Sorry to leave you all hanging from a cliff again, boys and girls,
but this seemed the perfect place to stop this chapter and begin the next.


       Do try to have a nice dangle,
 
       Don Granberry.
 

       The following story is based on the fictional characters, situations,
and settings created by Rumiko Takahashi for her Ranma 1/2 series of manga.
They are here used without permission.
 
  

=================================================================
Divided I Stand: Chapter 8 Revision 0
=================================================================
 
 
 
       Shoko Asahara adjusted the wrappings around his head, making certain
that his eyes were the only visible part of his face. Satisfied that his
black attire now adequately covered him, he crept through the forest toward
the river using his clan's Shadow Creeps Beneath the Sun technique. He did
not creep in exact time with the shifting shadows of the forest, of course,
but he did become indistinguishable from them.
 
       After several minutes of traveling in such a manner, he came upon the
riverbank at the base of the cliff upon which Happosai had chosen to camp.
Much to his delight, his timing had proved perfect. The fools pursuing
Happosai had found and followed the old man's trail with the help of a
guide, and were now surveying the cliff, trying to choose the best route to
use in climbing it. The guide they had hired wanted no part of scaling the
sheer wall of rock and they noisily dismissed the man. Asahara silently
sneered at them. 
 
       Damned fools! he thought. They're already dead and don't know it.
Happosai had left a trail that even the slowest-witted my apprentices could
have followed. Yet, they had to hire a guide. Obviously, they plan on
killing the guide once they have finished with Happosai. Your problem
gentlemen, is that Happosai will finish with you first. You'll never get
around to killing that guide. He'll lead the police here and say,
truthfully, that this is where he parted company with you. The police will
find your bodies all battered and broken and assume that it was you who
killed the curator. Then they will assume that the lot of you died in an
accident as you tried to climb down from this cliff. They'll wonder for
years why you came all the way out here to torment that silly little man,
but in the end, they'll be happy to close another troubling case and the
real story will never be known. You will all be written off as just another
sect of religious fanatics. Your foolish faith in that non-existent
demon-god of yours has done you ill this day, boys. The Eye does not choose
its favorites lightly. It has chosen the old man over you.
 
       Asahara settled down at the base of a tree surrounded by underbrush.
He could see the river and the cliff above it quite easily from here, but
the forest understory would break up his outline nicely, making him
invisible to even well-trained eyes. He expected Happosai's carefully staged
little drama be over with in five hours or so. That was a relatively short
wait by his standards. Watching and waiting without moving did not bother
Ashahara until after the second week passed. This little jaunt was proving
to be completely painless. He probably would not even find it necessary to
eat until he was well away from this place and on his way home. He was glad
of that. While he willingly did the bidding of the Eye, he had no desire to
confront Happosai. The old man was welcome to keep the Eye and delight in
its company all he wished. He would not be the first to do so. So long as
Happosai did nothing to risk the destruction or loss of the Eye, Asahara
would be content to remain a passive observer.
 
  
 
            ================================================
 
  
 
       Ranma Saotome woke up to the sound of snarling diesels and the
high-pitched howls of chainsaws. He was annoyed at first, then realized what
was going on. 
 
       "Gotta admit," he muttered as he sleepily tramped his way downstairs,
"its good to know that people are fixin' things."
 
       On reaching the first floor his ears picked the sound of something
else. Running water!
 
       "It's in the kitchen!" he exclaimed as he sprinted across the room.
Sure enough, water was pouring out of the faucet of the kitchen sink.
 
       "Man! The girls are gonna be happy about this!"
 
       "About what, Ranma?" Nabiki's voice asked.
 
       Ranma turned to find her standing in the entryway of the kitchen,
looking at him expectantly.
 
       "The water's back on," Ranma said with a huge grin.
 
       Nabiki disappeared as though caught in a teleportation beam. Ranma
blinked in dismay.
 
       "I had no idea she was that fast!" he exclaimed. He could hear water
running again, and knew that he did not need to check for the source. It was
coming from the furoba.
 
       He stepped back into the great room and could hear Nabiki's muffled
shout of "Cold! It's cold!"
 
       "Yeah, but is it fresh?" Ranma shouted.
 
       "Yes!" came Nabiki's muffled reply.
 
       "Then be happy!" Ranma shouted.
 
