Prologue
The moon shone brightly upon the lake before a palace. Peace and tranquility reigned through the air, as sounds of laughter and the tinkling of the glass was heard. Earth was so peaceful, and the royal family of the Earth was having a party, an anniversary to be exact. The 400th anniversary of the reign of Queen Serenity the XXXI was taking place. Thirty one generations of the bloodline of the Moon Queen has reigned upon earth Thirty one generations of the bloodline of the Sailor Scouts has protected the universe from threats. Thirty one generations of struggles to destroy the last remains of any Negaforce or evil. The struggle was finally over. Or so they thought.
In the main ballroom of the royal palace of Serenity, lords and ladies waited patiently as they eagerly discussed the final confrontation with the Negaforce. Each lord boasting that he was greater in battle than anyone else. Of course retorts were made, however, no one could feel bitter towards anyone today. After all, today they would begin their entrance into peace for at least a millenium of generations before anymore threats were prophesied. Finally they could rest. The ballroom was one of the more ancient rooms in the palace, predating back to perhaps the first Serenity to rule the Earth. The most powerful queen ever in this universe, her name was Serena. Even today her legacy still burns strong. Her legacy of her scouts, her king, and most important of all, her family are worshiped as myths and the people as divine beings. However, Serena had decided that she did not want to lead Earth forever, so therefore abdicated the throne to her eldest daughter. Then she took her scouts and her king to her brother, Lord of Chaos, Keeper of Dimensions, Brother to Sailor Pluto, and Guardian of the Ultimate Force. There she asked her brother and his court and family to let them sleep for eternity within the stars and to join them in their sleep. Agreeing with his sister, Serena, the Lord of Chaos left all his responsibilities to his son who has lived as a regular immortal. Then the group of divine beings disappeared into the stars and never to be heard from again.
However, those were just myths, now was a time for celebration. Suddenly the trumpets sounded and her Royal highness, Queen Serenity the XXXI walked down the steps of the room to greet her guests. Gliding down the stairs, she finally reached the throne and began her speech to her subjects.
"It has been Milleniums since the First Serenity has walked the Earth. When she left she promised to us that her line would drive evil from our kingdom. Thus her prophecy was made, and we today have fulfilled it. Today we celebrate the liberation from evil once and for all. Today the prophecy has been fulfilled!"
And with that she raised her scepter to the cheer of the crowd. All was well until the storm began. The darkening skies blocked out the stars and the moon, thunder and lightning struck as one bolt crashed onto the balcony of the ballroom to reveal a man of his late twenties dressed in all black. He had a marking on his forehead which looked like a serpent. He held a staff in one hand and a ball of energy in the other. Slowly he looked around and grinned madly. Finally he spoke.
"I am the Great Gshan of the Dark Universe. I alone rule supreme there and lately there has been a population problem, so we decided that it was time to let our scouts die and move into the Light Universe, which used to belong to you, but is now mine."
Then quickly he shot the ball of energy upwards and encased the palace in solid crystal. Before anyone could react he was gone and Serenity was now frozen like everyone else. The entire palace a solid crystal, with Serenity in the center. Looking in shock. The hell on the universe began. Demons raged on through the precious kingdom Serenity had built. There was no light anymore, all the stars were being drained of their energy. Monsters broke free from their prisons. The Dark Creatures came forth plundered the planets. And the Dark Dragon set the Moon in a Black flame. The Dark times began. But it would not last.
Chapter 1
Twilight struck again as the lands glistened under what little light was provided by the moon. A young man carrying two buckets of water on the ends of a stick hiked up the hills. Sweat glistened off his forehead, as he grumbled.
"Go get clear water for me to drink boy, he says. What an ass." Walking further he caught sight of smoke, fearing the worst, the boy ran towards the smoke. Once there, he caught sight of his father, a burly man fighting several demons. Rushing in to help, he was suddenly held back by something slimy. The warm breath of a demon was on his back. He was dead.
"No! Stay away from my boy!" His father jumped towards him, knocking the demon away. Suddenly the boy was falling.
