Divine Blood chapter 12

"So what's the prognosis?" Frigga asked as Belldandy came in to the office.

"There was a virus there," Belldandy said. "Or parts of one at least."

"Is there any hint of what she was trying to do?" Hild asked.

"No," the demon virus-hunter said. "We ran it through an isolated simulation and only came up with a message."

"'Did you really think it would be so obvious?'" Belldandy said with more than a hint of sadness and distaste for the actions of a fellow goddess. "The virus would have worked itself out immediately afterward."

"She's outright telling us there's a deeper goal involved here," Kali said, frowning.

"I don't like this at all," Hild said, frowning. "This doesn't play to the portfolios of any of the three Gods we think to be involved in this."

"It matches Zeus's arrogance," one of the demons in front of her said.

"If it were Zeus's plot, it would not involve the other two," Hild noted. "He doesn't like to share women."

"One of the others..." the demon suggested.

"Poseiden isn't nearly subtle enough," Hild said. "Hades could do it, but he's practically retired. The only of the three Greek brothers that stepped down to let his wife take over."

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

"A lot of this is a matter for the Eyes of Ra and the Einherjar," Frigga said. "Though it is coincidental that it's happening just when we're getting word about this new network."

Kali nodded.

"I did some research," the destroyer said. "This Kaname Chidori that our new recruit is linked with is listed as a Human psionic. One of the ones that call themselves 'Whispered'."

"I vaguely remember something about that," Frigga said. "I thought they were just a variation of telepathy."

"Well, so was the Yggdrassil network, originally," Belldandy reminded her. "However, Eija is safe to ascend and I would suggest to do so soon. Miss Chidori's thoughts almost reached through the world barriers a few minutes ago. It may have just been an emotion spike, but better safe than sorry."

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

Naiki looked at the "Throne of Damnation" with a bit of trepedition.

It was a tall looking chair made of some sort of coppery metal inlaid with a large number of gemstones and crystals that she'd never seen before. There were decorative spikes and curling, bone like additions.

It carried with it an impression of dark power to be had just for the asking.

"Do you have to call it the 'Throne of Damnation'?" she asked.

"Not really, no," Mara said. "Go ahead and sit down."

"Just curious," Naiki said. "Is this going to hurt at all?"

Mara looked toward the techs involved.

"That depends on how much you," he said. "Some people get antsy and resist once the process starts."

"It's a relic," Mara said grimmly but honestly. "Built during wartime. I've heard it isn't nice even after some of the nastier bits have been disabled."

"Nasty bits?" Naiki asked.

"We did used to 'draft' people," one of the tech-demons said. "And it would be necessary to insure loyalty..."

"It's going to brainwash me?" Naiki said in surprise.

"Like I said, all the nastier bits are disabled," Mara said. "It's not fun, but it's not mind-altering anymore. Heck, once we had some gods and goddesses defect, they helped improve the safeguards on mind and soul to make it even harder to do mind warping crap on us."

"So, you've sat in this thing?" Naiki asked.

"Once," Mara said. "Needed to fix some damage."

Naiki thought about it for a moment, biting her lip.

"Here's the important question," Mara asked. "Do you want to stay you and have your friend stay her?"

The green-haired girl sighed, taking a deep breath and stepped forward to sit down in the throne.

"So, how does this go?" she asked.

At that, the throne lit up around her in a shifting red light.

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

Eija's eyes widened as she kneeled on the bench in front of what she'd been told was the Altar of Ascendance and the golden light washed over her.

It was the most unusual feeling, almost like she imagined that Neo character must have felt when he woke up with cables in his back. Only in this case, the cables were connecting to her rather than pulling away.

She tried to keep herself calm at the intrusion, but it was hard at first.

Slowly, she was finding it easier to remain calm and even comfortable with the connections. It wasn't a change in her, but as she was connected, her mind wandered out and she found the beauty that was Yggdrasil. A mental neighborhood with a host of new neighbors, the majority of which she felt were eager to welcome a new member.

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

Naiki's hands clenched at the feelings waving through her. Suspicion and anger were prevalent throughout a lot of the network she was being connected to.

