Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma or Lunar.
In a desolate snow covered wasteland, a large spire stands as the only sign of life anywhere. As the wind howls and a raging blizzard continues to blow across the landscape, a shimmering crystal in the heart of the structure glows brightly for a moment, and a nude woman steps through the crystal and onto the ground. The only article of clothing she wears is a small pendant in a circular shape with a golden lining and a golden circle in its center. The girl has bright blue hair and a serious expression on her face. She calmly walks through the halls of the spire, not bothered in the least by her lack of clothing. Finally reaching the outside, she glances around in puzzlement.
“This is not the time for my awakening…” She mutters to herself. She continues to stare blankly out across the snow-covered horizon, before raising her head and staring up at the shining planet in the sky.
“Lunar…no…” She whispers faintly. The blizzard picks up, continuing its relentless existence.
A figure is desperately trying to chip away a shiny stone from a statue using an old sword.
“Man, I should have brought Grandpa’s chisel! This is way harder than I thought!” Hiro mutters to himself as he continues to try and free the lovely blue gem from its imprisonment in the dragon statue’s eye socket. He glances over at his companion, Ranma, who is staring with a blank look on his face at nothing in particular.
“Something wrong Ranma?” Hiro asks curiously, pausing for a moment to give his tired arm a rest. His friend starts and whips his head over to him.
“Huh? Didja say something Hiro?” Shaking his head, Hiro resumes his work.
“Nah, nevermind…” He notes that his flying companion since youth, Ruby, is hovering impatiently with a lantern dangling from her mouth.
“Hurry it up Hiro! I’d like to get the dragon’s eye while we’re still young! Not to mention before the trap activates…” She added almost as an afterthought. Hiro stares at her wide-eyed, and Ranma blinks.
“Trap…” Ranma says slowly.
“What trap!” Hiro yells. Suddenly flames erupt around the statue and very nearly toast Hiro and Ranma, who are both hanging upside down by ropes. Hiro glares at Ruby slightly.
“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?” He asks in an annoyed voice. Ruby glares right back.
“I did! But you two morons were too busy trying to get the jewel to listen!” Hiro ignores the moron comment and quickly turns back to the jewel.
“Oh yeah! I almost got it!” Hiro yells excitedly. Ranma dangles impatiently with his arms crossed and his pigtail hanging upside down beside him. Finally with one last mighty stab, the jewel is freed from its prison, and Hiro quickly grabs for it, only to miss and gasp in alarm, but before he can blink a hand shoots out and snatches the jewel before it can fall. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Hiro turns to his friend, who holds the jewel in his hand, curiously examining it.
“Thanks Ranma…” Hiro says to the pig-tailed one. Nodding at his companion, Ranma smirks and slides the jewel into his pocket.
“I’ll hold onto our catch, if ya don’t mind…” Hiro nods back, knowing that Ranma would take good care of their hard-won treasure. He then noticed his talking cat gesturing wildly to the rope holding him.
“What is it Ruby?” He asks curiously. Finally having gotten his attention, Ruby screams in his face.
“The rope’s breaking!” Hiro has about a second worth of time to register her statement before he finds himself plummeting to the ground as gravity takes effect.
“AHHHH!!!” Hiro yells as he sees his life flash before his eyes. Seeing his friend hurtling towards a very painful landing, Ranma quickly slips out of his own support line, and leaps to his friend’s aid. Angling his body to increase his speed, Ranma nosedives towards the plummeting form of his fellow adventurer, with Ruby following closely. Unfortunately he is unable to reach him in time and Ranma barely manages to flip onto his feet and land lightly on the ground. Hiro hits with a loud smack and lays still. Ruby flutters over to him, crying softly.
“Oh Hiro…Please don’t die, you just can’t die…” Ranma gently checks Hiro’s pulse, and finds that he is still alive at least. Hiro stirs and smiles weakly at the two.
“Heh, damn, that hurts, sure wish I could of landed like you Ranma…” He mutters. Ruby happily flutters in front of his face.
“Oh Hiro! I’m so glad you’re okay!” She then grows stern.
“That’s it! No more adventuring for us! I can’t take it anymore!” She scolds in an angry tone as Hiro rubs his head sheepishly. Ranma tenses slightly.
