Chapter 10:  Kodachi Kuno
Ohohohohoho My Goddess!


She walked steadily down the darkened streets, her footsteps
echoing like thunder. A cool breeze blowing through her hair did little
to calm the fire that burned within her. Don't think about it. Just keep
moving.

It had hurt to leave. It was as if she had spent most of her life
cooking what she thought would be the perfect meal, and had then had to
throw it out because the ingredients were bad. But it would have hurt
worse to stay. And she didn't even know who to blame, whose fault it was
that everything good in her life had turned sour. Ranma? The magic
wishing amulet? Nabiki?

She could see a figure up ahead, barely visible in the
moonlight. Who would be out on the streets at two in the morning? A
criminal, maybe. Her hand reached back to rest on the hilt of her
weapon. If he tried to mug her, he'd be in for a surprise. She almost
hoped that he would; beating someone into a pulp might work off some of
her frustrations.

She walked past the dark figure, not bothering to slow down.
"Whoever you are, if you're looking to mess with someone, I'm the wrong
person. Stay out of my way, or I'll teach you a new lesson in pain." She
was, after all, an expert on it by now.

"Hey, take it easy! I'm not looking for any trouble." The voice
was familiar. "Ukyo? Is that you?"

"Ryoga?" Stepping closer, Ukyo could see the outline of the
familiar bandanna. "What on Earth are you doing wandering out here at
this time of night? I thought that magic wishing locket gave you a sense
of direction?"

"Yeah. A sense of direction!" He spoke with an almost child-like
excitement in his voice. "I can go anywhere I want, and find my way
back! It's like I was blind, and now I'm not!"

"That's great. I'm happy for you, sugar," she said, trying to
sound upbeat and failing miserably.

"I know it's weird, but sometimes I can't even sleep at night,
knowing that there are places to go and that I can get to them." Ryoga
pointed. "Akane's house is down that way, about a couple of miles.
And her school is...." He stopped talking and looked down at Ukyo's face. "Are-- are you all right?"

"I'm fine." What good would it do to tell him? He probably
didn't really care anyway.

"You don't look fine." He moved a little closer. "Did you have a
fight with Ranma? Or with-- with someone else?"

"No. Not exactly. It's nothing important," Ukyo declared firmly.
"I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"Uh... if you say so...." Ryoga stood silent for a moment,
pausing awkwardly. "Anyway, Furinkan is south from here, six blocks past
the...."

"Just tell me one thing." Ukyo grabbed onto the collar of
Ryoga's shirt. "Why the *hell* did I have to make a dumb wish like that
one? 'Someone nice like Ran-chan for my friend.' Of all the things I
could've asked for!"

Ryoga nodded slightly. "Um, yeah, that's...."

"And that Nabiki! Her wish made her the final interpreter of all
the other wishes. She must have *known* how things would turn out! Did
she *really* think I wanted to be one of Ranma's harem girls?"

"Well, I, uh..."

Ukyo noticed that her face was less than an inch away from Ryoga's. She abruptly backed up. "But I don't want to talk about it."

"Look, Ukyo... is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes." Ukyo could feel tears forming in her eyes. "Yes, there
is. Let's go to my restaurant. I want... I want to cook for somebody." She desperately needed someone to eat her food, to tell her how good it was; to know that she was the best at something. "It's two blocks from here."

"Actually, it's only a block and a ha--" Ryoga cleared his
throat. "Um, sure, that'd be great. Lead the way."

***

It was once said that the night has a thousand eyes. One such
pair of eyes, hidden in the darkness, watched the pair walk off. Their
owner suppressed the urge to laugh out loud.

Poor dear little girl, she thought with a sneer as she bounded
away in the opposite direction from that in which the pair had gone. No
doubt the girl had learned the truth -- that dear Ranma's heart did not
belong to her. So very touching. Kuno Kodachi was always one to
appreciate good tragic drama.

Kodachi's black cloak billowed in the wind as she moved silently
through the night, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. The wind's invisible
touch played over her body, like the caress of some secret lover. One
thing Ukyo had said stuck in her mind. A magic locket that could grant
wishes? It was the stuff of children's fairy tales; one would have to be
insane to believe in such a thing.