       "I am!"
 
       Nabiki's muffled reply was followed by the sound of running feet.
 
       "Iito-za!" Ranko shouted.
 
       "Look out, Ranma!" Akane added in the same tone of voice.
 
       Ranma jumped aside as they thundered the stairs. Both of them were
wearing yukata and carrying towels. The looks on the two girls faces told
him that he had done the right thing by moving out of their way. It was
disconcerting. 
 
       Hmph! I kinda already expected to get pushed around by Akane, but
geez! Now she's got a helper and one of 'em is really me. Whatever Akane
hasn't already figgered out, Ranko is gonna tell her. He opened the engawa
and made his way outside. He started a fire, then came back inside for a
kettle and filled it from the faucet in the kitchen.
 
       "Don't guess I can blame 'em for bein' excited about the water,
though," he muttered. "Of all the things that bug ya about livin' the road,
not havin' water handy is the worst."
 
       He went back outside and hung the kettle over the fire and sat down
to think. 
 
       How the hell am I ever gonna work all this out? I mean, they'll both
want kids, right? Who am I kidding! I got the answer to that yesterday out
in the doujou. Of course, they both want kids. Well, Akane wants kids
already. Ranko probably ain't had the time ta think about that, yet, but she
will. Oh, shit! She's like me. Once she wants somethin', there ain't no
stoppin' her. Gotta remember to give Pop an extra whack or two over this
one. With my luck, they'll both get pregnant at the same time. How the hell
am I gonna feed two women and two kids on the kinda money I can make?
 
       "What's the matter Saotome?" Nabiki asked. "You look worried about
something.
 
       Ranma turned to find that his future sister-in-law was standing on
the engawa behind him, dressed in a damp yukata with a towel wrapped around
her head. He nearly went cross-eyed trying not to stare. Nabiki smirked at
him. 
 
       "Whadda ya think they pay bodyguards, Nabiki?" Ranma asked as he
turned around and stared into the fire.
 
       "Well that speaks volumes!" Nabiki said. She walked over close to
Ranma and placed the palm of one hand on his forehead.
 
       "Well, you aren't running a fever. That can only mean one thing."
 
       "Huh?"
 
       "Huh, indeed, Ranma," Nabiki said, giving Ranma a knowing grin. "Have
you set a date yet? Are we having two separate weddings, or are the three of
you set on getting it all done in single ceremony?"
 
       "Who said anything about weddings?" Ranma asked with more than a
little heat in his voice. "I'm just tryin' to figure a way to make a little
money is all."
 
       "Like I said, Ranma, that alone speaks volumes," Nabiki answered. Her
demeanor changed dramatically as she suddenly became all business. "You
haven't asked Dad about anything like this, have you?"
 
       "No, why?"
 
       "Because thirty seconds after you do that, he's going to be out
ordering wedding invitations, that's why?"
 
       "Oh, man!"
 
       "You still have another year of school to go, too, you know."
 
       "Yeah, I know!" Ranma said disgustedly as he rested his chin on one
hand and stared at the fire again. "It don't look to me like things are
gonna wait for us to finish school, though."
 
       "You don't want Akane to have to live the way your mother has had to
live, do you, Ranma?"
 
       "Hell, no!"
 
       Nabiki breathed a sigh of relief.
 
       "I was hoping you would have better sense than your dad."
 
       "Hey! What kind of feat is that, huh?" Ranma asked severely annoyed.
"Sure, he might be one of the greatest martial artists to have ever walked
the earth, but so what? What does he do with it?"
 
       "Be fair, Ranma," Nabiki said, giving him a wicked grin. "He risked
his life and yours chasing down evil just a few days ago."
 
       "Oh, whoo-hoo!" Ranma said with a snort. "We ran out into the storm
of the century to chase a panty thief! I mean, the entire world lives in
terror of panty thieves, right? Especially this one?"
 
       "What was all that about, anyway, Ranma?"
 
       "I wish I knew! I asked your dad, but I can't get him to tell me
anything."
 
       "He hasn't said anything at all?"
 
       "Nope. Shuts up tighter than a clam every time I try to ask, or he
changes the subject."
 
       Steam began to pour out of the kettle.
 