Lots of loss, lots of pain.

Lots of people that had seen many things taken from them and were eager to never feel such again.

Eager to make people pay for causing such pain and loss.

Slow to trust.

Quick to anger.

Fierce in loyalty

Passionate in joy.

Proud of family.

As promised, it wasn't fun.

But it also wasn't trying to work into her mind from what she could tell.

And it was clear, from the glimpses she was getting, that these weren't the evil, plotting, scheming monstrosities her white-magic teachings had said they were.

The last thing she felt, as all the connections were made, was the wall rising into position between her mind and soul and the rest of Nidhog.

Panting and sweating she stumbled up out of the throne and almost toppled, falling into Mara's arms.

"We really need a new machine for this," Mara muttered. "Doing okay kid?"

"Not fun!" Naiki gasped. "That thing is torture! What the hell was that?"

"A peek at the neighborhood," Mara said. "Welcome to Nifelheim, Naiki."

As she said that, she moved Naiki toward a mirror and let the girl take in the red marks on her face.

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

Eija opened her eyes slowly as the process ended and the light faded. Taking a deep breath she started to stand.

Urd was at her side and holding her hand as she unsteadily took her feet.

"There was so much," Eija whispered. "So much..."

"Yeah," Urd said. "It was like that when I chose too."

"You briefly have direct access to feel the emotions of everyone in Yggdrasil when the link is made," Belldandy said. "That much exposure to other minds can be tiring."

"You were born mortal?" Eija asked.

"No, but I'm half-demon," Urd said. "I had to choose which network to be part of."

"Did it work then?" Eija asked.

"See for yourself," Kali said, gesturing to a mirror.

Eija looked to see the blue marks on her face.

"Welcome, Eija, Goddess," Belldandy said with a smile.

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

On Earth, Kaname stared at the scrawled notes she'd taken in a hurry over the last thirty minutes. She understood everything she was looking at, though she still had only a hint of just why she understood such things like this.

What she was looking at was some sort of device built to look like an altar, complete with a low bench to kneel on.

There were other notes.

Chromosomal overcoding to allow for greater amounts of information into the genetic structure.

Specific DNA codes, which Kaname some how knew were unusuable for her but might possibly make good models.

Brain wave frequencies and activity data.

All sorts of things that would be useful for one particular task, if she wanted to duplicate a way to join Heaven that is, and maybe as the basis for other tasks that Kaname had a vague impression of, but nothing specific.

"You know this whispered thing gets pretty annoying," she noted idly.

Still, at least she'd managed to get most of the information she wanted before the flow had stopped rushing down to her out of Eija's side of their link.

Now, she was still feeling Eija on the other end, but she was completely certain that there'd be no threat of them permanently merging into one soul any longer.

On the other hand, they were still permanently connected.

She was pondering that when her phone rang.

Confused, she moved over to the cell and picked it up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Miss Chidori?" the voice on the other end said.

"You're Captain Testarossa," Kaname said. "I recognize your voice from last night."

"Yes," Tessa said on the other end. "Do you think you and Sergeant Sagara can come to Miss Satomi's place?"

"We were already planning on it," Kaname said. "We heard some...news today. Why?"

"Umm, over the phone I'm a bit limited, but I understand that Eija has gone to...a certain place for a procedure," Tessa said. "And I'm...thinking, you might feel...or learn...some..."

"I've got notes," Kaname said. "But I don't think it'll be enough by itse...How do you know about this?"

"Because I've got something similar with Miss Satomi's other daughter," Tessa said. "So...I might have...a second view on the issue."

"Naiki went to...that place too?" Kaname asked.

"Not quite," Tessa said.

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

"Geisthexe-san," Naiki said dangerously as she stopped in the middle of her kata. "Why can't I feel any chi?"

"Because you have none," Mara said. "You're not human anymore."

"You never mentioned that!" Naiki said.

"I was trying to minimize distractions," Mara said. "You didn't need any more reason to dawdle than you already had."

