ignoring the comments and curiousity of the few passersby, engrossed in her own thoughts.

Ever since her mother had died, Nabiki had fought to take control of her life, indeed, to control everything around her. Any mystery she came upon, she swiftly unraveled, because she could not control what she did not understand.

That had all changed with the arrival of Ranma and his father, bringing with them as they did all the chaos, the strange people and peculiar adventures, that now afflicted Nerima. It was at that point that she first began losing control.

Manipulating Ranma reassured her, confirmed for her that she was still in control. After all, he was the best martial artist in the region, he was the one who resolved all the problems and crises that resulted from his presence, and so if she controlled him, then she controlled the chaos. Right?

Now that little fantasy had come crumbling down around her. This little flying package of chaos, this diminutive example of the unknowable that surrounded them now, was not something Ranma could help her with. What was worse, she could only exert a minimal degree of control over it by accepting its source and past as a mystery, which itself implied a loss of control.

For once, there was no way out, no way to remain in control. She had lost the reins, and was now being carried along by the flood she had heretofore ridden so expertly.

The most frightening thing about it, was the emotion she had felt when she finally realized that she had unequivocably lost control. She would have expected to feel tension, nervousness, anger, frustration, or any of a dozen other emotions. What she least expected to feel was what she actually felt... a profound and deep sense of relief, of a burden being lifted, a burden she had not even been aware of bearing.

What was worse yet, was that she could not understand why she felt this way. The terrible implications of this were frightfully clear to her... not only had she lost control of the storm of chaos that was Nerima, of her very life indeed, as this bit of chaos focused on her and not Nerima, but she had lost control... lost understanding even, always the first precept of control, of her own feelings.

She wanted, at this point, strongly, to feel the expected emotions. She wished she could feel anger at Ranma for having brought the storm that finally brought this drifting piece of chaos to center on her. She wished she could feel the intense frustration of having fought to remain in control for so long, and then having finally lost the battle. She wished she could feel the despair she ought to feel at having control of her life stripped from her grasp. Anything, she wished she could feel anything, anything but this peculiar and overwhelming relief.

It was wrong, surely, to feel relief that she was no longer in control. It made no sense, especially since it was such a fundamental shift from how she had been. She wondered for a brief moment whether this sudden wrenching change in her emotions had been the goal of the one who gave her the dragon.

She cast the thought from her mind, feeling an intense shudder of fear. If she herself had been unable to predict or even understand this change, then the one who engineered it would have to understand her better than she understood herself, and the thought of someone knowing that much about her frightened her deeply.

Tiring of the circles her thoughts were running in, she glanced at her watch, and decided it was time to get lunch. As she stood from the bench, Diamond swooped down from above, and settled lightly on her shoulder, a movement which triggered the memory of the flight she had witnessed without thinking of it. Now, watching the flight in her mind as she walked from the park, she found herself wishing she could experience flight like that.

She returned to the dojo after eating lunch, and a short time later, she sat in her room, working on her books in silence. After the third time she had begun the same series of calculations, having each time been interrupted by the thoughts that had plagued her during her quiet rest in the park, she put the books away and sat in thought. Finally, she looked up at the bowl wherein Diamond lay, watching her with enigmatic slitted blue eyes.

"I don't normally talk about my problems, you know," she said, sighing, "but then, I'm not really feeling much like myself at the moment."

She proceeded to talk, imagining that the watching lizard was in fact someone who could understand her speech, but at the same time feeling comforted by the knowledge that he could never speak of it to anyone, could never betray her confidences. She explained the thoughts that had disturbed her in the park, and why she had gone to Dr. Tofu. Then she found herself responding for Diamond in her mind, asking herself the questions she felt he would have asked, if he could have.

She found herself explaining Kasumi and Akane's relationship with Dr. Tofu, to clarify why exactly she had felt uncomfortable going there. Then she backed up further, and slowly, she began to tell Diamond about her mother. He seemed to sense her distress at the topic, and slid from the bowl to the desk, his talons making little clicking sounds as he made his way to her, to where he could rub his head against her cheek. She held him then, stroking him softly, as she spoke of her mother's death.

She told him of how Kasumi, on realizing the delight Nabiki took in playing with numbers, gave to her the task of keeping the family books. She haltingly explained how taking on that responsibility had seemed to inure her against Kasumi's attempts at mothering her. She simply couldn't accept Kasumi in that role, when she herself was responsible for managing the funds that allowed Kasumi to run the household. Instead, it became a relationship of equals.

She described her desire to have control over her life, how it arose from her pain over finally losing her mother, and even more, her anger at having never been told how truly serious her mother's condition was until it was over. A secret had been kept from her, and she had vowed that never again would such a thing happen without her knowledge.

She told of watching the balance in the ledger steadily decline, as her father had lost interest in teaching the art when her mother died, indeed, he had basically lost interest in everything. She told of her and Kasumi's mutual frustration, that the rules and laws were such that while in school, they could not hold even a part-time job elsewhere, and so were unable to obtain an income.

She told him in detail of the first time she had observed the foolish actions of a classmate and captured them on camera. She had considered for several hours, ignoring her classes, until finally she forced herself to face him with the fact, and ask for money in return for her silence. She told him of how she spent that night, dreaming of someone doing the same thing to her, and thinking about how it must have felt to him. In the end, she could think of no other way to obtain the money that the family absolutely had to have in order to survive.

So she became the Ice Queen of Furinkan High. She couldn't allow anyone to get too close to her, lest they obtain the material to blackmail her in return, and so she buried her emotions, and slowly began to enjoy plotting, and arranging for the blackmail worthy events, instead of merely waiting for opportunities as they presented themselves.

She slowed, and paused, and probably would have stopped. She had talked out the basis of her fear, her misunderstanding, but Fey wanted more, he knew that since Ranma was here, he probably had had a part to play in this little crisis she was having, and so if he could just keep her talking, he might learn much of what he had come here to know. So he placed a gentle compulsion on her, an urge to talk. Nothing specific, just... giving her a need...

So she continued, and she told him of the rainy day when her life, and the lives of her sisters, had been turned upside down by the arrival of a red-haired girl and her panda. She told of her disappointment, and the subsequent foisting of the engagement on Akane, only to discover too late what she had given up.

Her voice dropped low as she revealed how much she regretted that initial panic-filled reaction when she got to see the male Ranma in action, and how she used her manipulation of him to suppress her own desire, and ensure that he felt nothing of the sort for her, lest she dishonor her own sister.