       "Just stay here with that, Ranma," Nabiki said. "I'll got get the tea
and stuff. We can make tea right here where it's cooler."
 
       Ranma merely cocked an eyebrow at her. Like most people whose
physical fitness approached or exceeded the optimum, ambient temperature had
little effect on him. The weather had to get truly nasty before Ranma
noticed it. He quickly became immersed in his own thoughts again.
 
       I wonder if there is a place on earth where I could be completely
safe from all women? Hmm, I could go back to China and try to sign up with
the Musk, I guess. I mean, it ain't like I'd hafta worry about pissin' Haabu
off by turnin' into a girl every time it rained. Nah! We'd just get into a
fight over somethin' else and I'd rather fight Safuron again any day of the
week. I wonder of Taro has run into Haabu yet? Boy! I'd like to see that
shit! Knowin' Haabu and his crowd, they'd be throwin' a really big barbeque
after it was over with.
 
       "Ranma!"
 
       "Huh?" Ranma noised, being more than a little startled.
 
       "Are you going to let the water just boil away, or can we make tea
now?" Akane asked. 
 
       "Watcha thinkin' about, Saotome?" Ranko asked as she took the kettle
from Ranma and handed it to Nabiki.
 
       "The Musk," he replied. "I was wonderin' what might happen if Pansuto
Tarou had a run-in with Haabu."
 
       Ranko cackled then said, "They'd be havin' a really big barbeque,
that's what!"
 
       "Ranma, are you sure haven't gotten Haabu mixed up with Safuron?"
Akane asked, looking worried.
 
       Nabiki merely shook her head as she poured hot water over the tea.
 
       "Not hardly!"
 
       "I'd whole lot rather fight Safuron again than I would Haabu," Ranma
and Ranko chorused.
 
       "Was he really all that tough?" Nabiki asked, glancing at Akane's
suddenly pale face.
 
       Ranma and Ranko shuddered in unison.
 
       "Scariest sumbitch I ever fought!" they chorused.
 
       "I hit him with one of the best right-crosses I ever delivered,"
Ranma said with a worried look on his face. "It caught him completely by
surprise, too."
 
       "And all it did was piss him off!" Ranko said with a shudder.
 
       "Yet, Safuron was no push-over, was he, Son-in-law?" a dry and
ancient voice asked.
 
       Ranma nearly jumped out of his skin.
 
       "Cologne!"
 
       "Good morning, Elder Cologne," Nabiki said, giving Cologne a polite
bow. "Would you care for tea?"
 
       "Yes, thank you, dear."
 
       Ranma felt his hackles rising and a glance at Ranko told him that she
was doing the same thing. He liked Cologne, and had no doubts that she liked
him as well, but he never forgot that the Ancient Amazon had her own agenda
and was constantly watchful over her own interests--not to mention that she
and Tofu were the only two people who could sneak up on him with any
regularity. She made him nervous.
 
       "As it happens," Cologne said, pausing to accept a cup of tea from
Nabiki. "I have it on good authority that Haabu is favorably disposed toward
you, Ranma."
 
       "Only because I kept him out of that avalanche," Ranma said in a grim
voice.
 
       "Yeah, and he positively hates me!" Ranko added bitterly. "He
associates me with everything to do with his curse."
 
       "Actually, I think he finds you rather attractive, Granddaughter,"
Cologne said with a smile, "but like so many men, he's reluctant to show his
true feelings."
 
       "Can't blame him for that!" Ranma said.
 
       "Yeah, I was completely male at the time!" Ranko added.
 
       Uh-oh! Ranma thought as he watched Akane put the back of one hand
against her forehead. Akane's fixin' to blow a gasket.
 
       "Allow me to offer you some advice, Ranma," Cologne said.
 
       Ranma, not Son-in-law? Ranma thought. What the hell is she up to now?
 
       "Don't write Haabu off as an ally just yet," Cologne continued,
seemingly unperturbed by the tension around her. "You are soon to face far
more formidable opponents than you have been confronted with in the past.
You may need his help."
 
       The ringing in Ranma's ears drowned out the noise of trucks,
front-loaders and chainsaws.
 
       I might've known, he thought. I just decided that it was finally time
to settle down and this comes along.
 
       "You'll want to get them out of your way quickly, I'm sure," Cologne
said, giving Ranma a sly grin. "If I am any judge human affairs--and I am."
 