“Shhh! Be quiet you two! I hear something!” They all look towards the doorway, and suddenly two flame ghouls burst out. Sweating slightly, the trio of friends back away. And seeing the two powerful monsters follow them, turn and run, screaming.
They run down a passage, only to find two more monsters waiting for them. Ranma quickly grabs the gaping Hiro and ducks down another hallway with Ruby in tow. They continue running, chased by the flame ghouls.
“Hello, my name is Ranma, and these two are my best friends in the world, Hiro and Ruby. We’ve been friends ever since they found me unconscious and with no recollection of who I was or why I was there.”
The trio dash down yet another hallway and narrowly avoid getting crushed by a rolling steel ball. They then leap over a pit and take a turn down yet another hall, thinking they’ve lost the Inferno Ghouls, only to find a cadre of the things waiting for them around the next corner. Screaming again like little girls, they turn around and sprint along another corridor.
“Even though our Grandfather Gywn would probably rupture a blood vessel if he saw us in this kind of danger, we still explore any ruins we can find. For Hiro it’s to learn more about the world, for me, it’s to maybe find out who I am and what purpose I’m here for. That’s the one thing that has remained in my head ever since waking up. That I have a purpose. A mission I suppose. I just wish I knew what it was. But until then, I suppose I’ll just keep treasure hunting with Hiro, and hopefully keeping him and Ruby out of as much trouble as possible. Of course, I wonder who’s going to keep me out of trouble? At least I have my martial arts. That’s the other thing I retained in my memory, my fighting skills. It seems I was quite the warrior in my old life. Grandpa thinks I might have been a disciple of Blue Master Lunn, but he isn’t sure. I just know that I can kill monsters with my bare hands with relative ease. And that I couldn’t cast a squall spell if my life depended on it…”
The
three friends narrowly dodge another steel ball, and quickly run from the still
pursuing inferno ghouls.
“I know that someday I’ll remember who I am, but until then, I am content to live my life alongside my friends. For without them, I would truly be lost…”
The
trio madly search for the exit and suddenly hear a great rumbling, turning,
they see a massive steel ball hurtling towards them. Once more screaming at the
top of their lungs, they dash forward and finally see the exit. They manage to
roll out into the light of day just in time. Getting to his feet, Hiro laughs
at the boulder as the adrenalin high begins to wear off.
“Ha
ha ha! Mighty adventurer and all around handsome guy Hiro escapes a squishy
death yet again! All in the name of exploration!” Ruby prepares to fricassee
him, and after getting a nod from Ranma, proceeds to do so. A now much more
crispy Hiro coughs and then turns to his two companions.
“Thanks
I needed that…” Ranma nods again and turns to go.
“C’mon
you two, we still gotta hike through the East Desert Pass, remember?” He says
as he starts to walk. Hiro and Ruby quickly catch up with the pig-tailed
martial artist and the three walk in companionable silence. Hiro glances over
at Ranma and gains a slightly worried expression on his normally fairly
cheerful face.
“I
wonder what’s wrong with him. He’s normally a lot more…carefree I guess…”
Deciding that his friend is just having a bad day, Hiro decides to leave him
alone for a while. Besides, he still had the bruises from the last time he had
tried to cheer Ranma up. He supposed getting Ruby to flame him and then giving
him a mirror was not the brightest idea he ever had, but he should have seen
how funny he looked! Besides, it was either that or show him some of Grandpa’s
naughty bromides…
After
fighting past a few monsters that inhabited the desert, the trio paused on a
cliff as they heard a loud rumbling. They watched in awe as a massive, gleaming
white ship with a dragon’s head at the front of it smashed through some rocks
like they were pebbles and came to a stop in front of them. A figure stood on
the bow of the ship and yelled to them in a deep booming voice.
“You
there! What are you doing in this area?” The figure was a man with blue hair
and a horn on his forehead, and was dressed in white armor with a red cape. He
was obviously a beast man, and Ranma at least could tell that he was an
extremely powerful fighter. Hiro spoke up while Ranma chose to remain silent
and continue to study the man and gauge his fighting power.