On the other hand, so many strange things had happened in Nerima
lately, while Kodachi had been on vacation. Two mysterious deaths, then
Ranma-sama marrying that Chinese barbarian waitress, and divorcing her
immediately after. Then the waitress vanishing, then re-appearing and
moving in with Ranma, along with that cook. Not that these events couldn't be explained rationally, but they certainly indicated that something quite unusual was afoot.

In the end, Kodachi had to trust in her intuition. Some inner
sense was telling her that there *was* something here -- something that
could lead to unprecedented opportunity for someone with the vision and
skill to take advantage of it. That last qualification eliminated most
of the population of Nerima, of course; Kodachi had to admit that the
idea of some of them having inadvertently wished themselves dead was
quite plausible.

The possibilities were intoxicating; a wish that could give
Kodachi anything she wanted; and there was oh so much that she wanted.
But even if the fairy tale was real, what guarantee was there that she
would get what she asked for? Any wish she made could be misinterpreted.
Kodachi knew better than anyone how playing by someone else's rules was
a recipe for failure.

Suddenly, as she neared the Tendo home, she remembered something
else that the cook had said. An idea crossed her mind, and she laughed, and laughed, and laughed...

***

"It all seemed so good at first. Ranma living together with all
three of us. Marrying Ranma was what I'd always wanted. I didn't want to
share him, but it seemed like the best I could do."

"Uh..." Ryoga had no idea what he ought to say. Handling this
kind of situation wasn't something he knew how to do. "Was it... was it
really that bad?"

"Uh huh. What happened was Ranma and Akane were a couple, while
Shampoo and I were just sort of... extra. The way they look at each
other, it's like there's something going between them that we're just
not part of. Kinda like we were the family pets, y'know?"

"I know." Ryoga nodded. "Damn Ranma. How the hell could he do something like that?"

"That's my Ran-chan. He can be sweet, and he can be a complete ass." Ukyo sighed. "At the same time. Thanks for listening, Ryoga. You're a nice guy."

"Th- thanks." Ryoga had had no idea what to say, so he had
mostly just let Ukyo talk. That seemed to be good enough. "You're nice,
too. Thanks for the food, it was great! But I suppose I'd better go
now."

"Glad you liked it, sugar." Ukyo beamed with what seemed like
genuine happiness. "G'night! See you tomorrow. Like they say, it's
another day."

***

"Breakfast!"

Nabiki forced herself out of bed at the sound of her mother's
voice. Her mind was foggy, and she wanted nothing more than to just go
back to sleep. Still she managed to move her legs down the stairs, and
before she knew it she was seated at the table, half-listening to the conversation.

"Shampoo, would you like some rice?"

"Hm? Oh. Thank you."

"Pass the soy sauce, will you, Tendo?"

"That's strange, I wonder where Ukyo is? Oh, hello! Look,
everyone, we have a visitor!"

Nabiki turned. Kuno Kodachi stood in the room, clad in her black
rose leotard. Her arms were folded across her chest, and a confident
smirk adorned her face.

Akane snorted. "What do *you* want?"

"Why, to say hello to darling Ranma, of course! I've been out of
town, and I've just recently acquired a lovely little piece of jewelry
that I'm just dying to show him!" She let something shiny dangle from
her hand. Nabiki looked closer and saw that it was the wishing locket.

"Oh my, it looks lovely!" Kasumi exclaimed.

"What are you doing with that?!" Akane's eyes widened, as did
Ranma's.

Nabiki shuddered. The locket had been on her desk the evening
before. Kodachi had to have broken in and taken it. To Nabiki it was
disconcerting; like finding out that her room was infested with
cockroaches that crawled all over her as she slept. Nerima's favorite
psychotic gymnast would have to be punished soon, as an object lesson.

"Um, that looks kinda cool." Ranma inched a little closer to
Kodachi. "Mind if I see it once?"

"Oh, but I'm not through with it yet, darling." Kodachi smiled
evilly as she clutched the heart-shaped charm tightly in her fist. "Now,
let's see... if I could wish for anything I liked, whatever would it
be?"

"Go ahead and wish." Nabiki smirked. She was going to take great
pleasure in twisting Kodachi's request into something disastrous for
her.

"Very well, then." Kodachi raised her arm in front of her face,
the locket held between two fingers. "Magic amulet, I wish I were a
goddess."

"Okay." A now-familiar metaphysical opening appeared in Nabiki's
consciousness. Her mind reached inside and quickly issued instructions,
like a foreman to a building crew. She knew exactly how to give Kodachi
what she deserved. "There. You're a goddess."

