Dragons Bond


Chapter 5


Maps


Morning came early for Ranma Saotome. A little too early for his liking.


"PAPA SAAAAAN WAKE UUUUUP!!!"


"AAAAAAHHHH!!!" Ranma was startled rudely from his slumber by the booming voice of a

reddish brown haired girl screaming in his ear. Crimson giggled as she watched Ranma fumble

around the sheets before quickly falling off the side of the bed and onto the floor.


"It's time for breakfast Papa-san." Crimson noted before walking away to the door to the large

room and exiting. Ranma stared after her and groaned as he let his head fall to the floor. Ranma

grumbled some choice expletives and crawled over to where his back pack was, taking out a pair

of clothes and starting to get changed.


***************


Ranma smiled as he walked into the large dining room where Lina, Gourry, Amelia, Phil and

Crimson already sat conversing things. Ranma sat down beside Amelia and Crimson and listened

in on what Phil was saying. "So there we were! In the midst of battle! Fighting DEMONIC

OGRES!!" Phil said dramatically.


*Great!* Ranma thought sarcastically. *War stories of the king!*


Phil continued on with his story. "I hit the large Ogre mage with my PACIFIST MAUL! But it

had no effect! It was too powerful!!"


"Oh NO!!" Amelia said covering her mouth in horror.


"What happened next!?!" Crimson asked excitedly. "Did you kill him!?"


King phil chuckled. "No! Galnaav came in bursting through the wall just as the HORRIBLE

creature had me in it's clutches! He threw mighty bolts of lightning at the beast and it disintegrate

into THIN AIR!!"


Amelia got starry eyed. "Oh DADDY THAT'S SO COOL!"


"YEAH!!" Crimson seconded.


"I do NOT need to hear this first thing in the morning!" Ranma muttered to himself.


"Phil's stories not to your liking Ranma?" Asked an old experienced voice behind Ranma. Ranma

and Crimson spun their heads around to see who it was that had snuck up behind them.


"GRANDPA!!" Yelled Crimson before jumping out of her seat and grabbing onto the old man in a

firm(bone crushing) hug. "I've missed you SO much since we left!" She said excitedly. Ranma

looked confused.


"When did you get here Galnaav?"


Galnaav shrugged and smiled. "Just now. I thought It would be nice to see my old friend Phil

again." Just as Galnaav finished his explanation a pair of huge arms yanked the old man from

Crimson's grasp and started shaking the man around like a rag doll in his SUPER CRUSHING

EMBRACE {sorry}.


"GAL!!! IT'S BEEN AGES!!!!" With that Prince Phil started crying violently not unlike Soun

Tendo would. Ranma shivered at the sight it was all too familiar scene... in fact, something didn't

seem right at the moment. Phil held Galnaav back a bit and looked the old man over. "You look

well! It's like you've only aged twenty or so years!"


Galnaav put a finger up to correct the man. "It HAS been twenty years so that certainly makes

sense." Phil and Galnaav chuckled at the really bad joke while everyone else groaned and Phil

motioned for a seat beside Crimson. Galnaav sat down. There was an awkward silence at the

oversized table for a moment and then Phil decided to speak up and break the silence.


"So Ranma. Galnaav here has adopted you and trained you in the magic arts as his own eh?" The

man smiled widely as he said this. Ranma nodded reluctantly, he was confused as to what the

good Prince was trying to say, but he had a bad feeling about it.


"Uhhh... yeah...?" Ranma managed to slide out.


Galnaav put one of his hands on Ranma's shoulders, reaching across Crimson. "Now Ranma...

you know Prince Phil here and I have been friends for at least thirty years right?"


Ranma began to sweat. He felt a sense of deja vu coming on. "Uhhh yeah... So?"


Phil took a deep, dramatic, breath. "In the midst of one of our great battles, Galnaav and I

made a great and noble pact." Ranma's eyes bugged out at the word.


*PACT!?!*


Phil continued, "That one day if we were to have children of the opposite sex, then we would

engage them together in holy Matrimony to protect both our family lines."


Ranma went whiter than a sheet.


Phil continued. "So Galnaav and I have decided to engage you to my daughter... Amelia Will

Tesla of Seillune!!!" Phil then stood proud and dramatic as if having just crowned Ranma king of

the world, which he kind of did, being that Seyroone was one of the most powerful and influential

kingdoms in the world.