“I
am Hiro, and these are my friends Ranma and Ruby! Who are you?” He shouted to
the man. The man nodded and stood straight.
“I
am White Knight Leo! Leader of Althena’s Guard! This is the Dragonship Destiny!
Now then, I want you kids to leave this area immediately! I don’t want any
civilians getting hurt! Now move it!” Ranma was a bit annoyed by the arrogance
of this guy, but before he could put his foot in his mouth and voice it, Leo
had signaled to the driver and the Destiny moved on. Ruby finally spoke up.
“Geez,
that guy sure was rude!” Ranma and Hiro almost snickered at that. Imagine Ruby
calling someone else rude! Composing themselves, the two turned to go.
“Let’s
keep moving, we should be almost at the end of the pass by now.” Hiro said as
he ran along the cliff. Ranma and Hiro dispatched a few more monsters with ease
ahead of them, and the three finally left the pass.
Arriving
back at the house, the trio was startled when they saw the Destiny parked right
outside their home. They quickly rushed into the house and saw Leo talking to
Gwyn with two guards flanking the doorway. The two guards were both barely
older than Ranma and Hiro, yet acted like they were hot stuff. You could just
see it in their expressions. Ranma inwardly smirked. He knew that he could
probably beat up half the guards on the Destiny with little trouble, and if
Hiro helped, well, let’s just say that the Goddess would have one hell of a
medical bill to pay. He then glanced at Leo. The beastman looked like a
challenge however. Ranma could tell just by looking at him, especially since
now he could see him more clearly, that Leo was a formidable fighter. He then
noticed that the White Knight was yelling at Gwyn in an annoyed voice.
“Very
well old man! If you cannot supply me with the information I seek on how to
enter the Blue Spire, so that I may crush the Destroyer, then I shall simply
blow right through its doors with the dragon cannon!” A faint memory of a boy
tickled Ranma’s brain. He was dressed in blue and had a pompous attitude. The sound
of thunder seemed to coincide with the image. Leo reminded him of this boy.
With a shake of his head, Ranma noticed that Leo was leaving. Ranma got out of
his way, and grew slightly uncomfortable, as the White Knight seemed to be
assessing him.
“Hmmm,
you look to be a strong lad. Have you thought about joining Althena’s Guard
boy?” The beastman asked. Ranma blinked slowly.
“Umm,
well, not really…” He said in an unsure tone. Leo seemed to ignore this.
“Well,
I suggest you think of it, we can always use more able young men, and so can
the Goddess. Protecting her is the duty of all inhabitants of our planet.” The
White Knight said in an almost reverent voice. Ranma nodded to appease Leo, and
it seemed to work. Leo then turned and strode out of the house with his two
guards following. Ranma blew out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding and
turned to see that Hiro was talking with Gwyn.
“Hmmf,
what a pompous fool that Leo is!” Gwyn said, to which all three nodded in
agreement. The old man then turned and headed for a ladder in the back.
“I
think I’m going to take a look at the spire.” He said as he disappeared up the
ladder. Ranma, Hiro, and Ruby were suddenly startled as they head Gwyn
shouting.
“All
of you! Come up here quick!” They raced up the ladder, well, Hiro did, Ruby
flew up it, and Ranma jumped past it. Standing on the platform at the top of
the house with the telescope, they saw a most peculiar sight. There seemed to
be some sort of light coming from the tip of the spire. All four people stared in
confusion at the odd sight. Up until then, the Blue Spire had always been a
solemn, sealed structure of mystery. It had stood in place silently for as long
as anyone could remember. Gwyn turned to them excitedly.
“This
is the chance of a lifetime! Who knows what we’ll find if we go now!” Hiro and
Ranma blink several times at their loveable, yet slightly smelly, Grandfather.
“You’re
actually letting us come with you Gramps?” Ranma asked in an incredulous tone
to which Hiro nodded in equal awe. Gwyn smiled and hobbled over to the ladder.