       Dammit! Is my life ever going to be my own? Ranma wondered.
 
       "You do realize that your life will never be entirely your own, do
you not, Ranma?" Cologne asked. "The gods never gift a man. They only trade
with us, and they always collect their part of the bargain."
 
       Ranma gave out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. Ranko and
Akane looked angry, while Nabiki cocked an eyebrow at the Amazon Elder.
 
       "What bargain?" Ranma asked. "I never talked to no gods so I wasn't
the one makin' any bargains!"
 
       "He's still got a lot to learn, Elder," Nabiki said. "Who, or perhaps
I should ask, what is it this time?"
 
       "Why, Happi, of course," Cologne said sweetly. "You haven't caught
him yet, have you?"
 
       Off in the distance, a horn blared and all the machinery that had
been running suddenly went silent for morning break. Ranma suddenly realized
that they were all simply staring at Cologne in dumbfounded silence. He
tried to speak, but found that it was all he could do to make his jaw work
on its hinges.
 
       "Why is it that the old letch has become so important all of sudden?"
Nabiki asked. "We haven't been able to make sense of that."
 
"Then I gather that neither your father nor Genma Saotome has told you about
the Eye of Mephistopheles," Cologne said, using the western pronunciation of
the demons name, then sipped her tea.
 
       "No, I haven't and had not planned on telling them, Soun said in a
heavy voice surprising everyone. They all turned toward the sound of his
voice to find him standing behind them.
 
       I wonder what's buggin' him? Ranma wondered. Is he feelin' sad about
something or is he feelin' guilty. Tendo-san is funny egg. There are days
when he's brimmin' with confidence and he breathes fire like a dragon and
there's all those times when he weep like a baby. I wonder what the hell
happened to him? Surely he ain't been like this all his life!
 
       "That, to me at least, seems unwise, Tendo-san," Cologne said, giving
the Tendo patriarch a dry-eyed stare. "You would send this fine young
warrior out alone without even telling him what he faces?"
 
       "Of course not, Obaasan" Soun answered with more than a hint of
irritation in his voice. "Initially he went out with his father. I had no
plans of asking him to seek after the Master until I had the opportunity to
consult further with Genma on this matter."
 
       "I wonder if even you know what it is you are up against, Tendo-san,"
Cologne said. "How is it that you two and Happosai came to be involved with
this evil little bauble?"
 
       "Bauble?" Ranma asked sounding surprised.
 
       "Ya mean it's a piece of jewelry?" Ranko asked. "I thought the old
freak only went in for girl's underwear."
 
       "Yeah, you guys have always kinda overrated the old man, if ya ask
me," Ranma said. "He's a nuisance, yeah. An embarrassment? Sure. An
aggravatin' old fart? You bet, but seriously evil? I don't think so!"
 
       Cologne rolled her eyes while Soun heaved a sigh. He flopped down on
the engawa and sat cross-legged as he rubbed his face with both hands. After
a moment of silence he looked up at Cologne said, "Tell me Elder, what is
the Amazon's involvement with this cursed bit of sapphire?"
 
       "Oh, so it's blue!" Ranma said. "I guess now I can start feelin'
informed."
 
       Cologne rapped Ranma on the forehead with her staff and said, "Be
silent, puppy! How you hope to learn anything while running that sarcastic
mouth of yours is a mystery in its own right."
 
       Ranma rubbed his head and gave Cologne an angry glare. The glare was
strictly pro-forma. He knew that Cologne was right and remained silent.
 
       "As it happens, the Eye is a sapphire only because of an arbitrary
convention among those who trade in gemstones, Ranma," Soun said.
 
       "Oh, I remember," Nabiki interjected. "Both rubies and sapphires are
made of the same thing, corundum, but only the red corundum is called a
ruby. Corundum of any other color is referred to as a sapphire, even if it
is pink."
 
       Cologne cackled. "I might have known that you would know about that,
Nabiki-chan. In this case, the Eye is a nearly transparent piece of corundum
about the size of a human eye, with needles of black rutile radiating out
from its center within the stone."
 
       "The rutile at its center refracts the light passing through the
stone in a very curious way, making the entire thing change colors depending
upon how the light strikes it," Soun added. "It is both beautiful, and
evil."
 