Ranma began to shake violently, sweat dripped off his brow in buckets, memories flashed past of

long times ago, in another dimension. *This isn't happening! It's just the same thing all over again!

Another stupid fiance!*


Crimson stood up from her chair and jumped at Amelia, who was staring at her father slack jawed

at his bold and daring proclamation, and hugged the girl tightly. "WAI!! WAI!! You're going to

be my new MAMA-SAN!!"


Ranma and Amelia fainted.


Galnaav smiled at Phil. "They took that really well."


Phil smiled in reply. "We must celebrate! TO THE WINE CELLAR!!"


The two excited men then ran off to drink themselves into a blissful stupor. Leaving the others to

tend to their fallen comrades.


**************


"Uuuuuuhhh." Moaned Ranma from underneath the bed covers as he groggily opened his eyes to

look at his surroundings. There was three people sitting by his bedside staring down at him, a

yellow blur, a fiery red blur and a brownish blur. Ranma sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes,

blinking a few times to clear his vision. "It was just a horrible nightmare." He muttered as he

slowly began to make out the images of Gourry, Lina, and his Daughter Crimson who was

currently in human form.


Crimson leaned forward and felt Ranma's forehead. "Papa-san... are you okay? You and Mama-

san fell down pretty hard."


Ranma shook his head and looked around. "Galnaav isn't here is he?" he asked, throwing off the

bed sheets that lay on top of him. Ranma paused and then turned slowly to face Crimson with a

sick expression on his face. "Did you say: me AND Mama-san?!" He asked slowly and dreadfully,

fearing the worst.


Crimson nodded her head vigorously with a smile on her face. "Yes Papa-san! She fell down at

the same time you did. Where are you going?" she asked as Ranma jumped off the bed and

walked away.


Ranma didn't say anything else he just walked.


Gourry looked over to Lina and put on his confused, as usual, face. "Uhhh Lina? What are they

talking about?" He asked.


Lina looked almost equally confused. " Just something about an engagement Gourry but I've

come up with a plan just now to get that endless money pouch. The plan starts as soon as the

other girl leaves."


Gourry looked confused still. "Uhhh Lina?"


Lina growled. "What NOW Gourry!?"


Gourry blinked and then lifted up a small leather pouch. "Is this the thing we're after?" Lina

drooled but then quickly composed herself and grabbed the bag from him.


"Yeah that's it!" She said happily as she packed it into her pocket.


"Why do we have to steal this Lina? Stealing isn't exactly the right thing to do. I'm not the

smartest but I know right from wrong. Ranma’s a good guy. He doesn’t deserve to be robbed."

Gourry said.


Lina growled as she pulled him away from the room. "Gourry. Once he marries Amelia then he's

going to be a king, then he'll have more money than he’ll ever need. He won't need the pouch...

but WE will be putting it to good use! Get it!?" Gourry just stared blankly into space.


"Then why do you want to keep following him around?" He asked.


Lina just blushed and walked away thinking along the lines of: *He’s not married yet.*. "HEY

LINA! WAIT UP!" Gourry called after her as she walked down the hallway.


*****************


Later that night after all the others had drifted off to sleep Ranma crept down the halls of the

castle silently, using his magic abilities to make himself invisible to all people's senses. "I'm not

going through this again." He muttered under his breath as he hopped through an open window

into the courtyard. His Martial arts abilities from his previous life allowed him to land silently so

as not to alert any of the guards. Ranma ran through the court as fast as he could and leapt up

over the wall. Landing on the other side where he was to meet his daughter before departing their

friend's company.


Ranma smiled as he leaned against the wall, waiting. "No matter how much I care for Galnaav I'm

not going to let him engage me against my will... even if arranged marriages are more common in

this world." Ranma began to tap his foot softly on the ground outside the castle as he waited. He

had already been there for a few minutes and had expected that Crimson would have been there

already. He had trained her well enough not to be late. "What's taking that girl?!" He grumbled as

he lightly hit his fist on the wall. He looked surprised that he had left an impression in the concrete

even though it was just a light tap. Ranma looked surprised at this change in strength. He'd only

been in this world for a few months... his strength couldn't have possibly increased so much in that

time. He'd never really took notice of it until now... It kind of freaked him out.