"Thank you." Kodachi grinned. The locket tumbled out of her
grasp, falling to the floor.

All eyes turned toward Nabiki in puzzlement, as though she had
just made a joke and they were struggling desperately to comprehend the
punchline.

Kodachi began to laugh.

Something was wrong, terribly wrong. The wish should've
backfired already -- shouldn't it? Nabiki couldn't even seem to recall what interpretation she had forced onto the wish. She had been certain that it would lead to disaster for Kodachi; but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to remember what kind of disaster.

"Kodachi?" Akane said angrily. "What...."

"Mmmm." Kodachi gazed lazily through half-lidded eyes. "I think
you should all address me as Kodachi-sama."

A chill swept through the room. A pale yellow light surrounded
Kodachi, becoming brighter with each passing second. Her laugh grew
louder, louder, until it seemed to resonate into something beyond
physical.

*Oh, gods,* Nabiki thought. *What have I just done?* If there
was a joke here, it was on her. On all of them.

***

"You've just become WHAT?!" Ranma's jaw dropped. "You've gotta
be kidding!"

"A goddess, darling. Never mind. Just come to me!" Kodachi's arm
gestured toward him. A nebulous glow seemed to follow in the direction
she pointed, wafting over Ranma's body. He stood, suddenly blank-eyed
and expressionless, stepping slowly toward the gymnast, as if
sleepwalking.

"Ranma? What are you DOING?!" Akane grabbed Ranma's arm. He
continued his zombie march forward, not paying attention to her in the
least, until he stood next to Kodachi.

"I'm afraid darling Ranma is mine now," Kodachi said, her tone
condescending and mocking.

"Oh yeah?" Akane planted her legs into a fighting stance. Then
her eyes narrowed. "I've got a better idea." She bent down and picked up
the wishing locket. "Now that you've had your turn...."

"Akane, you've already had a wish!" Nabiki said urgently. "Give
it to someone else!"

Akane scanned the room, then threw the locket. "Mr. Saotome!
Catch!"

Genma caught the amulet. His mouth opened, his lips moved, but no sound was heard.

"Mr. Saotome?! What's wrong?"

"Mmm." Kodachi's fingers lazily stroked Ranma's hair. "I think
silence is golden, don't you?"

"STOP IT!" Akane glared at the gymnast, her fists tightly
clenched. "Let him talk! Stop whatever it is you're doing to Ranma! Or I
swear I'll...."

"Akane, NO!" Nabiki shouted. Couldn't she see how dangerous
Kodachi had become? They needed a plan. They needed time to think of
one.

"Oh, I can see why you're upset. My taking darling Ranma away
leaves you with no one, doesn't it?" Kodachi flashed a haughty smile at
Akane. "How inconsiderate of me. Allow me to rectify my oversight."

Akane had no time to react. Her body seemed to swirl, colors
mixing together like cake batter. Her clothes slumped to the ground,
empty. From below, a voice squealed. "Buu-keeeeee!"

"There! I've made you just like that pet of yours. I'm sure the
two of you will be a wonderful couple."

"AKANE?!" Soun's head grew instantly into a twisted demon-mask.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTER?!?" He stopped short as a yellowish
translucent globe sprang up, surrounding him and his wife. His fists
banged against it, to no apparent avail.

"Now, then. Does anyone else wish to dispute my claim to Ranma
dearest?" Kodachi turned toward Shampoo. "You, perhaps?"

"Not fight you." Shampoo answered lifelessly, her eyes not
leaving the floor. "Can't."

"How very sensible of you, my dear. The rest of you might take
this as a lesson. Stay out of my way, and I'll leave you alone. Become
annoyances, and you will be dealt with."

Nodoka stared defiantly at Kodachi. "Young lady, there may be
nothing those of us here can do against you. But there are true gods in
this world, and you shall be held accountable to them."

"Perhaps I shall. Until then, au revoir." Black rose petals
suddenly filled the air around Kodachi and Ranma, as they began to fade
from view.

"Oh, dear. Oh, dear." Kasumi stared forlornly at the rose-petal
covered floor where Kodachi and Ranma had just disappeared. "I'd better
get started on cleaning this."

***

Ten rings. No answer. Ukyo kept the receiver tightly pressed
against her ear, Fifteen rings. Twenty. She finally gave up and hung up
the phone. Ryoga was probably out walking again. Hopefully, he'd be back
later.