"So what am I going to do if I don't have chi to fight with," the new demoness asked.

"You'll use pishogue," Mara said. "And that's what the rest of our time here will be for. You also still have some natural mana, so we might get some of our resident Gods to help you out with that."

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

"Umm, one day to learn all the basics to a new form of energy manipulation?" Eija asked.

"Tell me," Kali asked. "How do you perceive time?"

"You count minutes...seconds," Eija said. "The same way you perceive space. Chunks."

"How long does it take you to have a thought?" Kali asked.

Eija thought about that for a moment and it proved hard to narrow down a time frame. Thoughts seemed to have no real speed. Most of the time they flowed along like speech, but in a fight they seemed to come a rush. When she used the amaguriken, it was like she had a thought over each fraction of a second as analyzed and adjusted her aim.

"The answer is," Kali said before the new goddess could answer. "Your thoughts come at about the same rate your mind is perceiving time at the moment. So we're going to use a spell to speed up your mind and you already have experience with white magic."

"But that won't help me with channelling it through my body," Eija noted.

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

"Start with up here, kid," Mara said. "And the rest will come naturally."

"Okay," Naiki said then paused. "I wonder if I can refigure the amaguriken for this."

"Amaguriken?" Mara asked. "Chestnut fist?"

"Yeah, I'd show you if I had chi," Naiki said. "It makes you punch superfast."

"How fast?" Mara asked.

"I could hit something like a thousand punches a second," Naiki said. "And sometimes, I can get as accurate as 'Kaasan and make it all look like one punch. Though 'Kaasan is a lot faster, more controlled and can do it with her whole body."

Mara stared at Naiki for a few seconds, processed that information and the battle with Behemoth the night before.

"Naiki...hypothetically," she said. "If your mother were mad at someone and they tried to hide from her...what would she do?"

Naiki laughed.

"That can be fun to watch," she said.

"Oh...joy," Mara said.

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

Meanwhile, Nidhog and Yggdrasil respectively recorded Naiki and Eija's genetic and spiritual coding both before and after the process and moved it to be stored in their memories.

As the information entered the system, a small bit of extra programming in each of the storage systems registered and scanned the information against its own records. Recognizing the Satomi coding, it duplicated a copy of the information to absorb into its own.

The previously identical programs shifted form and moved quietly from the archives into the communication hubs and sat and waited.

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

Eija looked at herself in the mirror as Kali typed at a keyboard over to the side and Urd sat to the side reading what appeared to be a manga.

The marks on her faced were shaped like blue drops of liquid sliding down from the corners of her eyes and her forehead. That blue coloring might have made most people that looked at the drops think they were supposed to be water, but Eija knew better.

She was always marked by blood.

Even before the first time she killed someone, a knife wielding maniac in a cult's den, she'd still been marked by the blood in her eyes.

Curiously, she opened her mouth.

Still no fangs.

"You'd only have fangs if you started with them," Kali noted.

"How did you know I was thinking that?" Eija asked.

"Because," Kali said. "My recent childhood started a little less than forty years ago. I also got the Dracula comments."

The dark skinned woman smiled at the pale new goddess as she said that. The irony of someone with her coloration getting accused of being a vampire not lost on Eija.

"Shouldn't I be practicing now?" Eija asked.

"In a moment," Urd said. "Kali's getting us some training space. and facilities."

"And I should be just about...done," she said. "You have a meditation room, start with the Searching."

"Searching?" Eija asked.

"Of course," Urd said, as if she were affronted by the idea that she would forget something so basic.

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

Naiki blinked at the paired, sickle shaped marks on her forehead and the shark-tooth shapes, split down the middle by a line of unmarked skin, at the corner of each eye, pointing outward.

Her sharp teeth were the same as always, save the outer four canines seemed more prominent somehow. She tried one of her "cute, fangy smiles" and it still seemed to carry off the same sort of effect.

The only real change she noted as that, indeed, the smoky air was a lot more pleasant than it had been. Though in this place it was still a bit thick, like too many perfumes in one room.