"Mr. Ranma?" Came a sweet voice from behind him. "What is this about? Where are you going?"


Ranma's eyes widened in fear at the voice. It wasn't the one he had been expecting to hear. He

turned around quickly, hoping that it was only his imagination playing tricks on him. His fears

became a reality and he felt like crying. Men don't do that but it almost sounded like a good idea.

He just couldn't escape the curse of the fiancees. "Amelia!" he said, trying to act surprised. "What

are you doing here?" He asked.


Just then Crimson came out from behind Amelia. Ranma hadn't noticed her standing there, despite

the fact that she was obviously taller than the black haired girl. "I brought her along Papa-san."

She said obliviously. "I thought that Mama-san would like to come with us."


Amelia blushed at the title that Ranma's Daughter had given her. "Could you please stop calling

me that?" She asked the brown haired girl. "It's so embarrassing."


Ranma groaned. "Crimson! I told you not to tell ANYONE!"


"But she's my new Mama...mother." She said completely oblivious as to what her father was

saying.


"Crimson I'm trying to get away because I don't want to get MARRIED!! She’s the one that they

want me to marry! She's the LAST person I want coming with us!" Ranma said agitated.


Amelia decided to speak up, having listened in on the pair's conversation. "You're right Mr.

Ranma!" Ranma and Crimson both turned their heads towards the smaller girl in confusion.

"We're much to young to be married! We should wait until we're older. I've thought about it for a

while and have accepted my duties as a princess to marry a worthy suitor so that we can one day

rule this kingdom!" She said matter of fact and proudly. “But we’re much too young to do so

now.”


Ranma stared at his inter-dimensional fiancé completely flabbergasted. "Are you SERIOUS!!" He

asked the girl in complete and utter disbelief at the girl's statement. "Your OWN Father just

ENGAGED you to a COMPLETE STRANGER!! Doesn't that freak you out just a LITTLE!?!"

He said a little over dramatically.


Amelia smiled. "That's all right Mr. Ranma I trust Daddy's judgement. I admit it came as a bit of a

shock to me at first but I'm dealing with it. I trust that we'll learn to love each other and we'll live

happily ever after governing a kingdom and helping to bring JUSTICE to the WORLD!!" She

stated proudly as she struck a pose.


Ranma just stared at her as she got stars in her eyes and drifted off into a fantasy land. His eye and


mouth twitched slightly and he couldn't take his eyes off the girl as she held out an index finger in

the air and stuck out her chest proudly. "I'm not going to survive the night!" Ranma noted to

himself not being able to take his eyes off the delusional princess because of a horrified fascination

like a train wreck.


*************


The next morning at the castle. "Prince Philippe the great and noble ruler of the majestic Kingdom

of Seyroone awakes slowly, his eyelashes fluttering slightly as the sunlight coming from the great

window by his bedside irritates his sleep weary eyes. The noble King throws the comfortable

sheets to the side and smiles with a great yawn as he sits up at the side of his bed. He put's his

magnificent feet onto the cold stone floor and shivers slightly as a chill runs up and down his

spine."


"HA HA HA HA HAAAAA!!!!"


King Phil threw his attention towards the door and noticed Galnaav standing there laughing at the

larger man. His long bearded goatee jerked violently as he shook his head from side to side.

"Galnaav my friend what are you doing in my personal quarters?" Phil asked as he grabbed his

mighty crown from the night stand. "Why are you laughing?"


Galnaav snickered and looked stupidly at the man. "My god Phil You've been narrating yourself in

the third person every morning since we traveled together. You don’t even realize that you’re

doing it anymore! HA HA!! It is good to see you again old friend!" He said as he struggled to

hold himself up. "Why the HECK do you do that?" the old man inquired.


Phil blushed. "I've done it ever since my parents took over as the King and Queen of Seyroone.

They taught me to do that. They said that it built better linguistic skills and that if I ever wanted to

rule I needed to know how to talk properly. I never understood it till later... now it is just habit.

I've taught Amelia this as well. I want her to be a good queen when she takes my place at the

throne."


Galnaav looked surprised. "Hmmm I was actually expecting a much less sensible explanation."

The grey haired man shrugged and twirled a staff in his hands before opening the door and exiting

the room. "I'll see you at breakfast." He called back.