       "So you have seen it, Tendo-san," Cologne said, squinting her eyes
with obvious suspicion. "Have you ever touched it?"
 
       "No, never," Soun said, shaking his head. "The Master has, of course,
or we would not be troubled by it today, and it fell and bounced off of
Genma's bare arm when we were trying to pack it away."
 
       Whoa! The old ghoul didn't like that news! Ranma thought, watching
Cologne's face. Ranko and Akane got up then settled back down on either side
of him. Ranma felt some of the tension in his stomach ease.
 
       "Did the stone flare, when it touched him?" Cologne asked.
 
       "I thought I saw the faintest of flashes," Soun said, "but it could
have easily been my imagination. Genma has behaved much the same as he
always did. It was very different for the Master."
 
       "Hmmm, that is troubling," Cologne said. "I mean no insult,
Ranma-kun, but your father's innate nature could easily be masking a great
deal of inner turmoil in his soul."
 
       "None taken," Ranma said. "I know my old man better'n anybody here
and I can tell ya, I don't really know him. But what's all this about the
old letch? Are ya tellin' me he didn't always steal panties?"
 
       Soun and Cologne both snorted at this.
 
       "No, I fear...I fear the Master was always rather fond of that
particular avocation, Ranma-kun," Soun said, "but after we ... er ... found
the Eye, he picked up a few other bad habits."
 
       "That's when you and Genma decided to try and kill him, was it not?"
Cologne asked.
 
       "Ah, well, we didn't exactly try to kill him...we merely tried to see
to it that he would die of natural causes while not troubling too many other
people."
 
       "Fools!" Cologne shouted. "Did you not understand what was
happening?"
 
       "No, not really," Soun said. "I, for one, did not come to fully
appreciate the scale of the problem until much later. Genma might have known
sooner, but only after we tried to hide away the Eye."
 
       "So where is it now?" Cologne asked.
 
       "I thought it was in the deep waters of the Pacific, a hundred miles
east of Hokkaido. The water there is several kilometers deep. There would be
no chance of its ever being recovered from there."
 
       Cologne, Ranma noted with sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach,
did not look the least bit relieved by this news.
 
       "But that is not what happened to it, is it?"
 
       "I...I don't know!" Soun exclaimed, his voice cracking. "My wife went
to her father, a fishermen in Hokkaido. She was supposed to ride out with
him and cast it over the side of his ship."
 
       "But you did not go with her, did you?" Cologne asked.
 
       "No, I couldn't. The Master had left more than a few loose ends that
had to be tied up in the town we were in at the time. Genma and I were
rather busy."
 
       "Tryin' to make amends or were ya runnin' for your lives?" Ranma
asked. Akane and Ranko both elbowed him in the ribs.
 
       "We did as much as we could to ... to put things right," Soun said
with tears running down his face. "Those were some of the hardest days of my
life."
 
       Cologne growled as she set her cup down with a clunk on the boards of
the engawa. "Where is the Eye, Tendo-san? We must find it before Happosai
does!"
 
       "I honestly do _not_ know!" Soun answered with desperation creeping
into his voice. "Just before the typhoon arrived, Genma and I heard the
Master laughing and talking to himself, as though there was another person
in the room with him, only there wasn't. We both knew then that he had
either found the Eye, or that he had discovered its whereabouts."
 
       "So you tried to kill him again," Cologne said, with an odd note of
sadness in her voice.
 
       "Hold it! Wait just a minute, here!" Ranma shouted. "Just why exactly
are _you_ so eager to find this thing, _Honored Elder_? And, how is it you
know so much about it?"
 
       Ranko and Akane had both seized Ranma's arms as they tried to shush
him, but he shrugged them off. Nabiki's eyes and grown to the size of dinner
plates as she motioned for Ranma to calm down. Ranma was having none of it.
 
       "You seem awful willin' to be rid of the old freak! Is it just
because you don't like him or is it because you want this stupid jewel for
yourself?" Ranma asked.
 
       Cologne eyed Ranma for a moment with a speculative look, then grinned
at him.
 
       "Well, now I am surprised. There might be some hope for you after
all, Ranma-kun. I was beginning to think you were as empty-headed and
shortsighted as your father."
 