Slow hot tears startled trickling down her cheeks, as she spoke of her own desperate loneliness, her feeling that she had passed by the only man who might have loved her, her anger at her sister over her complete inability to see how honorable and compassionate the damned boy was. It wasn't fair, that he should turn out to be so damned perfect, and it hurt even worse that Akane never seemed to see what she had, was never willing to admit her love. If only, if only Nabiki wasn't able to see the evidence of that love, she might still have tried to take him for herself, but she could never place her welfare above her sisters, or all her sacrifices over the years would be meaningless.

Nabiki finally lapsed into sleep, leaning against her desk. Fey looked about to ensure that no-one was watching, then reached out with the eleventh dan, and working with amazing speed and deftness, redressed her in a nightgown, lifted her to her bed, and slid her under the covers. Just as he finished, and pulled back his ki, the door sprang open, and Ranma leapt in, looking wildly about, Akane right on his heels.

"Damnit, Ranma, what are you doing!?" she shouted at him.

"Quiet, tomboy, Nabiki's sleeping. Someone just burned a massive amount of ki in here." The insult set Akane off, but his second comment caused her to pull herself just short of malleting him through the window. The mallet disappeared and she gaped at him, then looked about.

"I don't see anyone," she complained.

"Yeah... but still, when it was being burnt, I could feel the aura behind it, for just a moment. It rivaled Happosai's, at least."

"Happosai?! That damned pervert better stay away from my sisters!"

Ranma prowled the room, looking for the source of the activity. Meanwhile, Akane moved to the bed, and looked at her sister.

"Damn...," she whispered, and instantly, Ranma was at her side.

"What is it, Akane?"

"Look at her eyes... she's been crying."

"Nabiki?!" Ranma sounded startled, but he looked closer, and gave a low whistle when he saw the unmistakable signs of tears. "Damn... maybe you ought to try and wake her up, and make sure she's not hurt, huh?"

"No, Ranma. If she was injured, she would have screamed, or something. Besides, she's sleeping fine now. I don't think she's physically hurt... and if she was crying for any other reason, do you really want to know what she'll do to us when she finds out we know about it?" Ranma was already out of the room, shivering in the hall as he pictured Nabiki's revenge, before Akane finished her statement. Akane took one last look around, made sure the window was latched, and then closed the door and shut off the light as she left.

"That was close," thought Fey, "I've got to be more careful about using my ki. I really wasn't expecting him to be that sensitive."

Confrontation

Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld looked at the sign in front of the house they were standing before. A dojo? What would this powerful ancient entity want in a dojo? They were all three dressed casually, as they did not want to frighten the inhabitants.

Before knocking, they waited to allow Skuld to scan and determine if the ancient was still present. Urd tapped her foot impatiently, but held her tongue. Her little sister had been surprisingly helpful, again probably due to the scare they had all had when they realized the kind of power they were dealing with, and so for once, Urd actually tried to be patient. She was just about to blow her top in spite of this, when Skuld finally spoke up.

"It's very strange, oneechan... I don't think the demon is here, there's no active trace of that ancient power... but I'm getting readings that match his ki aura. No trace of that third power he used, though..." She looked up, genuine worry stark on her pretty young face. "I'm sorry, oneechan."

Urd smiled, surprised at how cute her sister could be when she wasn't angry. Urd didn't see her not angry very often. "It's okay, imoutochan. We'll just have to go in and see. Be ready..."

Urd opened the gate, and they walked up the short walkway, and rang the doorbell. The door slid open, and a pretty young woman with long brown hair stood before them. "Hello, may I help you?"

Urd twitched a bit at the sound of her voice, and her eyes flicked from Kasumi to Belldandy several times, as if to verify that her sister did still stand beside her, but she showed no other outward signs of her perturbance. "My name is Urd, these are my sisters, Belldandy and Skuld."

"Oh, my. You aren't more fiancees, are you?" Kasumi wore a very pretty expression of vague apprehension. Urd boggled at her. How the devil did she manage to make apprehension look so sweet and kind?

"Uh... fiancees? I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Oh, well, that's all right then. I am Tendo Kasumi, please, come in. Would you like some tea?"

In moments, Urd and Skuld found themselves seated by a low table, being served tea, while Belldandy and Kasumi disappeared into the kitchen... by the sound of it, discussing recipes.

"Chikuso," spouted a sopping wet, but still very pretty red-headed girl, wearing boyish clothes, standing in the doorway to the yard, "please tell me you're not fiancees of Ranma?"

A dark-blue-haired girl burst in from the next room, shouting, "Ranma! What are you doing getting more fiancees?!"

Urd spoke up quickly, seeing the potential for violence escalating rapidly, "No, no, nothing of the sort, we're not fiancees, not at all. We're here to ask you about anything unusual that might have happened..." Urd stopped, staring at the pair, who were now rolling around on the ground laughing.

Skuld was fiddling with the device in her hands, and hissed to Urd, "Urd, the red-haired one is the one with the aura!"

Urd looked at them both, still laughing as they struggled to sit up, and whispered back, "it looks like they know each other, and have for a while, so I don't think its the real thing. Still..."

Belldandy and Kasumi came in with a tray of light snacks, and set it on the table, then sat by the table, still making light conversation.

Urd looked at the two laughing girls, who were finally getting control of themselves again. "Well, now that you are finished enjoying yourselves, perhaps you could answer my question? Exactly what was it that is so hilarious, anyway?"

The dark-haired girl giggled a bit, then finally spoke, "Ano... around here, it would be extremely unusual for a week to pass without something unusual happening."

Skuld nudged Urd, and whispered, "There's residual magic hanging off the redhead... might be a curse, something like that."

"Sweeto!"

The redhead and her companion both grimaced and frowned, then they boggled, when they suddenly learned where Genma and Soun learned the Crouch of the White Tiger from, for Happosai had just appeared, fondled Akane, then Ranma, turned to fondle Urd, turned pasty white, and entered supreme supplication mode.

"Please don't fry me! Please don't fry me!"

Urd looked at him in mild distaste, then realized he might actually be able to help them. He was certainly sensitive enough to have noticed... She pulled a black leather brassiere from nowhere, which for some reason she couldn't fathom, caused the blue-haired girl to hit the red-haired girl with a mallet, and waved it at Happosai.

His eyes followed it hungrily.

"It's yours, old man, if you can tell me what I need to know. Did anything unusual happen this week?"