***************


Later on after Phil, Galnaav, Lina, and Gourry had finished their breakfast, The Prince of the City

of Seyroone looked around and seemed confused. "This is strange." He noted as he looked

around the large dining area. "Where is Amelia?" He asked as he leaned back to let a servant take

his finished plate.


Lina shrugged as she and Gourry continued devouring the hospitality of their royal friends.

"Maybe she's just still sleeping." She offered before continuing her early morning feast.


The prince smiled as he nodded. "True, she was a little overwhelmed by the events of yesterday."

Phil stood up from his seat and walked out of the room headed for his beloved daughters

chambers.


***************


Lina stopped eating quickly and began to poke at her food. Galnaav had run off with phil again

for some odd reason... probably to get drunk again. She sighed as she stared at the gravy soaked

mashed potatoes and those little escargot thingies. She still didn't know what they were made of.

Gourry didn't slow down at all but stopped for a second when he saw that Lina was no longer a

threat in their little competition to see who gets the most. "What's wrong Lina?" He asked. Lina

continued to poke at the escargots and looked up at her blonde haired traveling companion

wearily.


"I don't know Gourry. I think... I think I'm just feeling a little guilty about... taking Ranma's gold

bag. What if he ever caught us? How would I explain why we have it? Did you feel the power

levels on him? His magical abilities were almost as magnificent as mine!"


Gourry nodded as if he understood completely. "So you like this Ranma guy." He said before

deciding that he was still starving and he grabbed the chicken leg off of Lina's plate.


Lina got flustered and glared at Gourry. "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I LIKE HIM!!?" She

yelled baring the oversized canines that she had, which weren't normally noticeable.


Gourry fell off his chair thinking that she was going to get violent. "LINA!! What's going on!?! I

thought you liked him! He's a nice guy. I like him. I don't feel good about taking it either!"


Lina stopped and blushed. "Oh you meant... Sorry." Lina then sat down and began to eat the

escargots. They were pretty tasty especially with the sauce that the cook had prepared them with.

They were a little small though. "God I'm so embarrassed!" She muttered to herself. She then

pulled out a small leather pouch and looked at it. *Do I like him?* she thought. *I just met him

and he’s engaged to Amelia as well... ‘sigh’ This could get complicated.*


**************


Several miles away in another town, Ranma grumbled as he, Amelia and his daughter Crimson

slaved over the sink, washing and drying the dishes that were laid out before them. "This sucks!"

Ranma noted as he glared at the soapy water. He scratched one of his elf like ears for a moment

and continued working. "What the hell happened to the bag of gold Galnaav gave me?" He

wondered as he set another dish aside for Amelia or Crimson to dry off and put away.


A grim, gruff voice came from the doorway, escaping from the lips of a grumpy old man with a

short beard and ragged clothes. "NO TALKING!! YOUR HERE TO WORK OFF THE

BLASTED MEAL!! I DON'T CARE IF IT TAKES YAH FOREVER!! YOU ALL EAT LIKE

DEMONS!!!!" The old man screamed Ranma shut up momentarily until the man left, then he bent


down a little lower and lowered his voice to a whisper.


"Whole lot of good you were!" He said as he glared at Amelia. "We could have jumped out the

window and used a Ray Wing to get away when we found out we didn't have any money but

Nooooo! You had to be a goody good and stand for justice, offering to work the meal off!"

Ranma grumbled and turned back towards the dishes before he started getting louder. He hated

working.


"I'm sorry Mr. Ranma!" She said with a downcast head. "I just don't think it would be right to

leave a good meal unpaid for."


"Papa-san's right Mama-san." Crimson said. "This is going to take at least a few more days to

work off. We ate a lot! We need to find those scrolls. My time as human is up tonight. I'll be my

normal form and then somebody'll get real mad." She said.


Ranma nodded and turned on the hot water tap to fill up the sink some more. "Crimson's a red

Dragon Amelia. Any warrior who gets the chance would love to bring her down. I ain't gonna let

that happen but it would still cause a lot of trouble... and I've had enough of that."


"That's 'am not' and 'going to'." Amelia said with a neutral expression.


Ranma looked confused. "What?"


Amelia set the dish she was drying down and frowned as she looked up at Ranma. "Am not. Not

ain't ain't isn't a word. Your grammar is atrocious! If your going to marry me and be King

someday you'd better learn proper grammar and etiquette too. Your table manners are atrocious."