The best part was that the smoke didn't interfere with her sense of smell at all anymore. Her other senses seemed a bit more enhanced as well.

The green-haired demoness could actually feel Mara's pacing through the floor, and, if the other demoness got within a meter or so, she could feel the woman through the change in the air.

She could even feel the tingle of electricity working through Mara's body.

These were things she used to have to be in the water to feel. She didn't have near the sensitivity she was used to in water, but it did make her wonder what her new sensitivity under the waves would be like.

Suddenly, Mara stopped and looked toward the desk where one of the demons was working.

"Are you finished then?" Mara asked.

"You're set," the demon said.

"Okay then, kid," Mara said. "Practice is getting started soon. Starting with Conflict."

"Conflict?" Naiki asked. "Do you mean sparring?"

"Not really," Mara said with a smile.

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

Eija looked uncertainly at the potion in front of her.

"We've been using this this recipe for centuries to help us explore ourselves," Urd said. "It will take you into your own soul, for want of a better description. It will help you search for your truest nature...we call it your Domain."

"So when I drink this, I will see something?" Eija asked. "What did you see?"

Urd looked thoughtful for a moment.

"The Searching is very personal," Urd said quietly. "And not something easily...recalled. It sort of becomes a vague dream over time. It's clearer to some than to others, but..."

"I think I understand," Eija said, reaching down to take the drink.

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

"The smoke out there is thick with certain minerals," Mara said. "Sit out there and it will help you enter the Conflict."

"So I'm going to fight something in the smoke. It that the conflict?" Naiki asked. "You haven't explained that."

"It's what it sounds like," Mara said. "A battle."

"So what am I fighting?" Naiki asked.

"That's something different for each demon," Mara said. "But out of that fight will come your Realm."

"So I get my own land or something?" Naiki asked.

"The type of power that you are most suited to," Mara explained. "Do you understand?"

"I go out there, get high and have a hallucination?" Naiki asked.

"Sort of," Mara said with a twitch.

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

A moment ago, Eija had been sitting and meditating in the training ground Kali had arranged for them, but now suddenly, she was sitting on the rocks over Athens.

Looking about, the sky was white and the sea was red.

As she herself stood up, her skin was as black as her hair, an image she found familiar from her encounters in Kaname's Whispered mindscape.

"What should we do?" a voice asked.

Eija turned around to find another girl standing in front of her, one that looked a lot like the way she looked in the real world.

"Excuse me?" Eija asked curiously.

"What should we do?" the girl asked pointing downward.

Eija looked down and saw the red sea splashing on the beach below and receding. Then it came in again struck higher on the rocks. Each incoming wave came higher and higher.

"The tide's coming in," Eija said. "That's all."

As she said that, a heavy wave, more than a simple tsunami, crashed down on the rocky Grecian beach and receded only slightly before another hit and washed further up, carrying away bathers with it.

"What should we do?"

Eija didn't bother to answer as she leaped down toward the beach and moved to rescue the people carried off, but as the non-descript people touched the flow of the red waves, they dissolved and melted into the flow of red liquid.

Flinching away, Eija danced back and grabbed a person before they could touch the red waves. The other her copied her actions, saving other men and women. Several others, however, were caught and dissolved into the rising current.

Grabbing as many people as she could, Eija continued to deposit the faceless masses that she rescued higher up the cliffs. Only to see that the cliffs themselves were being dissolved by the torrent.

"What should we do?" the other her asked.

"Why do you ask me?" Eija asked. "You can do as much as I can."

"Okaasan is not here," the other her said.

Eija flinched away.

"Deimosu and Naiki are not here," the other said.

She looked down helplessly at the scarlet waves eating their way toward the phantom Athens.

"Sousuke is not here," she said. "Kaname is not here."

And then the natural-seeming Eija looked toward Eija's black-skinned, red-eyed true spirit.

"You are the only one I can ask," she said. "What should we do?"

"Do...do you always ask others what to do first?" Eija asked.

The other her nodded.

"Do I always ask what to do?" Eija wondered.

As she thought the tide kept rising below.

"How do I stop an ocean of..."