“You
betcha! Get your gear together and meet me by the door!” He then climbed down
the ladder, making several squeaks and groans on his way down as the rickety
thing protested the weight. Ranma and Hiro glanced at each other, and then to
the equally puzzled Ruby, who shrugged her tiny shoulders. Deciding to simply
go with the flow and not look a gift horse in the mouth, they slid down the
ladder, which once again creaked, and made their way downstairs to the
makeshift supply storage/library. Hiro snagged an old iron shield that had
several dents in it and banged on it a few times to check its resilience.
Deciding that it was better than nothing, he slid it onto his arm. Ranma
gathered a few medicinal herbs and placed them gingerly in a pouch at his
waist, and also grabbed a small dagger just in case. He preferred to rely on
his fists of course, but every once in a while; it was better to use a weapon
on some monsters. Besides, better safe than sorry he figured. Finally after double-checking
their gear, the boys went back upstairs and met the old man by the entrance to
their home. After meticulously inspecting their equipment for any missing
necessities, the old man nodded in satisfaction and turned to go.
“Let’s
be off boys, I want to get there before that buffoon Leo does…” The two friends
and their flying baby dragon followed, though Ranma had an odd feeling about
this little excursion. Almost like this was the beginning of the end…but the
end of what? Shaking his head to dispel these peculiar thoughts, he jogged to
catch up to the others.
After
a pretty uneventful hike, the three found themselves at the tower. Ranma felt a
slight bit of trepidation when he saw the four fearsome statues surrounding the
entrance, but didn’t let it show. He was just glad that they were simple
statues… He noticed that Gwyn had placed a pink gem into one of the sockets of
the dragon statue at the entrance. The statue looked pretty familiar
actually…it seemed however that the entrance wasn’t going to budge. Gwyn seemed
puzzled. Hiro however snapped his fingers and dug inside his belt pouch, and
sweated slightly as he didn’t find what he was looking for.
“Oh
no! I must have dropped it! Or left it behind! Or maybe…” Ranma held up a blue
gem in his hand.
“Lookin’
for this Hiro?” Nodding frantically, Hiro snatched it and placed it gingerly
into the other socket of the head. With a resounding creak, the statue slid
apart, opening the way inside. Slapping a fist into his palm, Gwyn smiled
widely.
“Of
course! The mechanism would require two dragon’s eyes!” Ranma was tempted to
say no duh, but decided against it, as Grandpa could get pretty nasty with that
cane of his when he wanted to. (Not that cane you pervs!) Gwyn reminded him a
lot of an old woman who also had a cane as well as an old man who wore…panties?
But their names, as well as who they were, escaped him. The quartet of
explorers gingerly walked into the Blue Spire, and began to um, explore. It was
unanimously decided that Ranma would be at the point as he was the overall best
fighter of the group. While Gwyn brought up the rear because of his curative
abilities. The monsters on the first floor were dispatched easily enough, and
after a somewhat monotonous task of pressing several switches on the second
floor, the four found themselves halfway up the Spire. After passing by another
Guardian statue that made Ranma shiver slightly for some reason, they came to a
peaceful halfway point of sorts. Ranma and the others were in awe of the beauty
of the place. Not only was the second portion of the Spire nice to look at, but
also the view from up above was great. There was also an intricate fountain
with a statue of Althena as the centerpiece. For some reason he couldn’t
fathom, Ranma had always been extra wary around water. It was almost a reflex
of his to avoid cold water. It struck him as odd. Then there was the twinge of
fear he got when he first saw Ruby. Thankfully it passed and he eventually got
over it. Although when he saw a regular cat, well, he got scared, really
scared. He suddenly blinked as he saw Ruby waving a paw in his face.
“Hello!
Lunar to Ranma! You there!” She yelled in his face.
“Gah!”
He jumped back several feet, and almost splashed into the fountain.
“Ack!”
He cried as he managed to reverse his momentum and land beside it instead. Ruby
sweated slightly but didn’t comment on his antics.
“Hiro
and Grandpa Gwyn have already gone ahead Ranma! Let’s get moving already!” She
yelled as she zipped past him and towards the others. Shaking his head, Ranma
ran towards the others.
The
second leg of the climb up the Spire was a bit more tedious as the monsters
were stronger. Thankfully Gwyn was on hand with timely healing spells, and they
successfully made it to the top, passing by a beautiful view of the outside.