Ranma frowned at her grimly. "I don't need no grammar lesson's from you! There ain't nuthin

wrong with my grammar!" Amelia shivered as she couldn't stand to hear such awful speech

coming from such a handsome prince. It made him sound so... so... poor. Ranma jumped up

surprised as a wave of freezing cold washed over his hands and creeped all over his body.

"YEEOW THAT'S COLD!!!!" He screamed as the Jusenkyo curse washed over him and he

shrunk down about a head, lost an appendage, and gained a few inches on, the now HER, chest!


She didn't really notice the change at all. It always came so suddenly and she was so used to it that

it had no odd feeling to it, other than the shift in her center of balance. She was used to that too

however and always quickly compensated for it. She also didn't notice the surprised look on

Amelia's face, or the worried look on Crimson's who did notice.


"Uhmm Papa-san?"


"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"


The old man that ran the tavern/inn ran into the kitchen after he slammed the door open and

stormed in, growling. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO BE QUIET!! WHAT'S ALL THIS


YELLING AND SCREAMING!!?" He yelled at the female trio.


The man looked around the room in confusion. There was nobody in the room. The old man

looked around for a moment with an angry expression on his face. The tap was still running,

spewing out cold water into the now overflowing sink, there was a smashed plate on the floor and

the single window in the kitchen was open, letting the cool night air into the establishment and

blowing the curtains around.


"Where did they go?" He wondered. He had heard the scream and ran in moments later, how

could they have left so quickly? The old man thought about this for a moment and then became

red with rage as he realized: "THOSE BASTARDS SKIPPED OUT ON ME!!!!"


*********


Ranma, now in female form thanks to that wonderful cold water. "At times like this I really

wonder why I keep this curse!" She muttered under her breath. Amelia heard this of course, being

that she was currently inches away from Ranma's mouth. He was currently holding her mouth shut

and the three of them were hiding in some rather thick bushes. Ranma looked at Amelia with a

glare. "You ready to be quiet now? I don't want that old guy finding us so if I'm going to let you

go I want you to shut up!"


Amelia nodded and Ranma let her go. Amelia stumbled back a bit and stared at Ranma in shock

and disbelief. "C...Curse?" She wondered.


Ranma nodded. "Yeah I got a curse. It's a long story HOW I got it, but basically, hot water turns

me into a guy and cold water turns me into a girl."


Amelia sat down and stared at Ranma. She was in awe at the transformation, she had never heard

of magic strong enough to change the very SEX of a person. "Who would give you such a

horrible curse?" She asked sympathetically. "This is just TERRIBLE Mr...I mean: Ranma."


Ranma chuckled. "Actually my Pop did this to me."


Amelia gasped. "Mr Galnaav!?"


Ranma shook his head "No, no. I mean my real father... Galnaav only adopted me. It was actually

an accident. He had no idea that this would happen to me." Amelia nodded in understanding.


Just then the muttered words that Ranma's cursed form spoke earlier came back to her."But...

Ranma. What do you mean you want to keep the curse? There are many sorcerers who can cure

you of your ailment." Amelia then blushed as she remembered her engagement to Ranma. "Are

you a boy?" She asked. "Or are you a...girl... for real?"


Ranma brushed a lock of red hair out of her eyes and then looked up at the girl. "I was born a

guy, what I meant is that this curse, believe it or not, can some actually be kind of a... blessing."


Amelia looked completely confused.


Ranma sighed and decided to explain. She would have to know sooner or later. Ranma hated

admitting this. "There are some things that a girl can do better than a guy, some things that a girls

can do a guy... can't." Ranma sighed. "I hate to admit this but the curse has saved my life more

times than I can count."


"Ooooohhh!" Amelia said in sudden comprehension and understanding. "Do you do stuff that a

girl would do? Does it affect your mind as well?" She asked curiously, getting used to the fact

that her fiancé could turn into a girl and relieved that he was, in fact, a he. She didn't know what

she would think if her daddy had engaged her to another girl.


Ranma got defensive and she shook her head madly. "AAAHH! GOD NO!! I may be a girl on the

outside at the moment but I'm ALL man up here!" She said tapping on her head.


Amelia walked forward, closer to Ranma and Crimson. "If it helps... your very pretty as a girl. I

don't mind."