It was hours before the boy awoke, groaning, he looked around. There was something soft next to him. Picking it up, he saw that it was an arm. And not just any arm, it was his father's arm. Shaking his head in disbelief, he looked at the arm again. Looking around he looked for his father's body, he saw nothing but a pool of blood, and pieces of mangled flesh all over the ground. The flesh looked as if it had been chewed on, then spit out. There was so much blood and flesh on the ground that he could not bear to continue looking at it, he promptly keeled over and vomited to the floor. He Turning around he hoped to escape the blood and gore. That was when he saw it. The eyes. The horrible eyes. They were cobalt. The eyes. Running. Far away. Away from the blood. Away from the death. Away from the eyes. Away.
The town was bustling with people. It was a perfect day, that is, for a master thief. A master thief like Rei. Stumbling down the streets, Rei picked the people's pockets. It was now noon and she had already accumulated 200 gold pieces, 600 pieces of silver and 1000 copper pieces. With this, she may be able finally buy the house from that stupid pig owner. Shifting around uncomfortably, Rei adjusted her bindings. Going around town as a guy was much easier than as a busty girl, like herself. When she first started out, she was just 10 or so, with her hair cut short, she was able to pass as a boy. However, as soon as she became twelve, she literally stood out in town. Wanting to make herself some money, she attempted to join a brothel. That was until she decapitated her first customer's lower organ.
Up to this day, she still could not remember what happened that day. The man had came in to the room naked and shoved her on the bed. Preparing herself for entrance, she suddenly saw a red mist cover the room. When her eyes finally cleared, there was a dagger in one hand, and a man screaming in absolute pain. The head wench had tried to sell her to pay for damages, however, Rei stole out into the night, before the wench could do anything. Ever since then, she wore bindings that made her look like a fat drunk.
Well, just one more pocket and she will have four thousand gold pieces to buy the pig house. The rest of the silver, copper, and gold she would use to buy some furniture and clothes. Today was to day she had been waiting for everyday for the past five years, she had been getting by with just ten coppers a day. The rest of the money she saved. She once went to the country side and saw a pig farm. The farmer let her stay the night, however, tried to take her during the night. When she beat him half to death. He finally stopped trying to go after her. Instead, he said that he would be selling his place in a year, for he had to move on. His land was large enough for her. Forcing him to sign a lawful contract, the farmer agreed to sell the house and lands to her in a year. If she did not buy it within that time, he could sell it to someone else.
Now she was so close to finally having a home, she almost felt warm. Scanning the streets for a last person to pick. She saw only one. A man in a black cloak, beneath the cloak was a very expensive looking sword. But Rei was not looking at the sword. She was looking at the huge bulge of a money sack the man had at his side. Sneaking to his side. Rei carefully took the bag, and scattered away from the man. Running to her hut in an alley, she opened the bag, and inside was at least one thousand gold pieces or so. She was rich! Her life dream was coming true. Gathering all her money and equipment, she left and headed to the pig farmer's lands.
Chang Sun Zhou was not happy, he was lost again. Curse his blood for giving him such bad senses of directions. It's not that he couldn't go from place to place, it was just that when someone gave him directions, he could not remember the exact instructions in order. This was more or less a big problem for him. He was currently searching for a man named Happossai. A strange man had told him that his destiny was to be one of the five who awoke the "Great Ones" from their slumber. Now normally, Sun would not care about what this stupid blind man said. However, when he turned to leave, he felt a strange sound. It was hard to describe it, it sounded like wind blowing, a rush of air which rustled through the leaves. Turning around to see who it was, he saw it. It. He could not describe it. Genderless and filled with stars. It had the body of a human, but its eyes was blank. Instead of flesh, its had twinkling stars revolving around its body. It told him to go north until he reached the town of Erat. There he will seek out the ancient master Happossai. Happossai would guide him to his inevitable fate. If he disobeyed. Then he would die in a week.
