“Not according to Minerva.”
“What does she know about if?” He asked, his voice low and bitter.
“More than you think. She may be shy and quiet and way into plants but that woman knows the human mind. If she says you were under control you were. She has spent lifetimes helping others to break mind control.” Rei sounded sincere. She had barely paid attention to the Minervan but as priestess she understood just what she had done. “You may be a grouch and a fight waiting to happen but as far as we can remember, you never hurt innocent humans. Even while your were Raging out earlier you only attacked the perceived threat, not the bystanders.”
The two kept bombarding him, not letting up and not letting him wallow. They pushed him over and over. The obviously had something in mind. Mina leaned into his face. “You are just afraid. The big bad bear is afraid of a little girl. Afraid that she might actually love him.”
He pushed her back and smashed a fist into the counter, cracking it. “That isn’t it you bitch. I am afraid I will kill her too!” The kitchen grew silent as the shout echoed about the room.
“But that won’t happen, Gregor.” Came a quiet voice by the door.
He spun about, eyes wide, chest heaving. She moved slowly into the room, barefoot and still in the man’s shirt. It hung past her knees. She nodded to Rei and Mina before slipping one hand into Gregor’s. "You left me,” she whispered.
Usually full of grace and power, a tiger in movement, Gregor reacted like a teenager, blushing and awkward. “I needed….tea?”
She smile and turned her eyes to Rei and Mina. “Iriko brought you in?” She asked softly as she gently steered Gregor to the chair.
The two nodded. “The big guy has us all worried,” answered Mina.
“He doesn’t seem to understand that what happened was destiny,” added Rei.
The two Kouhei snorted and Hana shook her head. “No destiny this time fire lady.” She turned her eyes to Gregor’s. “This time he chose peace over war.”
Three pairs of surprised eyes blinked at her. “He what?”
Hana smiled for the first time for someone other than Gregor. “If he had let destiny control him I wouldn’t be here today.” She reached up and lightly caressed his jaw. “Seiya would have killed me and he would have become her lapdog.” Her big black eyes were so sad. “Seiya came back wrong and in the end she knew it.”
Gregorr lifted his hand in a final effort to brush Hana away. There remained a lingering guilt that refused to be argued away. "Destiny doesn't work that way..." Rei sighed, looking over her shoulder at Minako standing behind her. What seemed little more than an exasperated gesture was in fact a cue to play their final, winning hand.
"That's true! You can't fight fate." Hana felt Gregor's fingers tighten on her wrist, his breath rushing down the hairs on the back of her forearm. Instead of pushing her away, he was holding her there. "It's... you just can't," Minako added, playing to her dumb blonde persona.
They knew their work was done when the gaijin stood up, tugging Hana's arm around his middle even as he slipped his about her. "Listen sweetheart," he snapped in his usual fast and loose language. "There's two things I can do right, curse and fight. Trust me, I can fight destiny or fate or whatever-the-shit just fine." Instead of approaching Rei and Minako, he squeezed his new found love close and gestured them to the door. "Now if you'd give me some goddamn privacy, I'd like to see if maybe it's three."
Even the awkward glance and the extension of a third finger wasn't enough to keep Hana's cheeks pale. The two Senshi politely made their exits, reassured of their success when through the door they heard Gregor ask, "Okay, I did -what- now?"
Chapter Seventeen
Aki stared at what was left of Seiya. The mistress of pain, had died in pain, that was obvious. “This tool was flawed Aki,” Kaneda hissed from behind him. “Now you see why you don’t rely on tools." He waved a cloaked hand and the body dissolved, the room fading back into the shadows that made it.
“You have that other Kouhei, I expect better results this time.”
“Yes, master,” Aki answered. When he felt Kaneda fade away he lifted fingers to the bridge of his nose. “This is shit.” He turned and strode to his own chambers. Steve was waiting for him there, the surfer wanting out of his bargain. Too bad there was no way out of a bargain with shadows. “Time to pay the piper Steve boy.”
“Like you had Seiya pay?” His voice was harsh. “I didn’t sign on to be torn apart.”
Sighing heavily, Aki turned back to him. “That was her own fault. Our pretty friend had impulse control issues. If she had left the little one alone, your buddy wouldn’t have gone all ape shit on her ass. But that is the past. We have new information about the possible location of the guardian. You need to go to these locations.” He gave Steve a map and instructions.
The next few days had the Kouhei and Star knight regrouping. While magically healed, too much damage can add up. The days gave the new pairings a chance to know each other better.
While the new couples learned about each other Shayla and Uhanzee along with the senshi kept an eye on the target shops. Usagi and Minako were enjoying stopping at Ukyo’s shop for lunch every day.
Shayla enjoyed meeting with the ancient Amazon. The herbal remedies she put together would be useful to Hana and Suteko if she could get them to drink it. Both women had been healed but she could see signs that they weren’t sleeping. Magic can heal the physical wounds but torture leaves more than physical damage it leaves mental scars.
“Nihao, elder.” She bowed to Cologne, who smiled.