Ranma was about to yell back a retort but stopped when he realized what she had said. "Huh?

Oh... thank you... you don't mind?" He asked confused.


Amelia smiled and shook her head. "No. I don't mind that my fiancé turns into a girl! If it saved

his life once before than it may do so again! If that is so than this curse can be considered a TOOL

OF JUSTICE!!" She said proudly.


Ranma was shocked and stupefied. *There's... There's no way this girl can be this weird!* He

paused and then contemplated this. *Why the hell am I liking it then?* He shrugged mentally.

*Must be because she doesn't mind my curse. Everyone else hated it back home* He still couldn't

believe her obsession with Justice and whatnot.


"Your battle cry wouldn't happen to be 'Spoon' now would it?" Ranma asked with a silly smile.


Amelia looked completely confused. "What?"


"Never mind!" Ranma said with a sigh. *I shouldn't have watched so much of that American

cartoon with U-chan back in my old world.* He thought.


*************


Ranma sighed as he and Amelia walked through another city the next day. Ranma was in female

form still, not having found hot water since he was changed the night before. "This sucks! How

are we supposed to earn any money? We're in the middle of a quest! We can't stay in one place

too long! We have to find the maps for Crimson."


Amelia pat Ranma on the back lightly. "Don't worry Ranma. We'll come up with something.


Maybe there's a job that we can find that’s on the way."


Ranma rolled his eyes. "Yeah that'll work! Who in their right mind would hire a bunch of traveling

sorcerers and fighters to do something that included traveling and what's the luck that we'll find

something on the way to Gobraddenov city?"


A hand fell upon Ranma's shoulder and the pigtailed girl reacted without thinking when she

realized that both of Amelia's hands were holding out the small piece of the map to the

Duragnamera artifacts. Ranma spun around, grabbed the hand and twisted it behind the back of

the owner in a position where it would be incredibly easy to break it.



"AAAAAHHAHAAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!!" Screamed the skinny man. "LET GO!!! PLEASE

DON'T HURT ME!!!! I'M ONLY A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PMS!!!" He screamed.


Ranma, seeing how incredibly weak and bitchy the guy was, let go of him and just opted for

glaring. "Who the hell are you? What's the PMS!?" she asked.


The man rubbed his arm and his lower lip quivered as tears welled up in his eyes. "I didn't mean to

startle you. I just overheard that you were going to Gobraddenov and that you were sorcerers. I

Thought that maybe you could help me and the Professional Magic Society out."


Ranma let down her guard and stopped looking upset with the man. He was obviously no threat,

physically, to anything or anyone. "I have..." Ranma was too slow and Amelia cut her off.


"OF COURSE!! We'll help you Mr. Skeleton man! Let us meet with the PMS and work

something out! I'm sure we'll be able to help you overcome your dilemma!" The scrawny bitch of

a man rushed forward and grabbed Amelia's hands.


"OH THANK YOU LITTLE GIRL!!! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!"

Ranma pushed the man off of Amelia and frowned at the man again.


"Yeah All right I guess we'll help you. But you'll have to give us a large sum of money, prior to

and upon completing this quest!" She stated.


The man nodded happily. "You may have saved the entire world young man!"


Ranma rolled his eyes. "I get the feeling I'll hear that a lot in this world."


**************


Later on in the main conference tower of the Professional Magic Society also known as the PMS,

Ranma and Amelia were currently sitting at a round table where various people, all of which were

at least above the age of thirty sat. Ranma's face was neutral and she took another sip of her tea.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to go after some guy who's holding up at Gobraddenov to


stop him from getting these mirrors?"


An old lady in the crowd of magicians and sorcerers Shook her head. "No not really, the mirrors

are hidden beneath the city in an ancient lair and we want you to kill the man or get to the mirrors

before he does and destroy them. These mirrors are far too much of a temptation for any

sorcerer."


"So what's the deal with these Mirrors?" Ranma asked. "They'd have to be pretty damn

important to get this kind of attebtion."


The old woman stood up and drew a picture on the chalk board behind her. It was a smiley face.

"First of all this smile represents..."


"Just tell me about the mirrors!" Ranma growled.


The old lady nodded "Very well. We at the magic society learned a year or so ago that a mirror

exists with the magic ability to make a complete duplicate of whoever looks into it, the copies

would have all the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the original but they would have the

complete opposite personality."