Having no choice but to obey, he went north. Once he was there, he asked the people of the village of Erat where this supposed master was. After receiving directions, Sun headed off in that direction, but he was hopelessly loss now. Sitting down next to a tree, he tried to think about what the villager had said. Suddenly there was a rustle behind him. Getting up into a defensive stance, Sun was prepared for anything. That's when it showed it ugly face. It was a demon. Actually several demons. It was the most hideous thing he had seen. Two of the smaller demons rushed him. Quickly he avoided them and threw a fireball at one and sliced another with a sword which just appeared out from nowhere. Normally that would have killed any mortal, but these demons were just knocked unconscious. Looking forward, he saw a bigger demon come towards him and grab him by the throat. Trying to break the monster's grip, he tried kicking it, but it just pulled the helpless boy in toward its mouth. That was when a figure jumped out and snapped off the head of the demon. Falling to the ground, Sun saw the figure was a shape of a young man probably the same age as him. This man was amazing, he blew the demons away with pure energy projectiles. Then he shouted something in the old language, it sounded like " Kame-Hame-Ha!", with that all the demons were dead stumps of charred flesh. The acrid smell was overwhelming.
The young man stood from his kneeling position and shakily walked to Sun. Offering a hand, Sun quickly accepted. Both men were breathing heavily, that was when Sun looked into the man's eyes. It looked so empty. His eyes were icy blue, his hair was long and tied into a ponytail. However, Sun could not determine of what type of person this man was from. Shakily, Sun bowed to him and broke the ice.
" Thank you. If it were not for you then I would be dead. " Nothing. " Um, my name is Chang Sun Zhou, and you are...?" No answer, but his eyes were changing to sky blue. " Well.. Thanks anyways... I'll just be leaving now." Turning around, Sun was ready leave. He had gotten a few paces away when he heard,
" My name is Dee. Lee Dee Loang."
A shadow past stealthily amongst the trees, darting back and forth, this caused Sun to get into a fighting stance. Loang turned his head and whistled loudly, eliciting a young , beautiful woman. She had dark violet-reddish-brown hair and was wearing a hunters type outfit that showed off way too much skin. Feeling faint, Sun gave her a goofy smile and tried to walk towards her, but he instantly tripped over his own feet.
Falling face forward, he landed directly in front of the goddess. Raising his head he saw that the woman was giggling. Feeling like a fool, he tried to make the best of his accident.
" I bow to you my fair haired goddess." Sun said in a holy tone. The woman giggled more, until finally she favored him with a beautiful smile.
" I like him, he's funny." She said to Loang, then she turned to Sun " Where are you headed Sun?"
" A strange man told me to seek out the last master of his kind, a Master Happossai. However, I'm currently lost." He said fading away. Noticing a strange look flash across the woman's face he wondered if it was something he had said. Looking towards his back, he saw that Loang had the same look on his face. Then turning back to the woman, he asked
" Did I say something wrong?" Recovering herself, the woman queried him,
" Master Happosai? Hold out your hand." Doing what she said, the woman quickly grabbed his hand in an iron grip and looked at it, then she sighed and said to Loang,
" Its alright he is one of us." Loang suddenly appeared next to the woman and looked at Sun's palm. " See he has the symbol of tiger. I guess that means he comes with us. I mean you're the Dragon, and I'm the horse." Throughout this conversation, Sun was looking quizzically at the pair. Finally not being able to stand it anymore, Sun yelled at them
" What are you talking about?" The woman let go of his hand and explained.
" I'm sorry, it's just that we thought that maybe you were an enemy. You see, we two have met this strange man. He is called the Seer. Anyway, he told us of the prophecy, which he has been fated to carry out. I'm not sure if I can tell it the way he tells it but 'Long ago, there were the 'Great Ones'. The 'Great Ones' ruled everything in this half of space. Totally there were twenty five of them. Together they were unstoppable. One of these 'Great Ones' was supposed to be the most powerful and dominated all of others. He was said to be as strong as the Emperor himself. However, many milleniums ago, they all left and left their responsibilities to their sons and daughters, or grandsons and granddaughters. They said that their work was done, until they were needed again. They needed to be alone but together. Well the thing is that when troubled times come, five people with the mark of the five sacred animals of Chaos, the dragon, tiger, horse, phoenix, and the monkey, would send the signal to summon the 'Great Ones' and they would rise once again.' " Looking at the woman incredulously, Sun said
" Are you to tell me that I am one of the five, well, that does make sense. The Seer said I was one of the five. I suppose we send the signal for the 'Great Ones' to defeat the Emperor right? Then why didn't they try earlier? Why what 20,000 years to summon them?" The woman shook her head sadly,
" Ma Phon don't know."