"N-N-Nabiki," he managed, following it with his eyes. The two squabbling girls stopped and stared, eyes wide.

"Explain!"

"N-none of the weird stuff ever touches Nabiki-chan... Only Ranma-chan and Akane-chan. She engineers some of the weirdness... but it never happens to her."

"Chikuso, he's right, it doesn't, so where'd that thing come from?," blurted Ranma.

"Continue, old man."

"She came down from her room one evening with a dragon on her shoulder, and wouldn't tell where it came from. She still has it."

The goddesses shared a meaningful look, while Akane and Ranma stared at each other in horror. A short time later, three goddesses and two mortals were in a train, heading for Nabiki's college.

---

The five searchers walked onto the campus, looking about them. Urd looked at the group for a moment, considering the two mortals, before deciding that if the dragon hadn't acted yet, he would likely not do so until they forced his hand. After all, if he wanted to harm the two, he had apparently already had plenty of opportunity.

"I suggest we split up. She didn't answer her phone, so she's probably..."

"Right there! Hey, Nabiki!" Ranma shouted, pointing across the lawn at a young short-haired girl apparently reading a book.

Akane hit Ranma, "Hey, baka, what happened to low profile, and let's find out if she's in danger first? Sheesh!"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Ranma looked sheepish, but the damage was done. Urd watched the girl stand, and look upward. Moments later, a tiny dragon swooped down to land on her arm.

Fey had detected their approach... the aural signatures of the two goddesses he had seen before triggered alarms in his mind, and he had prepared for their coming. While in flight, high above the college, he had carefully pulled out of the body. Then, as he had done once before for a sprightly young amazon, and again when he first created the race, he created a mind, and bestowed it upon the dragon, binding it with a loyalty and love for Nabiki.

He wrapped his aura and magic about each other, hiding each within the other, like a snake swallowing itself, until he was wholly undetectable. He followed the dragon down then, as it noted its mistress standing.

Nabiki strode toward the group, holding her arm up. Diamond landed lightly on it, wrapping its tail about her arm.

"Yes, Ranma? Akane? What are you doing here? Who are your friends?"

Akane looked around nervously, then eyed the little dragon. "Uhm... maybe we should get someplace private, so we can talk, ok?"

Nabiki gave her a sharp glance, not having missed the nervousness she was displaying, nor the way she was eying Diamond. She glanced again at the other three. "Alright, I guess introductions can wait. Come on, my dorm room isn't all that big, but it is made for two. We should be able to fit."

Fey followed in silence. It hadn't really been his intention to leave a dragon with Nabiki, but he surmised that the two ladies who had been present at his summoning would not look kindly on him if they learned he had been pretending to be her pet. For that matter, neither would Nabiki.

Nabiki locked the door to the dorm room when they were all inside, then turned to face them. "Alright, what's this all about?"

"Nabiki, this is Belldandy," Belldandy bowed politely, "Urd," Urd nodded, smiling faintly, "and Skuld," Skuld just glanced up, then returned to fiddling with her device.

Skuld looked around then, and then up at Urd. "Oneechan, that's not him. Very similar aura, much less powerful, no sign of the ancient power, but a little magic."

Urd looked around angrily. "Alright, come out, damn it! I know you're watching!"

Nabiki looked at them with a supercilious smirk. "Who's watching? What are you talking about?"

Before they had a chance to respond, there was a shimmering in the air, and a blue glow appeared, a tiny speck, that swelled suddenly, and firmed, taking on the indistinct form of a man. No details could be seen, for he seemed to be wreathed in blue flame, and the room could be vaguely made out through him.

Even stranger, there was a spectral blue dragon and blue tiger that seemed to be chasing each other through the fiery aura.

"I suspect they mean me, Tendo-san," it said, in a deep voice that seemed to echo through the room.

Nabiki eyed the apparition, not noticing the look of pure shock on Ranma and Akane, who could tell that this was a manifestation of pure ki, or the look of fear on the three goddesses. "Lord Fey, I presume?"

"Precisely. I see your reputation is well-earned," the spectral blue wraith responded, bowing deeply to her, then he turned to face the others. "Ranma and Akane I know by reputation as well, but never have I made thy acquaintance, ladies... though two of you I know by sight."

Urd brightened, "So, you are the one!"

Ranma finally managed to shut his gaping mouth, and summon his intelligence, as best he could. "You... you're made outta ki?"

The spectre eyed him, then nodded, "Close enough, though not really. What you see, certainly, is my ki aura." He turned back to Urd, "What do you mean by 'the one'?"

"You're the dragon Mara summoned!"

"If by Mara you mean the incompetent female following instructions written by a dead man with delusions of grandeur who persisted in making the same mistakes that led to the death of his life-long enemy in front of his face, then yes, I suppose I am that one. Why have you come seeking me?" There, he thought, that should throw them off-balance just a bit.

"How do you know we're seeking you?" Urd snapped, a bit put off at his strange speech.

"If you were not, you would hardly have assumed my presence, and demanded my appearance."

Skuld stepped forward, visibly shaken, pale with fear, mouth set in a determined line, "Don't talk to my sister like that!"

Urd stared at her for a moment, watching her sister unlimber her mallet, shocked that Skuld would defend her, before stepping forward, "Skuld, thanks, but that's not necessary... We don't know for sure that we have to fight him... yet."

"Well," he drawled, "it's nice to know you don't intend to slay me out of hand."

Akane looked at him curiously. "You don't seem much upset at it, either way."

He glanced at her. "I and they both know it wouldn't be that easy, even if it were their intention. I am displaying but the merest portion of my power, and," he glanced back at them, seeming to appraise them, "I certainly hope they are as well, or it would be a truly short battle."

Ranma's mouth thinned to a hard line. "They wouldn't be fighting alone. Nabiki's my...," he grimaced, but said it anyway, "my sister, and I don't know why you've been messing with her, but I don't like it."

Nabiki stared at him, eyes wide, but said nothing. Akane blushed deeply, and stole a glance at him. Ranma was rocking on the balls of his feet, every muscle loose and ready.

Fey glanced at him, then turned back to the ladies. "Well, you say you do not yet know if we must fight... what must you know to make your decision?"

Urd breathed out slowly, trying to gather her thoughts, a process strongly affected by the knowledge that if a fight broke out here, innocents would die, and she would be to blame. She prayed silently that his lack of action so far implied what she hoped it did.