Nice. He had said that she was nice. She felt a bit foolish,
like a schoolgirl infatuated with her latest heartthrob. But talking to
Ryoga had made her feel so good. And as she had lain awake afterwards,
she had thought about the wish she had made. *Someone nice like
Ran-chan.* Ryoga was nice. And he had appeared almost like magic, right
after she had made the wish. It couldn't have been coincidence.

*Mrs. Ukyo Hibiki.* That had a nice ring to it. Maybe the wish
hadn't been wasted after all.

***

Tatewaki Kuno stood on the grounds of the Kuno estate, his feet
planted firmly apart in a defiant stance. "I implore you, Sister. Cast
out whatever foul power it is that possesses you!"

Kodachi was quite unimpressed. "I am not possessed, Brother. *I*
am the power."

"No good can come to those who dabble in dark sorcery. I call
upon the demons that have tempted you with their evil deceit to release
my sister, and if they do not, I shall have to battle you for your own
good!"

"Brother, dear. I offer you one last chance to desist. If you
continue to pester me, I shall be forced to deal with you."

"I'll deal wid'em, Kotchi!" The father of the two moved toward
Tatewaki, grinning wildly, armed with a pair of scissors in his right
hand. "I thinkin' dis brudda goan' get a new haircut right about now."

Tatewaki casually swatted his father away with his bokken. The
would-be Hawaiian flew through the air, crashing face-first into an oak
tree. "I have no intention of allowing you to continue towards your own
destruction, Sister. For the sake of your own...."

Kodachi interrupted. Her brother was irritating her, and she no
longer had to put up with him. "Very well, then." She visualized
Tatewaki vanishing from this place and re-appearing at the south pole.
Flexing a muscle in her mind, she made it happen.

Of course, her dear brother would eventually find his way back
home. He was nothing if not persistent. Perhaps, though, a little time
in the antarctic would... cool him off.

"And what of you, Father? You have three choices. You may
worship my glory. You may keep out of my sight. Or you may meet with an
unfortunate fate."

Kodachi's father stared at the empty space where his son had
just been standing. "If dat's my choices, I t'ink I pick glory."

"A wise choice, Father. You may have the honor of being the
keeper of this, my first temple." Kodachi handed a piece of paper to her
father. "Here is a list of modifications to the building. Have these
made right away."

"I goan' get right on it!" The elder Kuno took the paper in hand
and marched away. He began to sing, loudly and off-key, "Glory, glory,
hallelujah! Worship Kotchi's what I do, YEAH!"

*My father is stranger than I thought,* Kodachi observed. Still,
he had his uses. Remodeling the mansion into a temple would give him
something to do.

And now, she had something to do. It was time to enjoy the
pleasures that her new status afforded her. Starting with darling Ranma.

***

A thought stabbed into Akane's consciousness. *Hello?*

*Ranma!? Where-- where are you?*

*I don't know. Someone's bedroom. I just woke up. The last thing
I remember is Kodachi making a wish. What the heck is going on?*

*She's-- she's got powers now. She turned me into a pig. Like
P-chan. I--*

*Akane, she's here. She just appeared from nowhere. What's she
doing? She's taking off her--*

Akane concentrated, trying to bring an image into focus. A
kimono being thrown to the floor. A book next to it? She tried to make
out the title. Sexual techniques of the gods? The kami s--*

Ranma's perceptions abruptly jerked toward a fully naked
Kodachi. *Oh my gods... I think she's-- she's gonna--*

*Ranma, what's she doing? What's happening?*

*Akane, my arms and legs and... are moving around on their own!
Like I'm a puppet! And I'm... oh gods, no!* Fear. Ranma was terrified of
what was happening. As a martial artist, he was willing to battle
against any opponent; but how could he fight when his body wouldn't obey
him? *No, please... she's making me... help me, Akane!*

*Oh, Ranma... I wish I could.* Akane's pig eyes were squeezed
tightly shut, but the images still flooded into her consciousness. No!
She didn't want to see! But something wouldn't let her cut off the
telepathic link. She could feel Ranma's mind, hanging on to hers as if
it were the only thing keeping him from drowning. She had to stay. As
bad as it was for her, it was infinitely worse for him.