" Ma what?" Sun questioned the woman. Looking up, the woman smiled and said,
" Oh, that's my name, Lao Ma Phon. Pleased t'a'meecha." Then she look up to the sky and said,
" Well, we'd better hurry, we can still make it to Happossai's farm before night is upon us. "
Rei was walking quietly along the road, alert and ready for anything. Something made her nervous, maybe it was because it was night and she was alone, or maybe she was just paranoid. Only a few more miles to go and she would be in her new house, hers, all hers. Smiling to herself, she quickened her pace, impatient to get there. Gliding through the night, she finally saw the farm. She stopped and stood to look at it. It was her dream home, a nice quiet house, not too big and not too small. A nice pond in front of the house, pig pens next to the house, and a nice dojo in the back. It was perfect, and it would soon be all hers. As she took a step towards the house, a hand grabbed her from behind and clamped over her mouth.
The hand obviously belonged to a man, a very drunk and pissed off man with a sword, at least she hoped it was his sword. He turned her over and made her face him, that's when she saw his horrid scarred face. It was the man with the large pouch of money, and he had the markings of a Murgo sorcerer on his face. The sorcerer looked at her carefully before he began to speak.
" So, you are the one. Do you know what that money was for?" Coolly Rei looked impassionately at the sorcerer and replied,
" I think you are mistaken, I took no such thing." The two figures stared at each other for five minutes straight, until the sorcerer threw his head back and emitted a gutteral laugh, more like a cackle. Then he looked back at the girl and said in a strange voice,
" The money you took was to buy a whore. But I think I'll take you instead. I like you, you like to lie. A good combination, but I like my whores to tell me the truth about their pleasures." With that he put his hand to her head and murmured something. A loud rushing sound filled her ears as she was blinded by bright white light. Falling to the ground she wondered what the sorcerer had done to her. Dazed and lying on the ground, she suddenly felt the sorcerer rip apart her shirt and pull away all her bindings. All of a sudden she was naked, but still dazed. The last thing she heard before she lapsed into unconsciousness were two things, the sorcerer saying
" I'm going to enjoy myself, bitch." And moments later a scream of pain.
Sun was definitely jealous of Loang. Ma was paying so much attention to Loang more than him. He could see it everytime she looked at Loang, that she was in love with him. Grumbling he said to them,
" Listen guys, I'm going to run ahead a bit okay?" The pair looked up from their conversation and nodded in assent. Sun ran ahead a bit, hoping he could get the thought of Ma out of his head, but he couldn't. She was so beautiful, and nice to him, he felt something when he was around her, he was sure it was love. However, he wasn't sure if it was the man woman kind of love. Maybe he was just in love with the idea of being in love. Afterall, he has been alone for a large portion of his life, maybe he just wanted company. Well, he would just leave Ma and Loang together, he would rather have their friendship than try to win Ma's heart. He suddenly somebody or something cackle. Running in that direction, hoping that he wouldn't get lost, he soon came to a clearing. In the middle was a man with a robe and half naked, on the floor was a woman, a very beautiful and healthy woman, unconscious. He heard the man position himself and say " I'm going to enjoy myself, bitch.". Fury raced over himself, as Sun ran at the man. The man pulled back and suddenly felt a gush of wind between his legs. Then he pushed forward. And nothing happened. Looking down, he saw that he had a stump where his manhood used to be. Screaming in pain, he hunched over and fell over. Looking up he saw a tiger growling at him. That was the last thing he saw before the tiger ripped his head off.
Loang and Ma were talking quietly about their travels for the past three months. Loang couldn't admit it to himself, but he was helplessly in love with Ma. Ma obviously felt the same way, she was always caring for him, and looking at him. But Loang just could not let his feelings for her flow. The last person who he felt love for was when he was eight, and the person was his father. His father. The eyes. His father gave everything for him, his life, his money, his knowledge, and his love. But his love disappeared when he died. He had let his father die, because he was weak and a coward. Love is just too unreliable. It Ma was to get killed he would have to go through another heart break, and he wasn't sure his heart could handle another one. No, he could not share his love with her. It would be too dangerous.