Eija stopped mid sentence, head dipping downward and biting her lip as her eyes stared forward hollowly.

She leaped down again toward the advancing sea, stopping just before it.

As it crashed in toward, her, she tensed nervously, but held her ground as the wave came in and stopped just short of her.

The waves started to move around and past her on both sides and experimentally she raised one hand to her side. On that side of her, the red wave washed straight upward as if it had struck a wall. Seeing that, she raised her other hand upward and the sea on that side slammed into its own invisible force.

Taking in a breath, Eija calmly and coolly stepped forward, bringing her hands forward and pushing back the waves as she did so.

From that clapping motion she moved into the beginnings of a routine, noticing that with each step forward, the torrent shifted back. She spun calmly and then thrust forward with a slight hop and the tide retreated further back.

There was less fear and desperation with each step she took, and less and less hostility as well.

"Blood," she said quietly. "It's always blood with me."

As she walked forward now, she seemed almost unaware of the blood as it she pushed it forward.

Protecting the blood of her family and friends.

Shedding her own blood to help others.

Spilling the blood of enemies when she was forced to.

There were other ways to look at things, but Eija had to admit that for her, everything came down to blood.

And right now, the world was drowning in it.

So, right now, someone was needed to send the tide back.

"I have to make decisions and act," she whispered.

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

Naiki stared around, wondering just where she was. A moment ago, she'd been sitting in the middle of a lot of smoke, but now...she was standing on the edge of an island air base?

The ground around her was shades of blue with a sky of lavender and purple clouds. She herself was all in shades of green with bright blue eyes. It was like she was in that weird place where she'd started merging with Tessa.

"Heads up!" a voice shouted.

Naiki looked toward the sound in time to leap over the small helicopter hurled in her direction.

In leaping over it, watching it pass below her, she almost failed to see another figure leaping upward to join her in mid flight. By the time she did see the figure, it was too late to do more than block and roll with axe kick delivered at the end of a forward flip.

She didn't just idly block of course, but latched onto to her opponent's foot, launching the other in a graceless tumble even as Naiki herself hit the ground and rolled into a standing position.

Instantly her eyes locked sight of the figure rising out of the tumble.

Shaking it's head clear and staring at the wreckage of the helicopter.

Smirking at the easy victory, Naiki let fly with a pair of Kijin Raishu Dan vacuum blades. They rushed across the sceen with a ripping sound, twisting at times to cut deep grooves in the ground.

Finally, as they came upon their target, they crossed together and Naiki's attacker flipped up over the attacks with a snickering flourish before landing and bouncing again over Naiki's head.

Naiki started to follow the figure's movement, when she heard a shriek behind her.

Twisting about, Naiki was just in time to see her vacuum blades slash through her sister, leaving little more than a bloody pile of pieces behind.

"Damn you!" her opponent shouted bitterly, drawing Naiki's ire as it seemed her enemy was angered by the death of HER sister.

"Come on then!" Naiki roared out, turning to face the enemy and leaping forward, sharp teeth grinding against each other.

The vague figure of the opponent leapt to meet her again, but this time the growling figure got a face full of Naiki's knee. This time, Naiki was the one who was grabbed in the last moment, and the two were sent scattering across the jagged terrain at the edge of the base.

Getting to her feet, Naiki found herself facing the oppoenent as she came in with a flurry of attacks stolen straight from Naiki's yamasenken. Blocking and dodging furiously, Naiki felt her rage boiling as she finally side stepped, letting the enemy pass right by her as she kneeled to the ground and let her anger pass through her left hand into rock under her feet.

The ground shook violently all around as Naiki turned slowly to watch her enemy's disintegrating stance as the ground shook itself apart underneath.

Blue eyes raging with anger, Naiki ripped her right hand backwards, bringing a torrent of water flying from below to envelope her enemy and drag them down into the deep, her playground.

Naiki was about to follow when she noticed something left in the wake of the wave. A body crushed and battered by stone and wave, but still recognizeable as her brother.