"Mara was trying to summon an Ancient One... beings so powerful and callous that the gods and demons had to join forces to defeat them, and lock them away, that mankind might have a chance to live..."

She was trying to figure out how to ask him whether he planned on destroying reality anytime soon, when he interrupted.

"Ancient one? Ancient? That's rich. I'm not even two decades old yet!" Jaws dropped all around. Ranma, who had been trying to hold back his awe of the power before him, telling himself that it was because he was ancient, like Kho Lon, he'd be stronger when he reached that age, etc, suddenly found the ground pulled out from beneath him.

"Then... how... how?" Urd sputtered.

Fey sighed. "I was summoned by an evil man when I was seven, driven insane by a terrible training forced upon me by my father." He glanced at Ranma. "I suspect Ranma can sympathize. In my insane and feral state, I responded badly to his threats, and killed him by accident." Somehow the pain that came through resonated in the room, and Ranma nodded, thinking of how hard it had been to make the decision to kill Saffron, and how much had been on the line before he had finally been able to make that terrible decision. The others were simply aghast at the depth of the pain that seemed to become almost a tangible entity, occupying the room with them.

"That evil man had sought and gained the love of a beautiful lady, and betrayed her, trapped her in magical bonds. I spent every day of every year thereafter, for nine long years, training under hundreds of masters, being raised and taught magic by an ancient dragon, to gain the strength and knowledge I would need to free her. In the end, I had to sacrifice my manhood, and any hope of eventual sanity, and sunder myself, giving up my own body, to gain the power to free her. That is how and why I am as you see me."

"But... but you had a body when we saw you the first time," Urd protested.

"Hai. I can make a body. It was one of the things I had to learn to do. I had to split myself in two, and for that, I had to make a second body. Heh... I learned a lot about biology that way... The body you saw, though, was not that one... that was, I believe, the ultimate expression of the Neko-ken, the training method my father used to drive me insane."

Ranma flinched at the word neko, then looked at him with wide eyes. "You mastered it? How?"

He looked at Ranma. "I lived with a pride of lions for a month, as one of them. The only reason that solution was even possible was the presence of an ancient dragon strong enough to suppress my fear, and allow me to grow accustomed to it in small doses. I still feel the fear, but I control it, now."

Skuld looked at him, hands on her hips, and spoke angrily, "You claim you aren't ancient, but then why do you have access to the same ancient power that they used?"

He looked down at her a bit sadly. "I failed... the first time I truly tried to free the Lady. I knew that I had failed, but I put everything I had in a suicidal attempt to reach a power that lay beyond the powers I could reach, beyond the tapestry that is the weave of existence. I strove, and gave everything I had, because I knew that if I could not free her... then my death would free her. I reached that power... and it took me. I died, and one that loved me drew me back again, but I had been touched by that power, and it burns inside me still."

Akane blushed again, looking out of the corner of her eyes at Ranma, thinking about being brought back from death by one who loved her. Surely that meant he did love her, didn't it? Didn't he know how much she loved him, too? Why, oh why couldn't he admit it?

"I can only guess that that is the power you sense. If it is, then it is probably what allowed Mara's spell to reach me. I suppose in that case this might not be Arkus's doing... just that I was the only example of that power that didn't require reaching beyond the boundary created by the gods... though the feel of the magic as I was drawn through certainly seemed like that of Arkus."

Skuld nodded, slowly. "I... I had noticed that you didn't have as much power, in that way, as I expected... just a little bit of it. I suspected it might be a conduit..."

Urd smiled in relief. It looked like they might escape without fighting after all. "So... what is it that you want here?"

"Want here? I want nothing from here, nothing more than to get to my home. But I need to know if I am going in the right direction, so I decided to research what I could in this place, to see how close it was to what I know."

"What you know," Nabiki said suddenly, staring at him, "You... Neko-ken... gave up your manhood... You're Ranma!"

Fey sighed, as the others boggled at her. He solidified suddenly, looking like a slightly younger copy of the Ranma that stood across from him, though he was dressed all in black. "Hai," he said, smiling faintly at Nabiki, "You certainly live up to your reputation, Tendo-san. I am Fey Ranma."

Ranma looked at him. "Fey? Not Saotome?"

"I took up the mantle of the Lord of Fey after I accidentally killed him. I had to, I had a responsibility to his people, and the Lady. After I returned, and freed Ranko and Neko, Genma tried once more to control my life. So I changed registers, and set up the Fey register. I don't need the Saotome name."

"But what about the school?"

"Happosai had already licensed me to teach it, and I'm the grandmaster of the Fey Musabetso Kakuto Ryuu... I've more than enough credibility as the Lord of Fey."

Nabiki looked at him a bit curiously. "And you really are the ArchMage to the Court of Farallon?"

"Hai. That would have been... hmm... when I was twelve, I think. I'd been a mage at the court far longer, though."

"And... and Diamond?" she asked, feeling as though someone had just taken her heart in their fist, and squeezed, as she absorbed the realization that these women probably intended to either help Fey to leave... or force him to leave... and the book had said that Diamond would not remain with her forever.

He sighed, then turned to Urd. "Can you ladies assist me in finding my home?"

Urd looked at Skuld, who nodded sharply. Skuld spoke up, "I can give you something that will help guide you... I can't send you straight home, because you've spent so much time in two different dimensions... I can't detect your real home, and if I tried, you'd just end up somewhere between them, and my guess is they aren't nearly as close to each other, as this world is to your plane of origin, ne?"

"Hai. How long?"

"I have it with me."

"Very well. If you would please give me a few minutes alone with Nabiki, I will be ready to depart."

The others nodded, and left. Ranma decided that he ought to be trustworthy... considering who he was. Akane poked Ranma in the ribs as they walked out, and warned him that if Ranma did anything to her sister, he'd pay for it. The door closed behind them.

Parting Gift

Nabiki walked past Fey, to sit on her bed, holding and stroking Diamond. When she looked up, he was disturbed to note that she had tears in her eyes. He pulled out her desk chair, sat facing her, then reached out, and brushed a tear from her cheek.

"I... I never cry," she said, trying to smile. She only succeeded in looking forlorn.

"Tendo-san," he began.

"Nabiki, please."

"Nabiki, I... I did not mean for your time to be so short... I thought it would take much longer to learn what I needed to know. If... if I were to leave Diamond here, his mating urges would drive him insane. I... I don't want to leave you alone so soon..." She just looked at him, tears slowly tricking from her eyes.