Suddenly he heard a scream in pain. Oh no, it must be Sun, Loang thought, as he tore through the forest. Ma was quickly following him. Finally the scream ended as a roar of a tiger echoed through the valley. Loang stopped, *Oh shit! The tiger's free, we've gotta calm Sun down before he kills anyone.* Running quickly, Loang came to a clearing, where a tiger was tearing apart a man. Bits and pieces of the man was all over the clearing. Loang then noticed a woman on the ground, totally naked, and vulnerable to the tiger. When the tiger finally finished tearing the man apart, the licked his paws and walked over to the woman. Loang did not want to jump in too quick, when in tiger form, Sun was probably as poweful as he was in his dragon form. Keeping his eyes on the woman, he wanted to be able to pulled the tiger away before he was going to kill the helpless girl. Tensing up, Loang was ready to jump. But it never happened, the tiger shifted back into his original shape as a human and looked at the girl.
Sun stared at the girl, as the moonlight danced off her goddess like face. She was even more beautiful than Ma. Her hair was a little ruffled and her face was a bit dirty, but he didn't care, she was just beautiful for words. Her eyes fluttered slightly as she whispered the word "no" over and over, finally her eyes opened. Even her eyes were beautiful, it was a deep blue color and was fascinating. It was a bit unfocused at the moment, but still alert. That was when she noticed him looking over her. Her eyes widened as she slapped him and screamed in shock. A lightning quick movement caught Sun's eyes just as he felt a mallet on his head, burying his face into the ground.
Rei had opened her eyes hoping that it was all a dream, that there was no sorcerer and he hadn't taken her. That was until she focused her eyes on a man, a naked man, looking over her with these forest green pair of eyes. It must be that sorcerer, she thought and reached somewhere and pulled out a mallet. Using all her strength she slammed it down on him. Backing away from the man she bumped into something wet and soft. Turning around she saw it was a chewed up body. Looking back at the man with the mallet on his head, she realized that the wizard must have done something. Feeling scared but outraged, she pulled the mallet from his head, and pulled it back, prepared to crush his head. That was when she felt the mallet pulled from her hands. Turning around, she saw a beautiful woman. She must have been nobility or something. The woman looked at her a smiled.
" You musn't do that to my friend, he just saved you from that nasty man." Recovering from her shock, she replied,
" Your friend?! You mean that ugly disgusting thing is your friend?! He tried to rape me you know!" Giggling the woman pointed at the man behind Rei and said,
" No, I believe you have mistaken him for someone else, take a good look at him. Besides I don't think he is all that ugly, he's quite handsome if you ask me." Cautiously she saw the man she had hammered rubbing his head and sitting on his rump. It wasn't the sorcerer. In fact the woman was right, the man was quite handsome. He had a lean build, and well-developed in his nether regions. His black hair and green eyes were perfectly matched. He slowly got up and looked at her. His mouth was wide open, and making babbling sounds. The woman behind her giggled intensely. Rei gathered up enough courage and apologized to the man.
" I'm sorry about the mallet, I thought you were the guy was going to rape me." Then she averted her eyes. Still silence. Rei wondered what was so interesting about her that he was staring at. In her mind she went over a checklist. Not a monster. Check. Hair. Check. Weird mutation. None. Clothes. Nope. Then Rei realized that she didn't have any clothes on. Screaming, she tried to cover herself, while searching for her clothes. She found them shredded on the ground. Looking back to the man, she saw that he was no longer there. Then she felt a warm furry cloak being draped over her. Turning around, she nearly bumped her face into the green-eyed man. * He is so handsome* Rei thought to herself. The two stared at each other for a time until, they heard someone clear their voice. Rei looked to her side and saw the woman and another man with a sword.
" If you don't mind Sun, we have to get to Master Happosai's house." Blushing deep red, the man named Sun let go of Rei. And walked back to his trio with a cloak draped around him as well.
" We can't just leave her here!" Sun exclaimed to the couple. " I mean another man could come and try and rape her again. Plus she doesn't have any clothes." Loang looked at Sun with sympathetic eyes and spoke
" Sun, if we don't get to Master Happossai's place soon then we will not be able fulfill out fate. We must go." Sun struggled for a way for them to take her along. But floundered, Rei saved him at that moment. Walking to the group, she huddled into the warm fur cloak even more.