Seething with rage, her hesitation gone, she leaped out into the ocean and slammed down into it, letting her senses spill outward. The senseation of a living nervous system and the vibration of a swift, natural swimmer were easy to track down as she propelled herself forward.

Her enemy, as natural a swimmer as herself it seemed, turned about and came to meet Naiki, flashing past in a strike that spilled blood into the water. Naiki started to follow, but changed her mind briefly as she felt the rushing current of the water about her shift dangerously.

Dashing away from the forming whirlpool, Naiki swam around the edges of it, seeking her enemy even as she noted debris funneling down the whirlpool to the seabed.

The remains of a boat and her mother's surprised and drowned body.

Naiki was screaming as she pushed herself along, finding the enemy, staring into the whirlpool probably to gloat. The young demoness slammed into her enemy, putting all the strength of the water behind her in a huge wave that thrust both her and her enemy up onto the island again.

Immediately, Naiki was up and recovering herself rolling to a standing position next a small helicopter as she immediately noted her opponent standing further out, glancing around in confusion.

Grabbing the helicopter, Naiki lifted it up and, glaring at her opponent, shifted to hurl it.

"Heads up!" she shouted angrily.

Her enemy turned about just in time to see the huge projectile and leap over it, watching as the thing flew past, and giving Naiki an almost perfect opening.

Leaping forward, she waited until she was near the enemy before throwing herself forward into a flip that ended with a downward axe kick that her opponent barely had time to block and roll, adding a suicide grab and twist at the last moment.

Losing control of her own momentum, the demoness came down hard to the ground before rolling to a standing position.

There, before her, crushed under the weight of the helicopter she'd thrown, was Tessa Testarossa.

Her stare was frozen on that body when she heard the characteristic ripping sound of Kijin Raishu Dan vacuum blades growing closer.

Her immediate idea was to leap over the incoming projectiles, but she paused, glancing behind her to see Eija incongruously running to her aide.

"Kijin Raishu Dan!" she growled hurling her own blades forward into the two coming her way.

Charging forward, her enemy slipped backwards, away from her.

"I hate being toyed with!" Naiki shouted angrily as she caught up with her enemy and lashed out with an array of Yamasenken strikes.

When her opponent tried to side-step, she didn't stumble forward but stayed her ground and swiveled smoothly to place herself between the enemy and the ocean.

She was tempted to make another full scale earthquake again, but she didn't know where enemys or friends lay. Instead she channelled her anger into a much more specific target as she thrust her foot downward in a stomp that cracked the earth outward to her enemy.

The localized crack sealed tight once the opponent's foot slipped inside, crushing the limp and trapping it.

Naiki grimaced bitterly as she looked about her to see Deimosu landing at the top of the cliff and her mother beaching a boat further down. Elsewhere, Eija was helping Tessa walk away from the wrecked helicopter.

That satisfying her fears, Naiki turned to face her enemy. The one that made her rage less of a weapon and more of a disaster.

Laughing up at her, was her own face as it appeared in life.

Stepping forward, Naiki didn't hesitate to slash a dark Kijin Raishu Dan through the neck of her double, watching her head hop off and roll to a stop against a shed, shocked expression on her face.

"I can't be acting without thinking about anymore," she said, breathing heavily.

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

Eija snapped awake, much of the memory of her vision already fading back away from her.

A small flood of relief came through the link she had with Kaname, making her come to a guess that, for however long that vision lasted, the Whispered had been blocked from her at least temporarily.

"Well," Urd asked.

"Blood," Eija said. "My Domain is Blood."

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

Naiki thought about the pace of the fading vision and some few images.

"I'm the Demon of Torrent, I think," Naiki said, ignoring the annoyed worry coming out of Tessa's end of the link.

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

"Okay, this is your thing," Kaname said. "So here's the stuff I wrote down during whatever."

"Thank you, Miss Chidori," Kaname said. "But I'm going to need to confer with you. You're not used to this but you'll still have some perspective I might end up needing."

"You don't expect to get anything put together here, in Satomi-san's house," Kaname said, looking around. "What's left of it."