“Did it work child?”
Shayla shook her head. “Neither of them would take anything. They will not admit that it is an issue.”
Nodding, Cologne hopped out from behind the counter. “It is time you take me to see them child. I understand why she feels she can’t come here but she cannot fight the enemy if she is not in peak form. Neither of them can.”
Shayla debated for a long moment, but really she agreed. Bringing the ancient one to her patients would be good. There were things that she could teach them all. “All right, Hana and Suteko should be at the dojo this morning. The guys are doing their best to keep them safe.”
The ancient Amazon winced internally. If she knew Ranma’s sister that was not going down well. “Men are keeping Suteko safe? I doubt she is pleased with that. She must feel her honor is being questioned.”
Uhanzee turned from his discussion with Mousse. “You do know our Knight well honored Elder.” He smiled. In the short time he had spent with the Star Knight it seemed she was very self reliant and not happy with being coddled.
After giving orders to her family.. She turned to the two Kouhei. “Take this,” she slung the bag at Uhanzee, who caught it readily and she hopped out of the shop.
***
Back across town Hana and Suteko were lightly sparring. Suteko wanted to ensure that her tiny friend would be able to get out of any hold. While hard to slip out of the grip of a much bigger opponent, it wasn’t impossible.
Being not much taller than her friend there were tricks she could teach. She had roped in Samuel to be the attacker. Gregor would have been better but he was refusing to spar with Hana, afraid to hurt her. While Suteko understood, it was a bit silly.
They were breaking to allow a class of the outers with Gregor to practice. The classes had taken on urgency after the happenings of the previous week. Everyone was treating them both with kid gloves and while it was understandable it was also frustrating. There was a good chance that the missing Kouhei traitor and the Shadow general would turn up at one of the places she had staked out. Hanging about the dojo was keeping her from being where she might be needed.
After bowing to the mat and Hana, she headed to the kitchen, smiling for t
he first time all day. The change in the relationship between Gregor and Hana was sweet to watch. While not blatant, there were signs for those with eyes to see. A small blush or a secret smile, only for each other. Shaking her head she hid her own smile. In the past month, pairings had changed the Kouhei. She had been told they were reckless, angry and at times cruel but everything she had seen showed them as solid, strong and honorable in their own way. More likely to rely on their non-magical skills, they tended to get too close to the battle at times. She needed to teach them techniques like her brother used. The problem being that her own training in chi magic was spotty. She pulled her powers and used them automatically, an extension of both her early training and her powers as a Star Knight. What came naturally was harder to teach than techniques learned with sweat and time. If she stopped to think about what she did nothing would happen.
Instinct, whether from this life or from ancient times, made her unable to explain things clearly. She needed a chi master, or at least something who had some knowledge of chi attacks who could teach the Kouhei.
Wrapping a towel about her neck, she turned toward the kitchen. A nice cup of tea would relax the tension she still felt. She smiled down as Persephone and Demeter twined about her feet, slowing her. “Something up ladies?”
“You need a nap Suteko-sama. You haven’t slept in days.” Demeter softly nagged.
“I have had some. Jaeoh makes sure of it.” Suteko was careful to keep her voice level. She had been being lectured about this since before Hana was taken.
“But not good sleep. Nightmares make for broken rest.” Added Persephone, scoldingly.
Suteko stepped back and snapped. “Stay out of my bedroom ladies. How much sleep I do or do not get is personal.” She stepped past the two beasts. “Jaeoh has made sure I get enough to function.”
“It is he and your friends who are worried child.” Came a familiar voice from her past.
Suteko froze in the doorway, stunned. Sitting in a place of honor with a steaming cup of tea was Cologne. The ancient Chinese Amazon matriarch who had once taught Suteko much about herbs and healing. Proud, secretive yet kind to a lost daughter of an ancient clan. One of the people who had supposedly had Suteko wiped from her memory. “Sensei?” Her voice came out quiet and weak to her ears. She bowed deeply to hide her confusion and the desperate hope in her eyes.
“Yes, child,” the elder took pity on her one time student. “Come sit, it has been too long since we chatted.”
Suteko straighten up and slowly took a chair near Cologne. “I would have come but…”
“But you thought I didn’t remember you?” Cologne was being uncharacteristically kind but this child was not like ex-son-n-law and his friends. She had been attentive, lonely and special. How special she had not known back when they were last together.
Suteko nodded “After I …woke up…I tried to contact….”
Cologne took pity on the woman and smiled kindly. “It is true that your brother and the others were affected by your mother’s curse. I was far enough away that it only partially affected me." She puffed her pipe a few times. “By the time I managed to shake off the curse, you had moved away to school.. I kept an eye on you till you left Japan.”
“How are they?” Her voice was soft, tentative.
“They are safe, Suteko. Have been much safer than you have been or so I have been told.”
“I have been fine, Sensei.”
“But you haven’t child.” Cologne tapped Suteko’s hand that was clenched into a tight fist. “You have been through too much since you left Nerima. Taken many blows, had many heart wounds. And now the damage is catching up with you.”