       "I ain't nothin' like my old man in the stuff that matters most, Old
Ghoul, you oughtta know that. Now then, what gives with this cursed rock
you're so worried about? How come you knew about it and never said anything
before now? And why is it you're so eager to get your hands on it before the
letch does? I don't like the sound of any of this!"
 
       Much to Ranma's relief, he could feel Akane and Ranko stiffen on
either side of him. It meant that they shared his resolve as well as his
reservations and were ready to back him up.
 
       "My! Now that is an impressive trio!" Cologne said Ranma and the
girls beside him. "Very well, Ranma-kun, I'll explain. I hope you're ready
to hear a long story."
 
       "School's out and I haven't had a history lesson for three days now,"
Ranma said with a sneer. "Go ahead, tell it the way _you_ see it."
 
       "That was rude, Ranma!" Ranko said, giving her alter-ego a gouge to
the ribs with her elbow. "Cologne..."
 
       "He's quite right to be suspicious, granddaughter," Cologne said,
holding up her hand. "It might please you to hear that I have no desire
whatsoever to get my hands on the Eye, Ranma-kun. In fact, no person my age
should ever come near it."
 
       "Yeah? Why is that?" Ranma asked, still fuming.
 
       "Because the older you are, the more likely it will be that the
cursed thing will be able to influence, you, that's why."
 
       "I don't get it! What's age got to do with any of this?"
 
       "You, as young as you are, have already done some things you wish you
hadn't, have you not, Ranma-kun?" Cologne asked in a surprisingly gentle
voice. 
 
       Ranma winced, then nearly collapsed.
 
       "Well, then, you should understand that I have done quite a few
things I would rather I had not done, but in many instances, I had no
choice. On other occasions, I made mistakes. Just as you will in the
not-too-distant future, I'm sure."
 
       Ranma winced again. Akane and Ranko each placed one hand on his arms,
and leaned against him. Ranma took a deep breath and drew strength from
their show of support.
 
       "The Eye can take advantage of such memories. It can twist them and
make you a slave of your own conscience. Even an extremely virtuous person
can find the very best of his desires twisted to the purposes of evil under
the influence of that wretched rock."
 
       "Where did this thing come from?" Nabiki asked. "Is it a natural
object, or was it made?"
 
       "We don't know, Nabiki-chan," Cologne answered. "Some of our scholars
speculate that it was Alexander the Great who first brought it to Asia and
that it is Egyptian in origin. Another school argues that it is not nearly
so old and that it was originally found in India, being nothing more than a
curiosity until it was taken to Europe and spent some time in the hands of a
German alchemist. No matter where it originated, we know that it spent some
time in the possession of Genghis Kahn. After that, it belonged to Kublai
Kahn, and finally Timur the Lame, known as Tamerlaine, in the West."
 
       "Then who got it?" Ranko asked.
 
       "We did," Cologne answered. "Fortunately, our tribal elders of the
time recognized its danger and sealed it away in specially dug cave.
Unfortunately, someone, we know not who, found it and carried it off. It
fell into the hands of Nurhachi, the Manchurian."
 
       "I think I'm beginning to see a pattern," Soun said, "and it makes
sense from what I saw it do to the Master."
  
       "Indeed?" Cologne asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. "It was stolen
from the Manchu treasury by someone, again, we do not know by whom, and it
eventually fell into the hands of one Oda Nobunaga. You probably know a lot
about him."
 
       Ranma felt his heart stop. Oda Nobunaga? The great general of the
Warring States period? He shivered when he thought of the many times his
classmates teased him about Nobunaga. Though he was a ferocious warrior and
highly effective general, Nobunaga liked to relax by lounging around in
women's clothing. Ranma forced his misgivings aside and struggled to think
clearly.
 
       "Let me guess," Ranma interjected. "Hideyoshi Toyotomi got it after
Nobunaga was murdered, right?"
 
       "Indeed, you're right, Ranma-kun," Cologne said, pausing to pat him
on the head. "He carried it with him to Korea and there, it was stolen, and
again, we don't know by whom, but we recovered it. Amazingly, one of our
agents found it still in the very box we had originally stored it upon our
first discovering it. Someone had left it lying in their camp rubbish. It
had rained heavily after this person left their camp, so we were unable to
pick up a trail."
 
       "Let me guess," Nabiki chimed in. "It was stolen again."
 