"Not again!" Ranma groaned under his breath as the old lady continued.


"This man that we want you to pursue had found the original mirror and a girl named Lina Inverse

was hired by us to stop him. They succeeded in destroying the mirror and bringing him back to us

but we recently learned that there were two exact duplicated of that mirror hidden under the city

of Gobraddenov. Our sources have shown that he has learned of these mirrors and is after them.

We cannot let him get the others. The world would fall under his powers if he were to duplicate

an army of duplicates of the right people."


Ranma nodded. "Okay so we break the mirrors and problem solved." He said. "No big deal."


The woman smiled and bowed to Ranma. "We would forever be in your debt Ms. Saotome."


Ranma shrugged. "Got a map to this secret lair beneath the city?" he asked.


*************


"Wow! Talk about easy money!" Ranma said as he eyed the pouch that he was given by the magic

society. "What say we go get some dinner before we meet up with Crimson outside the city?" He

asked his fiancé as the pair walked towards the business area of the city.


Amelia nodded but she had a very pensive look about her. "I don't know about this Ranma. There

may be more to this than it seems. It might be a trap."


Ranma chuckled. "What are you kiddin? This is going to be a walk in the park! Lina bagged this


guy before and she doesn't even have half the power I do!" Ranma and Amelia continued walking

and entered the first restaurant they saw, ordering the biggest meal they possibly could.


************


Crimson frowned as she lay on her back outside of the city. She was in dragon form and was

bored out of her mind. Her father said that they were only stopping in for a few minutes to get

something to eat and that she had to wait outside of the village. She had already found some wild

animals in a nearby forest to eat but she had finished long ago and was now just bored! She sighed

a long sigh as she watched a flock of birds fly overhead. It was times like this she really didn't like

being a dragon, especially one that was so menacing and powerful. Everyone was afraid of her but

all she wanted to do was be around Papa-san and Mama-san.


She had to smile a little bit as she thought of Ranma and Amelia. She chuckled as she watched a

rabbit scurry across the ground towards a hole, hoping to get there before the giant dragon saw it.

She thought about how Ranma used to be both her mother and father. He was so funny when he'd

make little skits where he played both the man and the woman just to entertain her. The best was

when he would play an arguing couple and pretend to get hit by giant mallets. She missed that.


Now he was just concentrating on the quest. She loved him even more for it. She knew that he

was doing this just so that they could spend more time together, so that she could live a normal

life. She longed for the day when she would be able to spend as much time as she wanted with her

father. When they were living with Galnaav they spent almost every minute together, playing,

training, defending Galnaav's house. *Why didn't we just stay there?* She thought. *I was happy

in either form.*


The red dragon girl sighed and dropped her head to the ground wearily. Just then she saw two

figures exit the city and she crouched down, after rolling over onto her belly, getting ready to flee

from sight if they were strangers. Ranma told her to make sure nobody saw her. She was good at

that, despite her size. The figures turned to her and waved. She smiled and waved back. This was

a mistake however because she rose to her full height and someone in the city spotted her over the

wall and yelled.


"DRAGOOOOOOONNN!!!!" Suddenly a chain of similar yells echoed through the city and soon

the city was in an uproar as they readied defenses and offenses to get rid of the red Dragon!


Crimson groaned as Ranma and Amelia ran towards her. They jumped onto her back, Amelia

having to resort to magic to make it, and then the Dragon took off into the air away from the city

towards the great city of Gobraddenov.


**************


Back in the city every warrior in the City had mobilized in fear of a dragon attack in front of the

gates on the side of the city where it was spotted. They were all huddled together in one giant

mass. Everyone had some sort of staff to focus magic through or a sharp pointed weapon. A


general who was at the head of the mass unsheathed his sword and pointed to the gates. "We

must make the first move!" He stated before everyone in the crowd watched the Dragon fly away.


The crowd threw their hands up in the air in joy of the Dragon's departure as it rapidly

disappeared into the distance. "WE DID IT!!" The crowd chanted over and over again, most of

them throwing their hats up into the air, those who didn't have hats threw their weapons into the

air.


***********


Once Crimson was out of sight of the city she set down in a clearing and sat down. "I hate when

that happens!" She said angrily. "Why are people so paranoid!?" Ranma jumped off of his

daughters scaly red back and chuckled.