" Happossai? You mean a small wrinkled old fool who tries to fondle girls? Why do you need to see him?" The group looked carefully at the girl and the woman walked forward, but Sun blocked her way. Shaking his head, he whispered to the woman. Nodding, the woman stepped back. Sun walked up to Rei and gently asked her to hold out her hand. Unsure, Rei held out her hand as Sun held it and looked at it intently. A searing pain occurred in her palm as she tried to scream but somehow she couldn't Finally the pain stopped and Sun turned back to the others.
" She's the Phoenix."
Happosai sat on his porch smoking his pipe and looking toward the hill before him. The four of the five should be arriving soon. Seer said he would come later. The time was nearing, and Happossai would once again see his dear Ku Loang again. It had been such a long time since he had saw them all. Bellandy, Akane, and Ku Loang, he missed them, but they said that it wasn't fair for them to stay here and not letting their heirs rule. So Ranma took them all to the Kami plane where they all live now. He had wanted to go with them, but Ranma wanted someone to watch after things after they were gone. Ku Loang asked him to stay, and as her husband he did. Many times he cursed Ranma for making him stay, but he knew that Ranma was right. And now after almost 60,000 years, he will be reunited with them again, his family.
Ma walked quietly next to Loang, and hanging on his arm. She knew he loved her everytime she looked into his eyes, but he could not admit it. He simply thought that love would make him weak. Ma knew that she could wait, afterall she was his wife, he had saved her, so he became her husband. Honor and the tribe demanded it. Together they would raise strong children, but after they woke the 'Great Ones'. Her tribe was happy that she was one of the chosen, not everyday do people get to see a legend grow up. However the fateful day came, when the tournament came to determine her groom. A demon had arrived at the village and heard of the contest, upon seeing Ma, it wanted to take her as a concubine. However Ma's grandmother, the village and tribal elder forbade it. So the demon killed her and said if any one wanted to marry Ma, they would have to defeat him. Several demon-hating men tried but were all killed, finally Ma herself tried to kill the demon while three other attacked it. The demon burnt the three attacking and grabbed Ma before she could strike. Ripping her clothes off with one swift motion, it held her upside down like a fish and licked her body, like one would with a popsicle. Finally it threw her to the ground and prepared to enter her when she saw a blur or black and red.
The demon howled in rage as it felt a huge cut across its back. That was when Ma saw Loang. Loang tried to attack the demon with his sword again, however, the demon caught it and broke it in half. Enraged, Loang decided to end the fight quickly. Jumping afar, he told everyone to get back. The demon came at him full force, attempting to rush him. Loang stood his ground and at the final moment, he jumped over the demon, grabbed it by its shoulders and slammed it into the ground. Then he began to run around the demon, all the while cursing the demon for forcing itself upon a beautiful maiden such as Ma. The demon eventually recovered and stood, extremely angry. Loang was now a blur around the demon, after a few moments a visible red aura surrounded the two as Loang unleashed a huge energy attack. " Hiryu Shoten Ha Revised! Dragon claws" He called it. A red tornado of wind and energy appeared engulfing the demon. When the tornado subsided, the demon was revealed, or what was left of him. Its entire body had been shredded and looked horrid. Breathing heavily, Loang walked over to Ma and took off his jacket. Offering it to her, he helped her up and turned to leave.
Loang might have just left, if not for Ma's brother's insistence that he stay as a show of gratitude for saving the town's princess. Agreeing, Loang stayed. That night after the mourning of the deaths, Ma put her century old grandmother into her family grave. With a quick prayer she wished her grandmother a safe journey to the other side. Ma quickly broke into tears and wept. She might have never recovered from her grandmother's death if not for Loang. He came to her and comforted her. He told her of his experience with the death of his father, who was killed by demons as well. Holding her within the safehold of his arms, she fell in love with him and decided that he was the one who he wanted as a husband. Loang was one of a kind, one who understood her, and now the only one who could comfort her.