Once they reached the top, they split up at Gywn’s suggestion and looked around
for a possible way up higher. The three friends walked around the large room,
searching for anything suspicious. Ranma felt a peculiar feeling come over him,
one that led him to a beautiful floating image of Lunar. Hiro and Ruby wander
up next to him to have a look as well.
“Man,
that’s sure is neat.” Hiro says admiringly as he scratches his head.
Hesitantly, Ranma reaches out to it. Ruby grows slightly afraid.
“Wait!
Don’t touch it!” But she is too late, as Ranma has already done so, and a great
light swallows the three.
In
the blink of an eye they were deposited into a blue tinted room with a green
light casting an almost eerie shadow about the small area. Ranma got up and
dusted himself off and took a step forward. He saw a great crystal spinning in
midair in front of him, and slowly walked towards it. Hiro and Ruby had no
choice but to follow him. The crystal was the thing causing the green light hue
of the room, and Ranma noted that it was very beautiful to look at. Suddenly,
the crystal started to glow brighter, and Ranma could swear he saw a girl
inside of it. She reached forward with a hand, passing right through the
surface of the shimmering chamber, and seemed to float through it. Then, while
still floating in mid-air, she slowly levitated to the ground. Ranma, Hiro, and
Ruby all goggled at her, and when she turned their way, they all let out an
involuntary gasp. For Ranma however, he gasped not in fear, but in awe. The
girl, he realized, was breathtakingly beautiful. She had a long mane of hair
that went down to about her waist, and was a lovely shade of sky blue. Although
she was cloaked in a red robe that hid her body from view, Ranma could tell she
had an exquisite figure. Last but definitely not least, she had a lovely face,
and beautiful jade green eyes that reminded him of…someone. Someone with an
apron, and brown hair… Shaking his head at that errant thought, Ranma continued
to study the oddly dressed girl in front of him. What he didn’t realize was
that she was also studying him. The two stared at each other for several more
minutes, before Ruby had to speak up.
“Excuse
me! Can you two stop checking each other out already!” Hiro nodded absently in
agreement. Truth be told, he had been staring at the girl just as, if not more
intently than Ranma. Finally the mysterious woman began to speak.
“I
am Lucia of the Blue Star. I must speak with Althena, please, take me to her…”
Ranma blinked, loudly, twice.
“Althena!?”
You mean the Goddess?” Lucia tilted her head slightly in confusion.
“Is
there some other Althena I am unaware of?” She asked without a hint of mockery
in her voice. Ranma shook his head, Hiro was still drooling. Ranma looked over
at him and shook his head again. Hiro seemed to snap out of his daze and smiled
widely at Lucia.
“Don’t
worry miss! I’ll personally escort you to the Goddess!” Lucia blinked.
“Oh?
Are you a warrior of the Goddess?” Ranma and Ruby struggled to hold in their
laughter, and failed miserably. Hiro sweatdropped at his giggling “friend’s”
antics, and Lucia became further confused.
“Why
are they laughing? Was it something I said?” She asked in honest puzzlement.
Hiro just bowed his head wearily and shook it no.
In
a bright flash of light similar to the one they just experienced, the trio of
friends and their mysterious accomplice reappeared back in the chamber where
they left Grandpa Gwyn. Said old man jumped back in surprise as he saw his
young charges appear in front of his eyes in the company of a beautiful young
woman.
“And
here I thought those two would be losers for years to come…” He thought to
himself as he gave the blue-haired girl the once-over. He then realized that
they were all staring at him with odd looks on their faces, and he quickly
composed himself, pretending to have been in deep thought.
“Ah,
good to see you’re all back! And who is this?” He asked while looking at Lucia.
Hiro sheepishly introduced her and Gwyn nodded his head.
“Hmm,
from the Blue Star you say? That is interesting. Very interesting indeed…” He
trailed off as a thought came to him.
“Wait
a minute. I seem to remember Leo mentioning that a great destroyer would be
coming from the Spire today…could this girl be it? She seems harmless enough…”
The old explorer thought to himself as he regarded the girl some more. Finally
he turned around and started for the exit.
