Here's my favorite story. I hope you enjoy!
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: eternalblue1.txt
Eternal Blue
By Silentnova
All characters, with exceptions, are the creations
and property of Rumiko Takahashi. The author is
writing this story with neither intentions of profit
nor designs for acclaim. Please, do not sue this
poor author.
Criticisms & comments are said to be appreciated and
even rumoured to be used. Please, I can be reached
at [Silentnova@go.com] if you have anything to add
to the story.
---------------------------------------------------
Chapter One
Sir Ranma Saotome, alone, stood in a small, derelict
hut. "The son of Lord Genma Saotome. Knight of King
Arthur Helena of Atlantis." he muttered. "Actually,
Knight of the late, King Arthur Helena."
His eyes glanced about the hut. The hut had no
walls. It had no windows. It had very little left.
The only remaining reminder it was ever a hut, was
its skeleton frame, which held up the tattered roof,
which protected the bare wooden floor.
There was very little left of the hut to protect
Ranma from the cold rain. What little roof there
was, hung over the front doorframe.
Moving under the doorframe, Ranma saw the lake
outside the hut. It was Atlantis Lake. Its waters
jutted onto the shore, pushing and taking away
whatever may have laid there.
"Long live the King." Ranma bitterly muttered. "May
he rest in peace."
A small wind picked up the rain, bringing it to
Ranma and past Ranma. A small wind picked up the
lake, bringing it onto the shore with a relentless
ferocity.
The leaves of trees, overlooking the lake, near the
hut, shook faster and faster, telling him the wind
was growing stronger and swifter with each passing
moment.
"The bastard, Iago Heep. It's his fault the king is
dead." Ranma struck the door-frame. "His fault!" He
struck the frame again. "-His- fault!" It was his
last strike, but the frame had a nasty surprise for
him. Clutching his hand, which was bleeding from a
cut, Ranma looked over the lake.
Across the lake, stood a mountain. The rain clouds
hid everything about it, except which was below the
clouds. Around the mountain, stood other mountains.
Across the mountains, called the Atlas Mountains,
far beyond the border of the Kingdom of Atlantis,
was an empire, led by an old man with an aged face.
Though old, Emperor Ashley Buckingham, a mountain of
a man, was dangerous to the person with an
undisciplined eye.
"I hope Babel doesn't attack now." Ranma looked at
his hand. The bleeding hadn't stopped. "I don't
think we could defend against them without a
leader." The bleeding stopped.
The direction of the wind switched. "Why do I even
care? Atlantis is beaten now. The king is dead, and
the country's going to lose the Ageless War."
A war between Atlantis and Babel. It was older than
memory. Its reasons for continuing thousands of
years were forgotten long before Ranma's birth.
"Who ever thought the war'd be lost so easily?"
He grimaced. "Why do I even care? I could leave, and
look for her..." He referred to his twin sister,
lost long ago when he was only five years old and
his family was living in the city of Odessa, a
broken city.
"It's my duty to care. It's my fate to care,
forever." He stepped from under the doorframe to
under the clouded sky.
Ranma opened his hand and looked at his palm. "For
King and country." It began to hurt again. Bringing
his other, unhurt hand up, he gripped its hurt twin.
"Heal." he whispered. A magical glow grew from his
unhurt hand and enveloped its brother. "That feels a
little better." He flexed the hand, loosening it.
The wind changed speed again. The rain, which it
carried, pelted his face fast enough to sting.
"Ouch. Damn it! When's Cecil going to get here?" he
asked. The wind didn't answer.
Cecil Kuroda Saotome, Ranma's adopted brother, did
though, "Right now, actually."
Beside him, halfway in the sunlight and shadow,
stood Billy van Burace Saotome, another of Ranma's
adopted brothers. He looked small beside Cecil, but
he was taller than Ranma. "We just decided to take a
spin over here, because Dad asked us to come."
Ranma smirked and turned about. His brothers stood
under the doorframe. "Then you guys really didn't
decide to come here, did you?"
Billy tapped his ears. "Actually, we could've just
decided not to listen to Pa. We could've just
listened to our consciences and left you here,
forever."
He turned around. "Perhaps it would've been better
for you all." he whispered, not loud enough for
either Ranma or Cecil to hear.
"What do our consciences have to do with anything?"
Cecil frowned.
"Nothing, or maybe everything. Who knows?" He walked
through the derelict house and through the back
doorframe.
"We better hurry. Father wants to speak with you
about something urgent. We're to bring you to the
Guard Tower." Strangely, with the end of Cecil's
words, the end of the wind and rain also stopped.
"An entire Babel army is coming towards Atlantis,
led by the genius Admiral, Mattiu McDohl."
Ranma sighed. "Then we've already lost, haven't we?"
Shrugging, Cecil turned to the lake. "Maybe, I just
hope everything turns out alright."
Laughing, Ranma began to follow Billy. "It's our
duty to make sure everything turns out alright."
After turning from Cecil, Ranma wondered, 'Am I
really serious? Or am I...' He shook his head. 'I
shouldn't worry. Or I'll become like Pop.'
Behind him, Ranma was sure Cecil was watching him
pass through the back doorframe, with a curious eye.
An eye for the future, an eye for the past, and an
eye of the past, filled with hope for the future. He
could only hope, the future was a gentle wind. One
warm and friendly wind, to remind him of his sister.
Usually, his father's office was brighter, with an
air of contentment. Nothing was moved, the
bookshelf, the computer, the weapons on the walls.
Everything seemed the same. "It's the curtains."