In her imagination, Akane pretended that she and Ranma were
together. She followed along with Kodachi's movements, making love to
Ranma's mind while the gymnast ravaged his body. And Ranma did the same, visualizing her in place of Kodachi. He wanted to be with *her.* That had always been one of Akane's deepest fears -- that Ranma would find himself with one of his other women, and he would *like* it. But it was happening, and he felt nothing but revulsion from
Kodachi's touch. He wanted to be with her.

She held him in a mental embrace, sending all the warmth and
hope that she could summon up. A telepathic communion. It was the best
they could do for now.

***

By mid-afternoon, the Tendo living room had turned into a
staring contest. Everyone looked blankly around the room, not knowing
what else to do.

Nabiki glanced over at her sisters. Kasumi sat cross-legged on
the floor, with P-kane on her lap. The girl-turned-pig's eyelids were
pressed tightly together, as if she were desperately trying to will
herself to somewhere else. *Good luck,* Nabiki silently said.

She reached over to pick up the heart-shaped locket. "I still
think that this might be the key to --" The sound of her voice abruptly
cut off as she touched the heart. The locket loved to give people what
they wish for. But what did *it* want? What was *its* innermost desire?

Genma-panda held up a sign that read, THE AMULET SILENCES ANYONE
WHO TOUCHES IT. WE ALL TRIED IT. He set the sign aside and went back to
munching from a bag of potato chips.

"SAOTOME!" Soun stood, glaring angrily at the panda. "My
daughter's been turned into a pig, your son's been kidnapped, and all
you can do is hold up signs? Why can't you do something useful?!"

"Dear, please." Mother Tendo took her husband by the arm,
pulling him away. "He's trying his best. We all are."

"I'm sorry, Saotome." Soun sighed. "I should have gone to the
temple with Nodoka-san. Praying would be better than sitting here doing
nothing."

P-kane squealed. It was a high-pitched, pain-filled moaning
sound. Kasumi petted her, humming softly. "It's all right, Akane. It'll
be all right." P-kane nuzzled her head against Kasumi's stomach. Kasumi
was always there when her family needed her. In so many ways, she was
Nabiki and Akane's real mother; not the other woman who had given birth
to them, then went away for ten years, and who they still didn't really
know at all.

*Damn it.* It was no use. How the hell could Nabiki come up with
a plan to stop Kodachi when she had no information with which to work?
She needed to know Kodachi's capabilities, her limits and weaknesses. If
any.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Shampoo. There *was* one
thing left to try.

"Shampoo," she said. "Come with me, please. I need your help
with something."

The Amazon didn't look up. "Why you need Shampoo?" She had been
listless for the past few weeks. The doctors had diagnosed it as natal
depression. Nabiki wondered if it wasn't something more.

"Because you're the most familiar with that little cookbook that
Mousse left for us," Nabiki answered. "I can't even read Chinese all
that well."

Shampoo stood up, following Nabiki into the kitchen.

***

Unseen, a pair of eyes watched from a concealed position on the
porch. *Verrrrrry interesting,* the person thought.

He should've been more careful. It hadn't been at all smart of
him to leave an artifact of such power just lying around where anyone
could've found it. In retrospect, he was lucky that one of them hadn't
accidentally sunk Japan into the ocean. Not that that would've been any
great loss, but a lot of nubile young ladies would've perished, and he
might not even have been able to recover their underthings.

No matter. He had rested, but it was time for him to get back to
doing what he did best. And for all their careless bumbling, these
amateurs had accomplished something with the wishing locket that meant a
golden opportunity for him. The opportunity of a lifetime.

He moved silently down the street under the cover of the
evening's shadows. Now was his chance. Soon, his greedy little hands
would be fondling the underwear of a goddess.

***

The phone was answered after five rings. "Hello?"

"Hello? Ryoga?"

"Oh, hi, Ukyo! I just walked in the door a minute ago."

"What a coincidence! Anyway, how are you, sugar? Been out
walking again?"

"Yeah. Walking, and... thinking."

"About what?" *About me?*

"Oh, this and that... about my life, mostly. I used to wander
around all the time because I had no sense of direction. Now that that's
over, I've decided that I want to do something more."

"Like what?"

His voice trembled with nervousness. "Ukyo, I... I'm talking
about starting a family. There's... someone I know who I want to ask to
marry me. She's really nice, and I'm pretty sure she likes me a lot.
I'm... I'm thinking about proposing to her."