Sun carried Rei down the hill in his arms. He tried to the best of his ability, to ignore the fact that he was holding an immensely beautiful woman in his arms, who had nothing but a cloak to separate her body from his. He too would also be bare if not for the cloak he had on. He would have to remember to ask Ma and Loang why he turned into a tiger. He hoped that he would not do that again, because it hurt when his clothes became too tight and broke off of him. No matter, he had another set of clothes in his pack. He always carried around incase it rained. Rei snuggled in deeper to his arms, Sun was half-glad that Rei had fainted away when they told her their story, and who she was. Looking at the woman in his arms, he looked at her slight frame, and her delicate but rough face. Her hair was cut short and only hung around to her shoulders. Her eyes were large and round and her nose was small and dainty. He longed to just reach down and kiss her. But he knew that would be wrong. He had just met her, and he barely knew her. Looking back down to the woman, he smiled and said to himself * But I can get to know her better if we travel more. *
They finally arrived at the farm and they saw a short figure sitting on the porch puffing away at a pipe. The three walked up to the short figure, Rei was still in Sun's arms. The three regarded the figure for a minute before Loang asked,
"Are you Master Happossai?" The figure stepped out and looked intently at the three conscious people. He walked up to Loang and the two stared at each other for a long time, until Happossai smiled and said,
" Yep, I'm Master Happossai, but call me master." With that he lead them inside and told Sun to lie Rei down on the small bed in the corner of the room. Once she was on the bed, Happossai, jerked his head up and looked around. Then he smelled the air, walking around the room he asked them,
" Did any one of you battle with a Murgo wizard? Or be the receiving end of a spell. There is some powerful magic somewhere in here. " Sun looked at himself and said,
" Master? Well I just killed a man a few miles before that hill. I don't know it he was a wizard or not. But he was trying to force himself on Rei here." Happossai, looked at Sun and observed him for a minute before replying.
" No, you have traces of residual magic on you, but not anything strong." Then he looked at the sleeping girl on the bed. Moving to her, Happossai observed her for a moment before looking sadly at the group,
" She has been affected by a powerful spell, it destroys a person's chi if they are not a truthful person. Of course truthful meaning, having never ever told a lie. There are two people, who I know, who could possibly fit that criteria. But in this case Rei will die, and there is no known cure. I could undo the spell if I were in a different form, but that form has passed to another plane. She will die within a day. Within this day, she can tell nothing but the truth. It is part of this spell. I'm sorry." The three youths looked shocked at the master. Ma began to cry, and Loang turned to comfort her.
" We will never summon the 'Great Ones' now, and evil will reign for another cycle." Ma sobbed. Sun, on the other hand, was furious. There must be something he could do, this girl could not die. He was just starting to have some hope that he would be able to have someone in his life, and now it was all crumbling before him. Walking up to Rei, he looked at her. Her eyes fluttered and focused on him. A smile appeared on her face.
" You're real cute you know." She said, and pulled his head down and gave him a very passionate kiss. Then she shook her head and sat up." Why'd I just say that!" Sun was of course in shock and passed out.
Hours later, Sun woke up with a start. Looking at his surroundings he saw that he was in a small room with a window. Getting up he tried to remember why he had passed out. Once he remembered he couldn't keep himself from smiling. Rei had kissed him. And it wasn't just a peck on the lips, it was a kiss of love. But then he thought of Happossai's words. Rei was going to die within a day. He still wasn't sure, but Sun began to think that he was in love with Rei. However, he thought back to Ma. He also thought he was in love with Ma. The strangest thing was that the feelings, which he felt for each female, were different. But he could worry about sorting out his love later. First he had to find a way to save Rei. Wondering where everyone was, Sun got up and walked out the door.
After several hours of wandering, he realized that this house was much bigger than it looked from the outside. Finally he came to a strange room with markings in the old language on it. Fortunately, he could read old language. Unfortunately, the markings were so worn out that he couldn't make them out. Walking into the room, he saw a library of scrolls. Slowly he began to read some of them. They were all about the accomplishments of the 'Great Ones'. He found out that these 'Great Ones' had powers so immense that he could not even begin to comprehend them. One of them had the power to destroy an entire solar system with one blast called the 'Roaring Tiger Bullets', and that was one of his lesser attacks. However he came to one scroll about a specific 'Great One' called the Healer. His official title was Lord of Life. It was said that he could heal anyone of any physical, mental, or magical disease. Wondering if he could summon one of the 'Great Ones', he took the scroll and left the room. Somewhere else, on Kami Plane, Lord Tofu smiled.
Rei was still trying to cope with the fact that she was going to die.