Ranma thought. "They're closed. He never closes
them...It's so dark..." He didn't want to finish his
thought, instead looking elsewhere about the gloomy
room.
Finally, Ranma's eyes settled on his father sitting
in his large chair behind his oak desk. "Dad, you
wanted to speak with me?" Ranma asked, cutting
through his own unease.
Genma sat up. Darkness fell off him like dust. He
put his elbows on the desk. "Sorry son. You spooked
me. Didn't even notice you come in." He nodded at
the two flanking Ranma. "Cecil, Billy, thank you for
bringing him here."
"Did you want to speak about the defense around the
city?" Ranma asked.
"Heh, it's been so long since we've been in a
position like this that," Genma smiled. "I've almost
forgotten what it's like!" Under his breathe, he
added, "I wish I never had to remember."
Genma waved his sons over to the computer. He
himself walked to it as well. Placing a finger on
the large screen, it flared to life showing images
of a scaled down model of Atlantis City.
"Ranma, with your sister, at 1200 hours I want you
two to meet the enemy here..." He pointed to the
northwest boundary of the city. "Then force them
here..."
Cecil looked at Genma. He saw his father become
darker. "Only Ranma and Cecilia, Father?"
"They'll be using the new prototypes..." Genma
replied. Returning attention to the screen, he
pushed a key bringing up dots on the screen. "This
large airship is the one Admiral McDohl rides in. He
must be very confident we'll lose easily."
"Otherwise, why come to the battle, right?" Cecil
asked.
"Correct." Genma looked at Cecil and Billy. "You two
will ready the city military to fight. I need you at
the Tower Command Centre right now."
"Yes sir." the two responded. They quickly ran
outside the room.
Turning the computer off, Genma suddenly clenched
his hand and grimaced. After a moment, he suggested,
"Ranma, on your way to the hanger bay, let's pay
Heep a visit."
"Dad, you okay?" Ranma heard a stutter in Genma's
voice. "Something wrong?"
"Ha! Boy, you're as gentle as your mother!" Ranma
cringed at the remark. Spying his father's face
though, Ranma saw a far away and troubled frown.
A sardonic smile crossed Genma's face. "But don't
worry. Smashing that traitor's face in will pep me
right back up. I plan to leave no reminder of his
ever having a nose before today is over!"
Changing the subject, Ranma asked, "Has he told
anyone anything about who he's working for?"
Genma shook his head. " No, he's too stubborn,
yet...yet I have an idea of who it could be." He
began walking to a door leading outside. "We better
hurry. We don't have very much time."
Alarms blared themselves awake, startling father and
son, as they were about to enter Atlantis Castle.
"Ranma! Genma!" A girl ran up to the two from inside
Atlantis Castle. "It's Iago Heep!"
"Cecilia? What's happening?" Ranma asked.
Ranma's sister took a second to catch her breath.
"Heep escaped! Some strange guy walked right into
the prison inside and flashed some papers around...I
heard the entire thing!" She looked at Genma. "No
one did anything because they all thought you let
him go!"
"What!?" Genma stormed into the castle. Ranma and
Cecilia followed him. Genma shouted at the nearest
officer, "Damn it! Where the hell is Heep!?"
The offices cringed. "Lord Genma, we know about the
escape! We beg your forgiveness! It was our
mistake..."
Before Genma could burst apart in pure agony, Ranma
motioned for Cecilia to take Genma aside for a
moment. With his father out of the way, Ranma asked
the officer, "What did Heep's benefactor look like?"
The officer bowed his head. "Nobody knows. Even
though there's surveillance everywhere around the
castle." The officer looked at Ranma to punctuate
his next point. "No one actually saw this man
entering or leaving the castle, which leaves..."
"Magic..." uttered Ranma.
"Yes sir, a very powerful spell. Even the
surveillance tapes never filmed this man." The
officer took his cap off. "Sir Ranma, I fear there's
something terrible happening..."
"Officer, contact Cecil Saotome at the Guard Tower
Command Centre." Genma ordered, behind Ranma. "Tell
him to meet me at my office in the Guard Tower at
1000 hours."
"Yes, Lord Genma." The officer scurried away,
leaving Ranma, Cecilia, and Genma alone.
A plot, the officer suggested something dangerous,
something beyond Ranma's youthful understanding of
the world. "Dad, what's happening?"
Genma put his hand on Ranma's shoulder. "We're in
big trouble now. These problems can wait until after
today. I just realised something important..."
Walking outside of the castle, Genma turned to Ranma
and Cecilia. "I'm pushing the schedule ahead by two
hours. That leaves you fifteen minutes to prepare."
Summoning a different officer to his side, Genma
turned back towards Ranma and Cecilia. "Give them a
bloody nose."
"Dad, don't worry..." For a second, Ranma thought he
saw his father's true smile. Suddenly, he thought to
himself, "I've never seen that...Never in my entire
life."
Cecilia stirred beside Ranma. "Genma...I mean,
Father. We'll make you proud! Right Ranma?"
"Yeah! Dad, we'll give them a bloody nose, just for
you!"
With a laugh, Genma walked outside of the castle
into an idle military jeep, which quickly
accelerated and disappeared down the street towards
the Guard Tower. Strangely, something else left with
the jeep.
A thousand regrets, forgiven.
End Chapter One
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P.S. I released a teaser so long ago I can't
remember when. I'm sorry I took so long to complete
this chapter, but it's a challenge to write (I also
reworked some characters and scenes to make the
story more human). It's also very fun to write, so
it balances out in the end.
If you're looking forward to the next part, please
respond.