"I...," he sighed. "I can leave him here with you, Nabiki, but to do so, I must give him a mate. If I do, then she and he will both leave for several months, until the first litter is born and weaned. Only then would he return to you. Either way, you will be alone for some time. I wish it could be otherwise, truly I do."

"I... I would give you a gift, ere I go, Nabiki. I have turned your world upside down, I expect, and it is only right that I make what amends I can. What would you ask of me? If it is within my power, I will do it."

She just stared at him, tears trickling down her cheeks, and he sighed in defeat. She spoke, softly, sniffling occasionally. "I never had... much affection... around me, you know... I never had anyone, or anything to love, except my family. And I've hurt them... so much. I mean, I had to, we had to have the money, but it hurts so much to see that they don't trust me..." She was softly stroking Diamond's back, and rubbing his head, as she spoke.

"It's so painful, knowing that I have to do this, I have to have enough money, I have to get through college, to even have a chance at living a life of anything but poverty and loneliness, but I have to hurt so many people to do it. Sometimes... sometimes I wish I could be free. I watch Diamond flying... and I wish I could just fly away from my problems like that... Be so free, not have to care about a woman's place, or glass ceilings, or whether I'm going to find anyone to love before I die..." She broke down, sobbing, and Fey moved to sit on the bed. He put an arm around her, and she spun to face him, burying her head in his silk shirt, sobbing.

"There... there is one gift I could give you, Nabiki," he said, stroking her hair. "It... it would let you experience the freedom of flight, like Diamond... give you all the time you need to find someone to love... let you dispense with society's demands entirely... but it's not an easy thing to live with. I think you could do it... I chose you because you seemed so much like one already... Nabiki, I could make you a dragon."

Nabiki pulled back, staring into his face, Ranma's face, looking down at her with sad eyes full of pain, offering her something beyond strange.

"You mean... like Diamond? But..."

"No, no," he said, placing a single finger gently on her lips, which quivered at his touch. "A dragon, a real dragon. Oriental, not western, you'd be, oh, somewhere between twenty-five and fifty feet long, I suppose... But a real dragon, Nabiki-san, can change her shape. You could still look as you do now, though I suspect you would become a bit more idealized, look more like how you picture yourself in your mind. If you take this gift, you'll have a lot of ki, and I would recommend getting Ranma to train you. You could become a very strong martial artist quite quickly."

"Don't decide too quickly though. There are drawbacks... the biggest is probably the lifespan... you would live a very long time, Nabiki. That gives you time to make very long-term investments, and become quite rich... but it also means that you'll have to watch the people you love grow old and die..."

"I can mitigate that, just a bit." He held out a small ring, beautifully crafted, a gold dragon twined about a silver one. "This is an age ring... you put it on, then if you twist it one complete turn to the left, you'll become a year younger, one twist to the right, a year older. Don't worry, it won't turn on its own. If you take it off, you will age normally from that point on. It too has its drawbacks... but it will only affect the age of your human form, just as you too could do, if you could maintain your concentration on it properly. But its most important use, is that if someone else places it on your finger, then you will age as they do. If you meet someone, then you can join them, temporarily, on the normal pattern of life, growing old with them, until they die. It won't take away the pain of their death, but at least you won't have to deal with the pain of seeing them age while you stay forever young."

Nabiki held the ring in the palm of her hand, staring at the twining dragons, her tears slowing. She looked up finally, and stared into his crystal blue eyes, seeing the flecks of gold floating through them. "Yes," she whispered. "Make me a dragon."

Fey nodded, and stopped time in the room, preventing the people outside from interfering.

"First, you will take my blood into your own. My blood has been mixed with the blood of an ancient dragon, and this will give you true strength, and seal the transformation, when I make it. Without this, you would be a pale reflection of a dragon," he instructed, as he pulled out a beautiful golden knife, and sliced his own palm, then handed it to her.

She looked at it for a minute, before placing it against her palm, and drawing it slowly down. She winced, but held out her bloody palm. He clasped her hand in his, and the fire started.

Her hand felt like it was burning and the heat raced up her arm, shooting through her. Her heart caught, a mass of heat and flame swirling in her chest, spearing outward in every direction now, setting her mind afire; her whole body seemed to burn as it seared through her. Finally he released her, and slowly she came back to herself, wondering how such intense pain could possibly be so pleasurable.

"Now, the transformation..." Fey drew on the magic lines of the world, then, deciding to ensure that she was protected against the vengeance or 'help' of those waiting outside, he tapped that core of flame that burned within himself as well, and reaching out, he changed her, imprinting upon her her new true form, then adding in secondary forms. She could, of course, change her shape rather freely, but the imprints would help prevent her from forgetting something vital in her transformations. Though she could easily transform to something that did not breathe, it would not prevent her from panicking when she tried to breathe, and failed.

In deference to her catlike nature, he imprinted tiger and half-tiger forms, modeled after Ranko's, then nodding at the thought, a half-dragon form. Considering Diamond, and her penchant for spying, he imprinted a fire dragonet form and, recognizing that something less noticeable might do as well, if small, he imprinted a housecat. Finally, considering her comments about a glass ceiling, he imprinted a male form, modeled somewhat after himself, or Ranma.

He focused on the dragon blood in her, strengthening it, heightening its ki-generating potential and creating certain paths for her ki to follow, as he had done with his little fire dragons, so that if she needed it before her training was complete, her instinctive defenses would include ki-powered punches and kicks.

He also embedded a strong flame of magic in her. It might take her time to find someone who could instruct her in its use, but he knew it would appeal to her.

Considering some of the things she might face before she was ready, he added a core of resistance that would withstand and eventually reverse any pressure points which she subconsciously disliked. That should allow Dr. Tofu to help her, without letting Kho Lon take advantage of her. He thought of the perverted Master he had trained under once, and added a protection against the pervert, specifically. He gave her a small center of male ki, along with a specialized organ to generate it. The defensive reaction would be automatic... if Happosai groped her, it would feel like he was groping a man, though she could restrain the reaction, should it be necessary.

Oh! Jusenkyou, he had detected that curse on a number of people in the vicinity. If it were so common, then someone might well try to use it against her. He created a complex weave then, mixing ki, the magic of the tapestry, and the power beyond power, to create a strong binding that would, he hoped, repel the power of Jusenkyou, while still, if it worked right, using the power to imprint on her the form held within the waters, so that she could take it at need.