       "Would you care to guess the year, Nabiki-chan?" Cologne asked, her
tone suggesting that Nabiki could do better if she tried.
 
       "Easy, sometime between 1890 and 1901," Nabiki replied, giving
Cologne a grin. "That is, assuming things held to pattern."
 
       "As it happens, the Eye was taken from our guardianship for the
second time in January of 1890," Cologne answered.
 
       "Hard to believe that it took that long to build up to rebellion, all
things considered," Nabiki said. "I was afraid I had been too conservative."
 
       "When we next caught wind of the Eye's whereabouts, it had fallen
into the possession of a lay student of recently disbanded Shaolin order.
His name was, Hung Hei-kun," Cologne said.
 
       "Ah!" Ranko and Ranma chorused. "Hung Gar Kung Fu!"
 
       Cologne smiled at this and added, "And the inadvertent founder of the
Boxer Rebellion."
 
       "He had good reason to start a rebellion! Everbody and his brother
was screwin' the Chinese over!" Ranma exclaimed. "Surely this Eye thing,
whatever it really is, didn't have anything to do with that!"
 
       "Yes, and no, Ranma-kun," Cologne answered. "By all the accounts we
have of Hung Hei-kun, from both our agents and the observations of others,
he was a virtuous man. I am sure that his sole purpose was to free his
people from the miseries visited upon them by those he saw as foreigners,
which included, by the way, the Manchu Dynasty.
 
       "However, I am equally certain that he would have had second thoughts
about his actions had he foreseen the consequences of them. Probably the
worst of which, in my opinion, was the watered down instruction given to
gullible recruits. They died like flies before American, Japanese, and
European firearms."
 
       Ranko opened her mouth to ask a question, but Ranma stopped her by
placing a hand on her knee. This earned him a startled look from Ranko and a
sharp elbow in the ribs from Akane.
 
       "Later, Ranko," Ranma hissed in a half-whisper then mumbled to Akane,
"Cologne just said something really important, Akane. We need to think about
it."
 
       "And, the Boxers indulged themselves in other excesses as well, such
as killing foreigners simply because they were foreigners, even though many
of them were actually of a help to many Chinese. The Boxers also killed a
great many Han Chinese, simply because they had adopted Christianity or some
other Western religion. None of this was ever advocated by Hung Hei-kun, but
it was he who started it while under the influence of the Eye."
 
       "You never recovered the Eye, did you?" Nabiki asked.
 
       "No, it left Asia altogether for a while, and as best we were able to
determine, was stolen many times, passing through the hands of several
Europeans before finally disappearing altogether during the height of the
second word war. The last man we knew of that possessed it for a while was
Eiki Tojo. He was the Chief of Military Police of the Kwantung Army at the
time. Shortly after coming into possession of the Eye, this rule-bound
little bureaucrat advanced rapidly until he became Prime Minister of Japan,
and changed his name to Hideki Tojo."
 
       Ranma broke the heavy silence that momentarily smothered conversation
with, "I still don't get it. Why the worry about Happosai getting his hands
on this Eye thing? He's just a panty thief. He ain't got any political
connections at all. Tendo-san is the closest thing to a politician that I
know."
 
       Cologne gave out an exasperated sigh then said, "One of the men to
possess the eye for a while was a German artist whose work was so unpopular
that he resorted to hanging wallpaper for a living. Another to possess the
Eye, or to be possessed by it, had been the son of a Russian cobbler.
Neither man had anything in the way of future prospects, yet both of them
eventually led their countries to ruin at the expense of millions of human
lives, Ranma."
 
       "Huh?" Ranma and Ranko chorused.
 
       "She's talking about Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin, Ranma," Nabiki
said in a faint voice. "Neither of them were accomplished Masters of the
Art."
 
       "No, they were merely ambitious and had great appetites for the
adulation of others," Cologne said. "The Council of Elders does not believe
that Happosai will possess the Eye for very long. It is seeking someone
else."
 
       Another heavy silence filled the air until Nabiki picked up her cup
and held out toward Ranma in the manner of offering a toast.
 
       "Here's lookin' atcha, kid," Nabiki said with a wry grin. "I guess
it's a good thing you're engaged to Akane and not to me."
 
  
 
            ================================================


             .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'