“Well,
I suppose we should be going now…there doesn’t seem to be much else to find
here. Let’s head home.” He said. The three others and the baby dragon followed
behind the old man and they made their way back onto the balcony with the
lovely view from before. Lucia had wandered ahead of the others and marched
with an almost soldierly gait that even Ranma was hard pressed to match.
Ranma’s eyes suddenly widened and he dived towards Lucia. Turning, she gasped
as the young man tackled her and rolled to the side, keeping her safe from the
impact. She was about to question exactly why he just did that when her eyes
provided the answer. Floating where she had been standing a moment ago were
several Crystal Knights. They were powerful monsters, and were quite dangerous.
Ranma gently placed Lucia on the ground, feeling a sense of protectiveness come
over him, and got to his feet. His face was serious and he let his body sink
into a defensive stance. He was just about to attack, when a whisper of “Plasma
Rain!” rang out from behind him. A shower of deadly mystic shards rained down
on the monsters, who barely had time to cry out in agony before they were completely
vaporized by the devastating magical energy. Shocked, Ranma turned to see that
Lucia had her arm raised and had the residual hum of energy surrounding her
that signified that a spell had just been cast by her hand. Needless to say, it
took a while for Ranma and the others to pick their jaws up off the floor.
Lucia ignored their shocked glances and continued to the exit. As they made
their way back down, Lucia dispatched any and all enemies with ease, not even
giving Ranma or Hiro a chance to get into a combat stance. Not only that, but
she threw around spells that even Gwyn has never even heard of, like they were
nothing. It was a little unnerving, to say the least. It also made Ranma groan
a bit.
“Damn
it, bad enough that Hiro is talented in magic, but this girl, Lucia makes him
look like me in comparison…” Finally they reached the mid-way point with the
fountain. Lucia stared up at the sky in curiosity.
“Is
this truly the world that Althena created?” She mumbled as she continued to
stare up at the bright blue sky. Ranma smiled slightly for some reason as he
watched her. Suddenly, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he
felt…something. Something horrible…
“What
is it…?” He wondered as his eyes darted around wildly. He absently noted that
the others had noticed as well, and Lucia had an angry expression on her face.
A deep booming laughter that sent chills down their spines echoed everywhere at
once.
“Zophar…”
Lucia whispered, as she grew visibly tense.
“Well,
Lucia, Princess of the Blue Star…Let me be the first to welcome you to the
world of Lunar…I can assure you that your stay here will be most…gratifying.”
Lucia grit her teeth and her eyes hardened.
“Zophar,
I will not allow you to corrupt this world!” The laughter came again, even
louder than before.
“I’m
afraid you don’t have much choice little girl!” The malignant voice taunted.
Lucia held up a hand, which began to glow softly with power.
“I
will stop you Zophar! Althena’s Light Shine Forth!” She cried as the glow grew
brighter and soon enveloped her entire body with mystical power. Hiro gaped at
the sight.
“Whoa…”
He said in an awe-filled voice, to which Ranma, Gwyn, and Ruby nodded in mutual
agreement. A flash of light suddenly appeared, and Lucia gasped in pain, before
collapsing to her knees in pain.
“Hah!
I think not Lucia! Your pitiful powers won’t stop me, especially with the
dragons unable to aid you now!” Lucia was breathing hard, and sweat had
gathered on her brow.
“Won’t…won’t
let you…Zophar…” She whispered. The laughter picked up again, and Ranma was
rapidly losing his control. He wished with all his being that he could silence
that infuriating laugh! Not to mention help Lucia. The chills running through
him would not stop however. He realized that he was in the presence of true
evil. Whoever this Zophar was, Ranma knew that he would be trouble. He then saw
Lucia collapse to her knees and he quickly dashed over to her. Cradling her
limp form in his arms while crouched, Ranma heard the demonic voice again.
“Hmm,
what have we here? You have a peculiar feel about you boy…” Ranma could swear
the voice held some surprise when next it spoke.
“You
have the taint of Althena upon you!? But how can that be? Althena is…” The
voice trailed off and then began laughing again, louder then ever.