Finally, he added to her subconscious a number of techniques and ideas that would come to her slowly, as she needed them, or became ready to use them. Also, he added to her subconscious the means to take on a form that mixed two or more other forms. That would be far easier for her, he guessed, than trying to come up with new forms from scratch.

The last thing he did, before bringing her back to consciousness, and releasing the hold on the room, was put a powerful spell on her to hide the changes in her. It would last several weeks, he hoped, and hopefully prevent anyone outside from realizing what he had done.

"Please, Nabiki, say nothing of this to the others until I am gone, and I would suggest not speaking of it to anyone you do not have to. I am sure you are aware that there are those who would seek to take advantage of you."

She nodded, smiling shyly at him, her tears dry. In fact, there was no sign of them... this was not the body she had just been in, no matter how closely the appearance matched. She was a dragon now.

As the others reentered the room, Nabiki was finding that the way her mind worked had changed, in a way that appealed to her greatly. All the things she normally thought of when she saw someone for the first time, all the little mental processes she would go through, seemed to be happening at once, in parallel, for each of the people that had just entered.

She grinned. It was like having a computer in her head, she thought happily. She noted that those processes were getting more information than she had been, and she mentally took over one of them, looking at Ranma, and realized with some surprise that she could see his aura, could gauge its strength. She flicked her eyes to Akane, and was mildly surprised at the strength of her aura. If she would ever get control over herself, Nabiki thought idly, she could be really good.

She looked at the other three, and struggled to control her reaction. Chikuso, but they were strong... their auras weren't vague, either, but sharply defined, looking like larger versions of themselves, though... Belldandy's had wings? Nabiki wondered what that meant, before turning her attention to Fey.

She felt mildly stunned at the sheer power of his aura, which dwarfed them all, as she watched him take a device from the smallest of the three strange women and listen to her instructions on its use, before simply disappearing. The three women excused themselves and she looked about her, realizing suddenly that Diamond was gone too. "Chikuso," she thought, "I didn't ask which he was doing. Did he take Diamond with him, or just give him a girlfriend. Will he be back in a few months? Or never?"

Ranma and Akane talked for a few minutes then bid her goodbye and left. She looked around her, wondering what she was looking for, and finally she went to her desk and pulled open the top drawer. To her surprise and yet filling her expectations, there was a box there. She lifted it, noting absently that her mind seemed to have catalogued its precise weight, while she personally merely noted that it was quite heavy.

She opened the box, flipping back the decorated lid after admiring its engraved oriental dragon, and gasped in awe, tears springing to her eyes at the number of precious stones it held. "He really did listen... Now I don't have to worry about college, but there's still Akane, and Kasumi... but he took care of us all. Wherever you are, Fey, I hope you get home safely, and bless you." She picked up the roll of paper, tightly tied with a blue ribbon, that lay on top, and settled back to read.

---

Nabiki sat on her bed in the dorm room, lost in thought. She had received her gift from Fey, and in thinking over its implications, she realized that she could not remain a close part of her sister's lives any longer. She had long known that eventually she would seek her own way in business, and leave them... but she had wanted them settled down first.

Now, with all that had gone on, neither Kasumi nor Akane were settled, though her own world had been irrevocably altered. If Tofu was true to his word, Kasumi would not be alone much longer. That left Akane... and Ranma.

She had finally gotten the true story of Phoenix mountain from Mousse, who had surprised her often with his wit, and perceptiveness, even in the face of his blindness. She occasionally wondered if perhaps he were not as blind as he appeared. She shook that thought off, and concentrated on Ranma. Pheonix mountain had proven that Ranma loved Akane, and she felt sure that Akane loved Ranma.

She needed to know why Ranma could not act on that. In a sense, she already did. Akane had forced that revelation from him some time after the failed wedding. He would tarnish his own honor before allowing his actions to destroy the honor of the other girls. Still, she felt certain there was more to it than that, or he would have been seeking out honorable ways of resolving it. Why had he never come to her, sought out her aid in finding a resolution? Could it truly be that he felt he could not trust her?

Nabiki looked at the seven memory crystals that Fey had given her, and smiled. Those would come in handy indeed. Yes, she would do as Fey suggested, and take lessons with Ranma. That would give her the opportunity to see what was going on and pump him for information.

First, though, she had that danged literature test to study for. She sighed, and got up from the comfortable bed, to sit by her desk. She pulled out her book and started reading. Fifteen minutes later, she thought she caught a reference that indicated an earlier passage had been foreshadowing. She sat bolt upright in surprise when her attempt to recall the previous passage resulted in a perfect image of the paper in her mind, words clearly legible, relevant passage centered.

Well now, Fey had not mentioned an eidetic memory as one of the fringe benefits, but she'd take it sure enough. Perfect visual recall was definitely nothing to sneeze at. She grinned then, as she realized that this would make it much easier to find the time to work with Ranma, as studying had just become much easier. Key in this, she recognized, was the fact that she had not merely remembered the sheet of paper exactly as it had looked, but had remembered the precise page from a vague conception of what it had contained.

Nabiki paused, remembering an interesting technique used by an eidetic in a story she had read. Mentally, she pictured an empty spiral bound notebook, and grinned inwardly as she noted the solid and real appearance of it in her mind. She flipped it open, and marked a '1' in the upper corner of the first page. She wrote out a list of people whom she would have to get to talk to her in depth if she were to solve Ranma's fiancee problem.

She flipped to the next page, and wrote out a list of things to check on, starting with who was the head of the Saotome clan, and what it would take to make Ranma the head. She didn't think much of Genma, but then, Nodoka was pretty strange upstairs as well, what with her peculiar ideas of manliness and all. Best if it were left in good hands, and she knew that Ranma was the only truly honorable one in the lot.

She paused after writing five items down, and flipped back to the first page to check, and smiled as she saw all her listings still there, exactly as she had written them. She closed the notebook then, and concentrated on her literature book, bringing up the pages she had read, noting with amusement the faithful reproduction of the waterstain on one page. She brought up her notebook again, flipped it open, and sighed in relief as she saw the writing was still there. She flipped to the second page; it too was as she left it. So, eidetic notebooks do work, she thought to herself. What about my real ones?

She proceeded to pull out one of her notebooks, and flip quickly through it, taking only a momentary glance at each page as it lay flat. She closed the notebook, and opened it in her mind, flipping through to a random page, where she carefully scrutinized it, looking for distinguishing features. She opened the physical notebook, flipped through to the same page, and examined it. Perfect match.