"No. We'll need to do a firm DNA study of Whispered coding versus these base codes," Tessa said. "And some studies of energy frequencies. Which is all stuff we'll need to run in a good research lab."

"So what are we doing here?" Kaname asked.

"Hammering out the basics," Tessa said as she spread out hers and Kaname's notes.

"So why is Sousuke here?" Kaname asked.

Tessa looked up towards where the mentioned boy was standing at attention with the older Satomi and Commander Mardukas.

"Briefing for a new assignment," Tessa said. "Don't worry, it's nothing that'll take him away from you."

"Sergeant Sagara," Mardukas said. "You are currently our only pilot capable of using a lambda driver. As you are aware there are some, issues with this new technology."

"Yes, sir," Sousuke said sharply.

"Miss Satomi has offered to give you some extra training in order to smooth over some of the rough spots," Mardukas said. "So I expect you to make use of this training."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Sousuke responded.

"Miss Satomi," Mardukas said. "I leave this soldier with you, and I hope you know what you're letting yourself in for."

"I have a few things in mind," Ranma said firmly, under normal circumstances there would be an accompanying smirk. "Now, first things first. I need to see what shape your in and how you manage yourself currently."

"I understand," Sousuke said, waiting for what exercise she gave him to accomplish this.

"So..." the martial artist said.

Ranma looked around at what was still a disaster area from her anger and rage yesterday. As she did, Sousuke, a veteran of much base duty, knew what was coming.

"I need to see this place spotless in an hour," she said firmly. "Get to work."

"Yes, Ma'am," Sousuke said saluting as he turned to room at large.

"I somehow expected you to spar with him for a few minutes," Mardukas said, pleasantly surprised.

"First rule of being a sensei," Ranma said. "Find reasons to make your daily chores training."

Like everything else, the statement was less smirking than normal, but given the circumstances, Mardukas perfectly understood the woman's cooler than normal behavior.

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

For most people, getting out of a sea-locked country without appearing on the grid was difficult. But then, most weren't reasonably confident they could swim across the Sea of Japan.

The Furies obscure information had drawn him to the wrong side of the country though.

The start of the trail Deimosu wanted to follow was back in Korea and he was on the Japanese eastern coast. That meant at the least, the first day or two of travel would be by foot and then it was time to head over water.

He was worried about just how Hecate could find him so easily if supposedly Heaven couldn't track him. He wanted Zeus dead, and the implication was that she wanted her father dead for the same reason he did.

The fact that he was just what her plan needed was one of those "coincidences" that Deimosu's mother rarely if ever trusted. As far as Ranma Satomi was concerned, "destiny", "prophecy" and "coincidence" all belonged in the category of "excuses for manipulating things."

He was considering this as he walked through the trees in front of him and found something strange.

A house in a small valley, ten kilometers from any of the towns he knew to be in the area. It lay south of him and behind in his path. He'd just about walked right past the area without even noticing it.

He was still trying to come to a conclusion about this when he felt the approach of...someone. In moments, he was up in a tree, keeping as secret as possible and wishing that he'd mastered the umisenken as thoroughly as Eija had. All he had were the basic manuvers, he hadn't worked out the invisibility trick quite yet.

He heard a gasp and looked up to see a small, black-haired girl of about eight years old dressed in a drab blouse and pants, the number 89-5 emblazoned dully on the chest. She was staring down at him nervously. Quietly, he raised a finger to his move and shhed just as two figures came into view below.

Two women, very similar in appearance, walked in underneath, short swords carried at their back as they moved cautiously through, obviously looking for someone. On their heads were a radio and monocle set that looked like they belonged in a science-fiction movie.

"I thought sure there was someone up here," one them said.

"The child has to be around here somewhere," the other said. "We can't leave here without that girl."

"Who would have thought she could slip the inventory before the transports left," the first said.

"This is the north-western grid search," the second said into her radio. "No sign of the missing material. Are there hits on your searches."

Several other voices, all women, returned with similar negatives, and it looked like Deimosu and the girl above him would get past without any notice.