“Bah,
it matters not. This is of no consequence to me…As for you Lucia dear…Enjoy
being powerless to stop me as I mold this world to my liking…and good luck
finding Althena…Ha ha ha!” The voice laughed once more before Ranma felt the
dark presence leave and the area become peaceful again. Lucia was mumbling to
herself in pain. Her pretty face was twisted in agony Ranma noticed.
“Uhh…Zophar,
must stop…Zophar…My powers…wouldn’t work…Dragons wouldn’t respond…Why…?” She
moaned as she grimaced in pain. Ranma and the others just looked on helplessly
as she began to show signs of a fever. Ranma wordlessly handed her lightly
trembling body to Hiro, who took her without a word, and turned to the others.
Gwyn tried a few healing spells, all in vain, and resolutely the group marched
on, determined to get Lucia out of the tower. Something was going on here,
Ranma knew, that was far beyond he and his little “family’s” scope of
understanding, but he was determined to help in any way he could. If Lucia
wanted to see Althena, well then he would damn well search under every pebble
on Lunar until he found the Goddess for her. Something inside him just insisted
that he help her. Like he had a mission of some sort. Could it relate to his
forgotten life? Shaking his head, Ranma resolved to think more on the matter
later, but for now, he had work to do. He had given Lucia to Hiro mainly
because he needed his arms free for fighting. Out of the two of them, it was
better that he be able to fight at his full power than Hiro. The group entered
the lower portion of the Spire again, and Ranma just barely avoided getting
crushed to a paste as a large iron ball impacted where he had been standing
moments ago. Landing in a crouched defensive stance beside the others, he
watched as the formerly stone Guardian hefted its ball and chain from the floor
where it had been stuck, and regarded the companions before it with a furious
gaze.
“Damn!
It must have felt the evil of that being from earlier and activated itself to
defend against any threats or intruders!” Gwyn yelled as Ranma watched the
behemoth carefully.
“Ya
mean like us Gramps?” Ranma asked. Gwyn nodded and readied himself to provide
any healing aid. Hiro shifted the weakly watching Lucia around a bit and saw
his friend prepare to do battle with the Guardian. Ruby fluttered about in
fear. Ranma narrowed his eyes and watched the thing’s wrist warily. There! He
leaped aside just as it struck out with the ball again. He smirked slightly.
Although inhumanly quick for its size, he could still predict when it was going
to strike by watching its wrist and hand movements. But how to beat it… Yet
another near strike, and he suddenly got an idea. As the thing prepared to
retract its ball again, Ranma leapt onto the massive iron weight and ran up the
chain connecting it to the thing’s hand. Before it could blink, the Guardian
received dozens of punishing blows to the head, followed by a ridiculously
powerful sidekick that drove it into the wall behind it. Nimbly, Ranma leapt
off its hand and landed in front of it. As it was getting its bearings back,
Ranma decided to end it now. Concentrating slightly, he leapt backwards and
felt his feet touch the wall. Tensing his muscles and coiling downwards like a
spring, he then ricocheted off of the wall and brought his right foot to bear.
“Shooting
Star Kick!” Ranma’s foot glowed blazed with ki energy, and as it slammed into
the Guardian’s already bruised head, the golem was smashed backwards once more,
this time having its head buried into the wall completely, its arms were limp
and it appeared dead. Breathing out as relief filled him, Ranma turned to his
companions, who regarded him in wonder. Ruby picked up her jaw slowly.
“Ranma…how
on earth did you beat a Guardian? That was amazing!” Ranma waved off the
praise.
“Add
to my ego later Ruby, we gotta get moving. Lucia ain’t looking so good…” After
noting that Lucia did indeed look even worse than before, the others nodded and
followed as Ranma proceeded to tear his way out of the Spire. Upon reaching the
outside finally, the group was barred exit by four more Guardians. The hulking
beasts growled and lifted their ball and chains menacingly. Knowing it was
almost futile, but unwilling to just lie over and die, Ranma got into a stance;
ready to protect the others with his own body. He managed to dodge the first
two attacks, but another Guardian
smashed its weapon into his side, cracking his ribs, and sending him sliding
along the dirt, only to stop in a sprawled position, barely moving. Ruby
screamed and Hiro backed up a bit while holding Lucia protectively to his
chest. Gwyn prepared to defend them with his cane, even if it would do no good.