She grinned in delight and ran quickly through her other notebooks, doing the same for them, then returned to her literature homework, flipping back to the beginning, glancing quickly at each page, before returning to her spot and reading.

Finishing rather sooner than she was accustomed to, Nabiki set her books aside. Standing, she looked down at herself. Fey had intimated that her appearance might change. His letter had implied that no-one would notice any differences for two weeks, though it also said that she could suppress that aspect, so surely she herself would be able to see the differences.

Seeing no noticeable differences, at least to her eyes, she decided to try some of the other techniques he had written about. Verifying that the door was locked, she lowered her blinds and twirled them shut. Stepping back to stand centered within the empty interior of the room, she focused her mind on changing. As Fey had promised, visions of the imprinted choices sprang up before her mind's eye. Noting the one that looked like a male version of her, but built like Ranma, she shivered. "Think I'll save that one," she muttered to herself. It was certainly a nice thought on his part but she didn't feel quite up to dealing with gender changes just now.

She couldn't tell just how large the tiger and dragon forms were, though the humanoid dragon form definitely intrigued her. That left her with the miniature dragon and the cat. Appealing as the dragon was, it reminded her of Diamond and once again she felt unready.

So she focused on the image of the cat then shut her eyes tightly as the world seemed to rush upwards around her. "Whoa," she thought, "I wasn't expecting it to be that disorienting." Her legs collapsed beneath her and she buckled to the ground.

Opening her eyes again, she tentatively brought her hand before her face and marveled at the brown furred paw she beheld. An almost instinctive motion in her hand bared sharp claws then retracted them smoothly.

She twisted her body around so that she could see her tail. It was strange, as she watched it moving, to feel sensation from a fourth extremity.

Straightening herself once more, she bunched her legs and leapt to her bed, landing easily upon its soft surface. She stilled, one forefoot lifted, then turned and leapt back down, berating herself. Just because she was exploring her new forms was no excuse for getting cat hair on everything. "Bad kitty," she berated herself mentally in an amused tone. That had been one of the few good things about Akane's pet P-chan; no shedding. Not that Akane could ever have had a cat for a pet what with Ranma's reaction to them. She smirked a bit, realizing the potential this form had for teasing Ranma, then shuddered. Teasing sure, but if he lapsed into his feral state, he could probably tear her apart.

"Note to self: no cat forms around Ranma!"

She grinned as she pictured Shampoo after once of her recent escapades. Wait. Thinking back over her memories of Shampoo, she remembered the difficulty Shampoo and Mousse both had when they were transformed unexpectedly, with getting out of their clothes.

She cast her gaze around the room. No pile of clothing was in sight. Curious, she mused.

Pulling up the list of forms in her mind, she selected her human form once more. Once again her body rippled and her point of view changed drastically. It felt like she was being thrown into the air and would, at any moment, be in for a long fall, but when it ended, she was standing at rest upon the floor.

Looking down at herself, she smiled, for she was once more in the clothing she had worn before taking her cat form, nor was that clothing so much as mussed by what it had gone through.

"Handy," she said aloud, "but if it does the same thing when I go male, that could be a bit embarrasing." She made a mental note to be sure that she was alone and unobserved the first time she made the transition to male. She wasn't ready to try that just yet, but neither did she want to leave it untested until it was needed for some purpose, only to discover that it left her naked.

Thrilled that the transformations worked she sat upon her bed, thinking. Though she still felt emotionally unready to face her miniature draconic form, she felt the strong urge to take it anyway. She could hardly wait to finally experience the freedom of flight.

Regardless, she had more to do though than just explore her powers. She had the chance now to gain the freedom she had desired for so long. While she had already begun to consider what would have to be done with respect to her family, there was also her business to consider.

She closed her eyes, then, summoning the mental notebook within which she had made notes regarding her sister's relationship with Ranma, she considered its plain cover.

Remembering the mental pen with which she had written on its pages, she smirked a bit. "Think outside the box, Nabiki-chan," she told herself. With no mental tools or metaphors she focused her imagination, and a picture of herself in miniature dragon form in flight appeared on the cover of the notebook even as the notebook itself became a hardbound book. "I didn't have to 'manufacture' the notebook in the first place, so why should I have to write on it to change it? Heh."

Flipping open the now hard-backed notebook, she looked at the first page, a hand-written list of names. "No need to be so mundane." A new page appeared above the list, on slightly thicker paper. On it appeared, in gilted letters, "Nabiki's Freedom."

Below this appeared, in a firm black, "Table of Contents."

"It may all be in my mind, but there's no reason it can't be organized." Two entries appeared below the title, then she flipped the page. As she looked in her mind at the hand-written list it changed, gaining a title at the top of the page, and looking like the professional seeming output of her computer.

She inserted another page between the list of people and the task list on the next page. On this new sheet a chart appeared with each person's name in a box. She drew connections between the figures, labeling them with the relationship, then rearranging them all, until she finally had a chart that listed in a reasonable fashion all of the involved persons, ordered by their importance to the stability of any eventual outcome.

Flipping to the next page, she once again changed it from a handwritten page to a professional looking production. Turning that page aside, she looked at the blank sheet that followed, and titled it, "Business."

She spent the next hour going over her plans for her businesses, who to turn what pieces over to, how to explain things, how to get out of certain arrangements and other pertinent details, until she felt confident that she had formed a viable plan for removing herself from the center of the web without setting her legacy up for a fall.

Finally she turned back to that first list, the list of people she needed information from. This was the big one. Resolving her own business affairs would be tame compared to this. Every one of these people had more than enough reason to mistrust her. Her vision blurred slightly, tears threatening as she considered once again how completely she had cut herself off from affection and trust, before she firmed her intentions and fought down the emotions.

The information she would need from most of these people, which simply had to be the truth, if she was to do any good at all, was exactly the sort of personal, emotional truths that they would be most loth to reveal to her.

"Damn," she muttered. Staring at this list she seemed suddenly as far from her freedom as she had before Fey had given her his gift.

Her need was a trigger, though it came far sooner than Fey had anticipated or desired. A flood of information filled her mind, detailing the empathic abilities of dragons and giving her a crash course in using them.

When her mind finished processing the information that had been crammed into it, Nabiki smiled a genuine smile as the strain and worry drained away. A moment later a shudder ran through her as she realized the implications of one particular piece of the letter Fey had left for her. He had warned her that she would have to be very careful to remember the reasons for the gift and the reasons for her behavior, lest the greater facility she could now bring to her former activities cause her to lose herself in them. She had been unsure what he meant.