"Oh, YES! I mean, I'm sure that's what she'd say."

"You really think so?"

"I do! I mean, of course that's what I think." *Oh. please! Ask!
ASK!*

"All right, I'm going to ask her! Yes! I've got to do it before
I lose my nerve! I'm going to call Akari RIGHT NOW!"

The name struck Ukyo like a sword through the chest. "Ak--?"

"Thanks, Ukyo. You gave me the confidence boost that I needed.
You're a good friend. Talk to you later!"

"I-- no problem, hon." She tried to keep from crying. "I'm sure
she'll want to marry you. I mean, who wouldn't?"

A dial tone buzzed in Ukyo's ear. She set the receiver back onto
its cradle, as carefully and gently as if it were a newborn child. For a
few moments, she paused, gazing idly at the telephone. Then the giant
spatula came off her back and into her hands.

"AAAAAIIIIEEEEE!!" The spatula crashed down onto the phone,
cracking open the casing. "DIE! DIE! DIE!" Another blow tore the cord,
sending the receiver flying across the room. Another, and another, and
the telephone was soon mostly reduced to debris, as was the table it had
been sitting on, though that didn't stop Ukyo from continuing to pound
on them.

Drained and exhausted, she collapsed onto her futon, asking
herself the same question over and over. *Why? WHY?*

And she remembered the wish she had made. *I wish I had someone
nice like Ran-chan for my friend.*

That's what it had given her. Someone like Ran-chan. Exactly like...

And as Ukyo clutched her pillow tightly, sobbing into it, she
wished that she'd never heard of Ranma. Or Ryoga. Or magic lockets.

But no one answered her wish.

***

It was early morning. Nabiki strode purposefully down the
streets of Nerima. The sun had only risen about an hour ago and, she
observed dryly, she had already acquired two shadows.

"Are you going to the Nekohanten?" Mousse asked. He stood ahead
of her, walking backwards.

"Yep." Nabiki quickened her pace, making Mousse and his
companion move faster to keep up.

"Are you going to see Cologne?" the woman asked. She looked
almost but not quite identical to Shampoo. A tight silk Chinese dress
covered her shapely yet slender form. She wore tan hose on her
well-toned legs. Both she and Mousse had an ethereal quality, as though
you could almost see through them if you stared close enough.

"Yup." *That's eight; twelve questions left,* Nabiki silently
quipped.

"Is this part of a plan to stop Kodachi?" Mousse asked.

"Maybe." Nabiki was getting rather irritated. "I don't know if
Kodachi worries you in your current state, Mousse, but if there's
anything you can do or suggest to help us, feel free."

"We can't do anything against Kodachi," the woman said, flatly,
as if reciting a prepared stock response. "She's made a wish, and it's
been granted. All we can do is let it run its course."

She hadn't taken the same attitude towards Mousse's wish. Funny,
that. Nabiki scratched her head. Something was odd here. "Um, Miss
Guardian Angel, or whatever your name is... do you mind if I ask *you* a
question?"

"Not at all. Go right ahead."

"Why are you wearing western-style nylons with a classical
Chinese dress?"

"The nylons were the result of another wish. I granted one for
some young man before Happosai brought the locket to your home."

"He wished for a pair of nylons?"

"No. His wish was that he had a name that was truly appropriate
for him. Then he vanished, and these appeared in his place. Strange,
really."

Nabiki winced hard. Then she noticed that she had arrived. She
knocked loudly on the Nekohanten's door.

Cologne poked her head out. "I'm sorry, we're not open yet.
Please come back at eight."

"I'm here to feed you, not the other way around." Nabiki held
out a glass of liquid. "Drink this, if you would."

Cologne sniffed at the liquid. "No, I wouldn't. I know Amazon herbs when I smell them. I happen to be a bit more intelligent than you evidently think."

"Oh, I think you're very intelligent. You're smart enough to
know that nothing in that cookbook of yours -- let alone anything *I*
could come up with -- is strong enough to affect you for more than a few
hours. I'm not stupid either. I'm smart enough to know that if I tricked
you, you could make me regret it in many, many ways."

Cologne stared at the liquid. "What is it?"

"A memory restorative. Drink up."

"Nabiki, what are you doing?" Mousse protested. "Don't you know
how dangerous she is?"