"You think THEY'RE paranoid? You should have seen ME when I first showed up butt naked in

this world!?" Ranma began to laugh out loud but Crimson lowered her head and looked sardonic.


"Papa-san you were the FIRST thing that I saw."


Ranma stopped in mid laugh. "Ehhhh point taken." Ranma turned around and looked to Amelia

who had just climbed down from Crimson's back. "I still want to know why I showed up here

with no clothes. It doesn't make sense... or does it?" Ranma shrugged and began walking beside

Amelia when she caught up.


Amelia blushed and looked up at Ranma shyly. "Uhm Ranma? I've been meaning to ask you

something." She said as they walked beside Crimson's dragon form.


Ranma looked down at the younger teen quizzically. "What's up?"


Amelia blushed a little more. "If you're human... wouldn't that make Crimson only... half dragon?"


Ranma looked confused, then disgusted, then relaxed again before he spoke with a smiled. "Naw!

She's my adopted daughter. Her mother was killed just as I showed up in this world. I'd never

even seen a dragon until then. I've never been married, been engaged about thirty times but that's

a whole world away."


Amelia looked confused. "That's my other question. What do you mean world away? You keep

saying things like that."


Ranma smiled. "Oh that? Nothing big. I was born and raised mostly in another dimension. I've

only existed on this world for about eight or so months. I like this place better than my previous

world though. There was always a crowd of people waiting to either marry me, or kill me. The

only thing I don't really like about this world is A: it's lack of baths, and B: It's lack of Jackie Chan

movies. Its a long story but I really miss that last one the most."


Amelia looked confused but accepted that at face value. "I guess I'll have to get you to tell that

story sometime." She said with a slight smile. "It could be a great bonding experience."


An amused Crimson smiled at Amelia. "I don't think that you'd want that. It's actually a pretty

boring story." Amelia smiled at the dragon but then noticed that Ranma had fallen behind and had

actually stopped altogether. As she looked back at the boy she noticed that he had a very

frustrating look on his face.


"Why do you want to stay engaged to me?" Ranma said. From his space behind the two girls.

"You don't mind my curse, you don't mind that I'm a father of a red dragon, you haven't even

inquired as to why my ears are pointy!"


Amelia looked curious as he mentioned that. "I hadn't really noticed that until you'd just pointed

that out. Why are they pointy?" She asked.


Ranma made a bunch of nonsensical noised and flailed about as he pulled at his hair. "WHAT IS

WRONG WITH YOU!! I could have just left in the night and gone of with my daughter to find

those maps! Sure it's her fault you're coming along but she's young. We could have left and

FORGOT about this whole engagement thing! Why are you so persistent in marrying me!? You

could easily just go home and forget this ever happened. You said yourself that you didn't love

me!"


Amelia smiled. "It's the wish of my father that I marry you. He's arranged the marriage with your

adoptive father and I accept my father's honorable wishes."


Ranma frowned. "You do realize that he probably just wants to dump all the responsibility of

being a king onto me and you so he can retire don't you?" He asked.


Amelia didn't really hear him. "Ranma love doesn't really come at first sight like most people

would like to think. It grows with time. I trust that we may be able to fall in love one day if we

were to just give it time and trust in our fathers and out future."


Ranma looked surprised and blinked a few times. "That actually made... sense! That's the first

time I've heard you say anything without referring to Justice, not to mention I’d never really

thought about it like that."


Amelia smiled proudly. "You make a good point Ranma! Besides falling in love, the time we'll

share together will be spent partly fighting for JUSTICE!! Together Blah blah blah Justice, blah

blah blah justice, blah blah blah smite evil..."


Ranma continued walking and decided that drowning his fiancé out would be the smartest thing to

do. "How can I be expected to fall in love with someone who's completely obsessed with

JUSTICE and LOVE!?!" He asked Crimson when he was just out of Amelia's hearing. "She

sounds like Sailor freaking Moon!"


The small group then continued on their way on to Gobraddenov


TBC...


*************


author's note: {More edits. Man this is hurting my wrist. I’m gonna get carpul Tunnel because of

this. DAMN YOU BIOLOGY!}


Morden Night: mordennight@hotmail.com

http://mordennight.tripod.com