Ranma slowly got to his feet, and winced slightly as he felt his ribs.
“Definitely
going to need a healing spell from Gramps for that one…” He muttered as he
prepared to attack the Guardians again before they could make his friends into
smears on the ground. But just as he was about to attack, a subtle humming
sound was heard, before a massive, blazing blast of light erupted forth and
obliterated the beasts completely, leaving not even a speck of them behind.
Gaping in awe, Ranma and the others saw the might Dragonship Destiny nearby,
its cannons still emitting smoke from the huge shot they had just fired. White
Knight Leo stood proudly on the bow, gazing at the five people in front of him
with a critical eye.
“Hmm,
you are all quite lucky that I came when I did, for you most surely would have
been killed were it not for the Destiny’s mighty Dragon Cannon…” He paused and
looked at the blue-haired woman cradled protectively in Hiro’s arms.
“Hmm,
and who might that be? Is she hurt, or perhaps ill?” Hiro sweated as he
realized that Lucia could very well be the “destroyer” that Leo had spoken of
earlier. Of course he didn’t believe for a moment that such a beautiful girl
could be some evil, world-destroying monster, but he somehow doubted Leo would
be quite so inclined to agree. So Hiro did the only thing he could do, he lied
through his teeth, as well as diverted attention elsewhere.
“Um,
well, actually, she was attacked! Yeah, by a terrible beast at the top of the
Spire! It was a fearsome, bloodthirsty, vicious, evil, um…thing…and it almost
got us too!” Hiro sweated as he noted that all the soldiers standing by Leo
were looking at him with yeah-right expressions on their faces. Leo however,
who was deep in thought suddenly exclaimed loudly.
“Ah!
I see! That must be the Destroyer! I must slay this horrid creature for the
good of all Lunar, and the Goddess! Come men! Let us go off to battle for the
future of our planet!” He then drew his sword with a flourish, and leapt off of
the bow. With sweat drops on the back of their heads, the members of Althena’s
Guard jumped off as well and followed their brave, if slightly odd leader into
the Spire. Ranma, Hiro, Gwyn, and Ruby were still trying to wrap their minds
around the concept that Leo had bought Hiro’s ridiculous story.
“Um,
good going Hiro…Guess we should be going now huh?” Ranma said hesitantly. The
others just nodded and together, they left for home. Ranma held his cracked
ribs tenderly as they headed to the south; his face showed that he was in deep
thought. During the battle against the four Guardians, he had felt…something.
An attack of some sort appeared in his mind, having something to do with a
spiral…and a difference of temperatures. It was odd to say the least.
“Could
it be something I knew before my memory loss?” He wondered briefly. He noticed
that Lucia was moaning a bit in obvious pain, and became worried. Her condition
kept getting worse, and Ranma could feel that if something were not done soon,
then she would be lost. The very thought repulsed him, and so he tried to
concentrate on something else. He glanced up at the Blue Star in the sky and
continued to watch it as he walked. It shone brightly, tantalizing him with
promises of things to come…
Author’s
Notes: Okay, sorry it took so long to update, but I hope the added length makes
up for it. Please note that even though Ranma feels something for Lucia, I
still have not decided if they will get together or not. Although they
might… Ok, Ranma was complaining about
his grades being bad because he feared his Mother’s disappointment of him, and
as for being afraid of being teased for them, well, I don’t think it’s that out
of character for sat Akane or Nabiki to give him a hard time about his lack of
academic ability, and just because he teases, doesn’t mean likes being teased.
No one does, even when they do it. Although Ranma’s taunts are more of a
defense than anything else. He reacts usually, not the other way around. As for
why Althena appears to Ranma in the first part when she is gone in Lunar 2,
well, that will be explained later, let’s just say that it’s a plot point. I
chose to use Lunar 2 instead of Lunar 1 mainly because I think Lunar 2 is a
little more epic and I like the setting better. Although I feel that the two
games are about equal in terms of enjoyment. Ranma will remember all of his
attacks eventually, and even come up with some new ones. He will also be getting
memories back eventually as well. Ok, guess that’s all, c’ya later…