She shot back with an irate glare. "Kodachi, right now, is more
dangerous. I don't have a clue how to stop her. Neither do you,
apparently. Information that we need might be stored in Cologne's
memory." She spat out the words with hostility and impatience. "Now, do
you have a better idea?"

Mousse didn't answer. Nabiki handed the potion to Cologne, who
began to drink. Nabiki hoped that she hadn't just handed Ranma over to
Shampoo. But then, that could hardly be worse than his current state of
affairs.

"Thank you, child." Cologne's expression seemed to sharpen as
she handed the drink back to Nabiki. About a quarter of it remained.

"Don't you want to finish it?" she asked.

"No. I want you to. I need you to tell me everything that's
happened because of this magical locket, and I don't want you to neglect
a single detail."

***

Ranma woke as he felt someone's lips meet his own.

"Good morning, Ranma darling." Kodachi leaned over him. She was
dressed in a brightly-colored floral kimono.

He stretched lazily on the bed. "Mornin'."

"How are you feeling? Better?"

"Yeah. I had this really weird dream. I was gonna marry Akane,
and then you turned her into a little piglet."

"A pig?" She laughed. "How amusing. I only hope that Akane is
getting the help she needs."

"It don't matter to me. All she ever did is beat me up and make
me eat her lousy cooking. You were always the one who was my best
friend. Every time she and I had an argument, you were always there to
hear my side of it."

"Mmmm. Leaving Akane doesn't make you sad?"

"Nope. You were always the one for me. I musta been crazy not to
see it." He pushed himself backwards, sitting up with his back against
the bedboard. "So, what are you planning for today?"

"You'll see." She grinned. "Yesterday, I found out for myself
how much I could do. Today, the world will learn." She sat next to him,
stroking a hand over his chest hairs. "Of course, I could stay here a
little while longer...."

"Um, I'm still kinda tired. Lemme take a rain check, okay?"

"As you wish. I'll return shortly." She kissed him, then pulled
back. "Until then, goodbye, my love!" Kodachi abruptly disappeared from
the room.

Ranma sat back and waited, his vision scanning several times
back and forth around the bedroom. After a few moments, he was satisfied
that she had gone.

*Akane? Are you there?*

*I'm here. Are you all right?*

*Yeah. I think I managed to fool her. She really thinks I'm
brainwashed.*

*You nearly had me fooled too, you know.*

*Hey, c'mon. All that stuff about best friends? It'd take a
complete idiot to believe that crap!*

*Yes, well...* Akane decided that she had better say something,
and quickly. *It's just that... she's so powerful!*

*Yeah, I know. Actually, she nearly had me.* If he hadn't had
Akane's mind with him, anchoring him to reality.... *But at least this
way, she's not controlling my body anymore. And she thinks I'm on her
side now.*

*Good. That's an advantage for us.* They would certainly need
any advantage they could get.

*How are you doing? Did you sleep OK?*

*All right, I guess. Kasumi let me sleep with her in her room. I
hate being a pig!*

*Yeah, I don't blame you.* It was that idiot Ryoga's fault. If
he hadn't kept acting like Akane's pet....

*Ranma!* Akane's thoughts suddenly burst into happy excitement.
*That's right! P-CHAN WAS RYOGA!*

*Um... uh huh, so...*

Ranma felt a quick mental kiss. Then the link went off. He lay
back down on the bed, thinking over what to do next.

***

Akane scampered across the floor, leaping over the base of the
bathroom door. Everything seemed to have grown to gigantic proportions.
Clouds of steam filled the room. Her father could be heard, humming a
tune as he scrubbed himself clean.

Taking as deep a breath as her tiny lungs would allow, she
pinched her nostrils shut and dove in. When she stood, the room had
resumed its normal size. She looked down and noticed human arms and
legs.

"Akane!" Soun stared with wide-eyed astonishment. "You're--"

"I'm human again, Dad! I figured that since Kodachi had made me
the same as P-chan, hot water would bring me back to normal, the same
way it did for Ryoga!" She began to stretch her arms, her legs, her
torso, reveling in the feel of personhood.

Soun continued to gape at her. She followed his gaze and noticed
that it was aimed somewhere below her face.

"Eep!" Akane grabbed a towel off one of the racks, covering
herself. It was a little easier now to understand why Shampoo had used
to turn up naked in bathrooms so often.

***

"So, that's what I know," Nabiki finished. "Any ideas?"