That was until the crack of a tree spilled the girl above Deimosu tumbling down to the ground. She landed lightly, showing a bit of natural instinct for moving, but precious little training.

"That's her!" one of the women said, moving forward to grab the little girl. "We've got her!"

Deimosu didn't know exactly what was going on, but he'd heard enough to know that he wasn't going to let those two women down there do whatever it was they wanted to do.

The blonde Satomi dropped down out of the tree in a fluid motion striking one of the two women below as she crossed the short distance to the little girl.

The other drew her blade and slashed outward with incredible speed, but only intermediate skill, forming a suspicion in Deimosu's mind as he blocked the first attack.

The suspicion was confirmed when the women he had managed to hit rolled to standing and gestured at him before discharging a blast of raw energy.

"There's an intruder!" she shouted. "Transmitting video!"

Deimosu was casually slamming his knee into the second's abdomen even as he dodged aside the untrained chi blast from the first and tossing out the other woman's blade so that the hilt slammed into the chi-blaster's head. An elbow slamming down into the back of the head of the other woman ended the brief fight.

"Akiras," he commenting with a derisive tsk and a shake of the head. "No training in actually using what they have. Are you okay?"

The black haired girl nodded and brushed herself off as she stood up.

"All squads converge on the northwestern sector," a crackling voice came over the radio of one of the two unconscious women. "Quickly!"

"Let's get out of here," Deimosu said, moving to pick up the girl, who tried ineffectively to resist the grab.

"Put me down!" she said desperately.

They were several miles away, when Deimosu finally stopped and set the girl down.

"I think we'll be safe this far," he said. "What's your name?"

The girl blinked for a moment, hesitating to answer.

"Okay, I'll just let the police find that out when I drop you off at the next town," he said.

"Yaku Go," the girl said.

"What?" Deimosu said.

"That's my name," she said.

Deimosu looked at the numbers on the girl's shirt.

Eight - Ya. Nine - Ku. Five - Go.

"Oh, so you mean like this?" he asked, drawing a kanji in the dirt.

"I don't read kanji," she said.

"Oh, that's 'yaku'," Deimosu said. "It means 'benefit'."

"What's a benefit?" she asked.

"Something that helps a person," the blonde Satomi said.

The girl blinked and looked at the kanji for a moment.

"Does 'Go' mean anything?" she asked.

"It does," Deimosu nodded, drawing another kanji. "That means a few things, to be clear, to be serene, and to be skillful."

"One word means all that?" the girl said, eyes widening. "What's it all mean?"

"Clear means...," Deimosu started, thinking it through, "...talking well, saying what you want and not making mistakes when you talk. Serene is to be calm so when you feel scared or you feel angry you don't let it show. Skillful means you're very good at doing something."

"What am I good at?" she asked.

"That's up to you, I guess," the martial artist told her. "Are you hungry?"

The girl nodded.

"Okay..." he looked around. They were probably safe, but it was better to be cautious. "Come with me and be very quiet, I'm going to see if I can catch something for dinner."

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

"Escaped?" a woman in her mid-thirties with long dark hair said harshly as she turned away from a bank of computer screens. "'Slipped the inventory'? Taken by some random vagabond?"

"Yes, Mistress," the cringing woman on the other end of the camera said.

"How is it that you let the first total success of my efforts 'slip the inventory'?" the woman asked.

"Well, they all look the same..." the younger woman said. "Mostly."

"Nimu," the older woman said. "You are aware that I cannot add controls until a certain physical age is reached, correct?"

"I do, Mistress," the woman said quietly.

"You could very well have lost me the subject," her mistress said bitterly. "You have a limited time, Nimu, before you'll need another booster. So few of the Ichi batch survived development, I would hate to be forced to reduce their numbers further."

"Hai, mistress," the girl said.

"Make sure the subject is in your hands before that becomes necessary," the unnamed woman said. "Place a missing person's report for your younger sister, make sure there is a reward placed."

"Should I include the young-man's image from the monocle transmission?" Nimu asked.

"Not for now," the older woman said. "There is something...familiar about him, and I'd rather not trip any wires that might be there."