“Who told you, sensei?’ Her voice dropped to a dangerous level. All the coddling since she came back was getting on her nerves. And somehow this elder she had not seen in more than seven years was telling her how she should feel. She pushed away from the table. “I am fine, Cologne. Healed of all damage.” She started to leave the room when Jaeoh came in and rested a hand on her arm. She paused and trembled for a moment before sighing and relaxing.
“Interesting," Cologne thought. Suteko had started to glow as she got angry, a bright white aura very different than the one her brother had. The simple touch by the Korean boy had calmed her. “And this must be Jaeoh?”
Suteko nodded as he slid his arm about her. “Jaeoh, this is Cologne. She runs the cat café and is a wise Amazon sensei.”
“The one who taught you herbs?” Jaeoh rubbed his fingers on Suteko’s back soothingly. He had felt her rising anger across the dojo. Since the healing and magic he could feel her when strong emotions were involved. Like her empathy had been passed to him.
“She…remembers?
“That is obvious, is it not?" Cologne puffed away. “I have come to offer you help with training these young people child.” She looked over Jaeoh, taking in his steady eyes and his protective stance. This young man was the match for Ranma’s sister. If the pretty gajjin was right he was the reincarnation of the Chi Master prince. While Ranma was this generation’s heir of the chi master and the shadow gate, this man was at one time the true master. Ancient legends had the two forming the gate between them and sealing it shut.
“So tell me how you are training the Kouhei, children.” It was best, Cologne decided, to go obliquely at her true mission. They settled down, about the table and talked. As the day flowed into evening she was introduced to the rest of the Kouhei and the Minervan senshi. These young people each had tragic tales to be told but they had overcome them. Warriors who fought for mankind. Cologne had been intrigued when she had heard of these young people. So different from Ranma and his friends. She had followed the news. The senshi were mostly silly girls at first but who became strong warriors, worthy of induction into the amazons. The Kouhei, the dog soldiers, who battled for and against themselves had only three female warriors. One who was rumored to be mad, one a fine healer and the other who was a mystery.
Then there were the Star Knights. A small group that she would have overlooked but for Suteko. Even in a city the size of Tokyo the goings on of magical young people was noticeable by those in the know.
She wanted to talk to the child alone but first she needed to speak with the one known as Sailor Kouhei Time. She had not yet been introduced. The shy young woman was one of the two who needed treatment. “Jaeoh would you mind bringing in Hana?”
Lifting a brow, he bowed. “As you wish elder.” The ancient one was both creepy and deeply interesting. Suteko hadn’t told him a lot about this woman, just that she was kinder to her than her demeanor would leave people to believe. That and that she taught her some of her herbalism and healing. As he left the room he saw her place a hand on Suteko’s and speak softly, “Stay child.”
Suteko had hoped she had distracted the old one with introduction but she should have known better.
“Tell me, Suteko. Have the memories given you new gifts?”
Suteko blinked confused for a moment. “No. Not so far but I haven’t had much time to sort through them.” She stopped and blushed. Some of the strongest memories flooded her when she was alone with Jaeoh.
Seeing the blush, Cologne smiled. “Ancient history likes to repeat itself in many ways. Your Light powers are a reflection of your ancient powers. I would like to see a demonstration of how they work.” She nodded to Jaeoh as he brought in Hana.
The small dark Kouhei as usual hid behind her hair but Cologne saw more than a shy, quiet girl. She saw a triple image. The young woman before her, like Suteko had a mixed aura. One side held the Kouhei and the other something like the aura of the senshi. In the middle was something else. Something that linked her closely to Suteko, or the Suteko of the past.
"Did you need me for something Sensei? Hana bowed, polite and quiet as always.
“Please, sit,” She waved Jaeoh out of the kitchen. “We need a little g
irl talk here.” The smile she sent toward Jaeoh was truly scary.
He looked to Suteko, who shrugged. Girl talk from Cologne usually meant a training session of some type. The bag next to the elder held the scent of herbs. Some she recognized and some she didn’t. She sent a final glance to Jaeoh and then sighed as he headed out to spar with Gregor. Turning back to Cologne, she waited patiently.
After a long moment puffing on her pipe Cologne spoke directly to Hana. “You have never slept well have you child?
Hana blinked, then shook her head slowly. “It is not an issue honored grandmother. I can always find time to rest.”
Cologne laughed pointing her clay pipe at the surprised young woman. “Always find time, yes, yes you can child.” She turned to Suteko, “But you, grandchild don’t have your friend’s option do you.” She held up a silencing hand. “Don’t deny it to me child! I can see the effect of what both of you have gone through has had. Anyone with ‘sight’ could see that you both are suffering from night terrors.” She narrowed her eyes. “I can see holes, here” she pointed at Suteko’s temple, then her navel, “here and even here," she pointed to her leg. “Your center is ragged and unprotected.” She turned to Hana. “And you child.,” she pointed to head, heart and diaphragm. “you are leaking energy.”
When Shadows Rise Page 27