"Hmmm." Cologne rubbed her chin ponderously. "Yes, I know just
the thing that might help. But I'll need the ingredients to make it up."
She produced a notepad and quickly scrawled some Chinese characters onto
it, then handed it over to Mousse. "Here's a list of them."

Mousse's eyes bulged. "Quite a lot of rare items here. You
really need all of this?"

"Yes. And being in spirit form, the two of you can obviously
procure everything much more quickly than I or Ms. Tendo."

The woman who looked like Shampoo scanned down the list. "Even
so, it'll take us quite a while."

Cologne smirked. "Then you'd better get right on it, hadn't
you?"

Nabiki watched as the two spirit-figures receded away. After
some time had passed, she spoke. "Is it just my suspicious and paranoid
nature making me think so, or did you just send them on a... wild Mousse
chase?"

"You are very astute, young lady." Cologne sipped from a cup of
tea. "Whatever plans you and I make will need to be out of earshot of
the enemy."

"Those two are the enemy?" Nabiki stared quizzically at the old
woman. "Just what are we up against here anyway?"

"A rare and powerful type of spirit. Arabian legends know them
as djinn. They possess enormous magic, but not the imagination with
which to use it. By themselves, they literally cannot think of anything
to do with their power."

"So they grant wishes for people?"

"Yes. Thereby tapping into and feeding upon the imagination of
their -- for lack of a better word -- victims. It's from this that their
human embodiments, such as that imitation of my great-granddaughter, are
constructed."

"Ah. So Mousse is in love with a figment of his imagination?"

"Precisely -- though, in truth, he always was. You know how
infatuated he was with Shampoo. Naturally, he dreamed up his 'Guardian
Angel' as an idealized version of her."

"And the others? What about Desaix?"

"From Ranma's subconscious, obviously. He claimed to be a
personification of destiny. Don't you think that's how Ranma would see
destiny -- as divided into narrowly-defined paths, with various powers
trying to force him along one or another of them?"

"So then all of that stuff he said about Ranma's possible
futures was a load of...."

"Yes." Cologne chuckled. "If there's one thing I've learned in
my hundred years, it's that destiny is just not that simple."

"Okay... so...." Nabiki's mind began to scan through past
events, replaying through them like a VCR on fast-forward, trying to fit
them into what Cologne had just told her. "What about the time around
when I made my wish? Akane was acting really strange; almost like a
caricature of herself. Do you think the spirit whatever-it-is was
affecting her?"

"Possibly. That may be the way that Ukyo sees your sister. It
may have tapped into her mind and imposed her version of things. On the
other hand, it may have merely been a side-effect of the telepathic link
between Akane and Ranma. Perhaps some low-level feedback providing a
constant subliminal irritation -- like a toothache that makes one
cranky. I don't know enough about telepathy to do more than guess about
such things."

Cologne finished her tea, and set the cup onto the table. "And
what of you? Can you remember what made you choose the particular wish
that you did?"

"Yes, I can." Being able to recall things in vivid detail
certainly came in useful. Nabiki made a mental note to save the recipe
for the memory potion. She only hoped she wouldn't forget about it. "I
wanted to prevent anyone further from making stupid wishes and
unwittingly -- or even wittingly -- causing disaster." Even to her own
ears, the words weren't completely believable. "At least I *think*
that's why I made that wish. Could be that the power was affecting me,
too." It was a difficult and uncomfortable admission to make. Nabiki had
always thought of herself as a user, not someone who could be used.

"Perhaps." Cologne smiled, like a teacher whose student had
finally mastered a lesson. "But it didn't work in the case of Kodachi."
She leaned back in her chair. "I must admit that I'm puzzled about that
myself."

A memory came unbidden into Nabiki's mind. Kodachi's voice.
*When you hear me make my wish, you will allow it to be fulfilled
exactly as intended. There will be no need to twist its meaning.*

"Damn! A hypnotic suggestion! That's how she did it! She was in
my room the night before she made the wish. She must have done it then.
Probably used some sort of chemical to drug me." Nabiki hoped she'd get
the chance to pay Kodachi back for what she did, with interest.

"So that was it." Cologne nodded. "At least now we know what
we're up against."

"That we do. Now what can we do to stop it?"

For an instant Cologne looked her age as she slouched in her
chair. "I'm... not certain."

TO BE CONCLUDED