After all, she could spy much more easily now, but then, she had not generally been the one to do that sort of thing herself anyway, at least, not once she had gained enough influence to get others to do it for her. But given this new empathic power, well, now she truly understood. For a person in her field, the power to influence someone to trust you could be very easily abused.

The person she had been, before Diamond and Fey opened her eyes, would not have hesitated a moment to use such a considerable advantage, and the realization of how hurtful that would have been, how unutterably cruel her former self's callous actions would have felt to those she betrayed by forcing their trust made her feel physically ill.

Recovering from the sudden wave of self-disgust, Nabiki gathered her purse and a ledger. She had no time for getting maudlin. Grabbing her keys, she unlocked the door, stepped out, and locked it again behind her. Walking with a firm stride down the hallway, she glanced down and smirked at the ledger in her hand. She had picked it up purely out of habit, though she no longer needed it to be able to track her business.

Of course, it was probably as well that she had done so. It would not do to reveal too many of her changes at once. She had no desire to get Fey in trouble with those goddesses.

Stepping out of the dorm, she paused, one hand held just above the stair railing. Her senses were far more acute now and she could fairly see the haze that hung over the city. She had not really thought about what it would mean when Fey had mentioned that dragons were closer to the land. Now she understood; with her being more in tune to the earth, she felt very keenly the pollution and general distress of nature that surrounded her.

"Man, this is not going to be as easy as I thought," she muttered, wincing. Stirring from her momentary stillness, she was soon striding across the campus heading for one of her favored diners.

Halfway to the opening between the two buildings ahead that would let out to the street across which waited her eatery of choice, she heard someone call her name. Inclining her head to the side, she smirked at the confident poise of the young woman waving at her. Stilling, she awaited the other girl's approach.

"Nabiki-san," the other girl said when she was a few feet away, "I thought I'd missed you when I didn't find you on the quad with that lizard of yours."

"Dragon, not lizard, Kayuka-san, and some family business came up. I'm heading to Tamoko's right now, join me?"

"Sure thing, Nabiki-san," Kayuka agreed, matching her stride to Nabiki's as Nabiki resumed her pace. "So... does that mean that cute hunk I saw with your sister leaving your dorm a while ago was Ranma?"

Nabiki's smirk widened, growing a bit predatory, but a yen note was slipped into her hand before she could speak. "Yeah, that was Ranma," she said, pocketing the yen. She was surprised that she actually felt a bit uneasy that her companion had reacted as she had. After all, that was exactly what Nabiki was about to ask for, right?

"So... who were those gorgeous gaijin ladies he was with? More fiancees?" Kayuka, like many of Nabiki's clique, enjoyed the stories of the poor boy's torment. She held out several more yen notes, but Nabiki waved them aside.

"Sorry, can't say. Though they weren't fiancees." They had paused at the road's edge, and now strode briskly across it. Entering the eatery, Nabiki waved at Tomoko, then allowed the waitress to lead her to a table.

As she slid into the booth seat, Nabiki realized that meeting Kayuka here was rather fortuitous. Kayuka was involved in the student government and her boyfriend worked part-time for the registration offices, so there was a good chance she would know or be able to find out a fair bit of what Nabiki needed to know.

"Interested in cutting a bit of your debt, Kayuka-san?"

Kayuka sat up straight, eyes widening. "Nabiki-san? Are you kidding? Of course I am... if..." She wilted suddenly, and Nabiki smirked, recognizing that she was obviously thinking that it was too good to be true, which meant, of course, that Nabiki was about to ask for more than she could willingly give.

Nabiki didn't wait for Kayuka to try to recover, nor did she acknowledge the other girl's embarrassment. If Nabiki ignored it, Kayuka could too, without losing face.

"I have had a rather lucrative opportunity arise rather suddenly, Kayuka-san, but it's a limited time offer." Yeah, as in I don't know how long I'm going to be able to survive in this polluted place. "I have been proceeding through the courses at a moderate pace. After all, stress kills, and in our business, we can't afford to get too stressed. Now, though, I find that it will be well worth my while to push through college a bit more quickly. I believe your boyfriend might be in a position to assist me with getting quickly scheduled for placement tests to accumulate credits."

Kayuka nodded. "Sure, Hitoshi could do that, I figure. But... if... uhm, if you pass too many too quickly there will be a lot of scrutiny..." Kayuka spoke delicately, trying to avoid openly implying that Nabiki was looking for some assistance on passing the tests, though it was what she expected.

"Oh, no, Kayuka-san, that won't be a problem. I'll need no help to pass, and they can look at it as closely as they like."

Kayuka nodded happily. As long as she wasn't being asked to arrange the results, this should be fairly easy money.

The two girls continued to discuss things over their meal when it came. Kayuka noted in her diary later that day that she had never seen Nabiki that carefree and unstressed. She didn't seem any less sharp, and though she never referred to the ledger she carried, her words made it clear that she continued to hold a tight rein on her business. Her newfound balance, wherever it had come from, did not seem to have affected her business acumen or instincts in the slightest.

---

A pair of mismatched eyes, one a glittering green, the other a hard blue, watched the progress of the two girls as they left Tomoko's. Neither girl noticed their observer, for she stood in the shadows some distance away and had not moved since their earlier passage across the green expanse.

Her hair was black and a little bit beyond shoulder length, but styled with curls that lifted it to rest at her shoulders. Her face had a certain beauty and her body was well-toned, but she did not attract attention. Her severely conservative business suit deliberately downplayed her assets.

Much as she enjoyed attention at the right times and from the right people, as a general rule she sought to avoid notice. She held a definite power in the school, but it was a hidden power, and even the quickly and adroitly formed information nets of Tendo Nabiki had little to say about her. Ishigami Ayami taught four classes at the university. None of them appeared on the official lists, none had webpages enticing new students or offering coursework. They were by invitation only and the invitations she offered were seldom declined successfully.

Now she was presented with a mystery and a challenge, and she dearly loved a challenge. She watched the students as they signed up for their courses and she chose her students from among them by the results of her observations.

Now she was seeing a student that she had dismissed as without potential demonstrate a remarkable turnaround. Never had she witnessed someone go from such a low potential to one so high, and yet she could see no other change.

"Tendo Nabiki," she whispered, "what happened to you?"

Learning

Not yet posted.

Slow Extraction

Not yet posted.

Leaving Nerima

Not yet posted.

Tyger

Not yet posted.