Pangea 11

PANGEA:

"The Land That Time Ignored"

(A side-story to
"A Tale of Two Wallets,"
by yours truly:

Jim Robert Bader)

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi 
Kosuke Fujishima, Naoko Takeuchi & Others,
with characters, ideas and situations created or suggested by my
fellow fanfic writers DB Sommers, Ryan Anderson, T.H. Tiger 
(Peter Schell), Ted Hsu, Rann Aridorn, Bill Guiroff, Wade 
Tritschler, Mike Koos and Steve Thesken, take a bow, people!)


HENTAI ALERT---YOU ARE ENTERING THE LEMON
MARANGE ZONE (WHERE NORMAL COMMUNITY
STANDARDS OF GOOD TASTE DO NOT APPLY).
PROCEED ON AHEAD ONLY IF YOU DO NOT MIND
SLIGHTLY OVER-THE-TOP FANTASIES CONCERNING
TEENAGED YOUTH BETWEEN THE AGES OF 16-20
GETTING IT ON IN A LOVELY PARISIAN SETTING.
BE CAUTIOUS WHERE YOU STEP BECAUSE THERE
ARE STRAY APHRODESIAC SPELLS AT LARGE AND
YOU MIGHT GET DRAWN INTO THE ACTION, AND
THIS COULD LEAD TO EXHAUSTION, BOW-LEGGED
WALKING, PRETERNATURAL HAIR LOSS AND POSSIBLY
EVEN BLINDNESS.  YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED!


Set within the timeframe of Chapter 101 of my fanfic
series, "A Tale of Two Wallets," between the time when
the gang parted from Nekonlon China and their eventual
arrival one week later back in Nerima)


FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE:
(With apologies to Lee Falk)

Ranma is engaged to marry both Nabiki and Shampoo;
Nabiki is an Apprenticed Lore Master and Shampoo is
cursed to turn into a winged cat; Akane has wings and
Ukyo turns into a boy and is engaged to Makoto (Sailor
Jupiter), while Happosai is a handsome swain engaged to
Miss Hinako; Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) is romantically
involved with Rei Hino (Sailor Mars) while Kodachi is
carrying on a not-so-private affair with Kasumi, and
Ryoga has just begun to get acquainted with Minako Aino.
Everything else beyond that is purely coincidental.



Episode Oh-Eleven

"We'll always have Paris..."
(Part One)





"If at first you don't succeed, ma cheri, try, try again..."

Peorth smiled to herself as she witnessed her handiwork set in on the 
unsuspecting targets of her latest endeavor.  It was a brilliant first step if 
she did say so herself, trapping those teenagers in a bedroom setting with some 
of the pollen spores that she had "liberated" from Pangea, thus insuring that 
Makoto Kino would not be in any condition to interfere with her overarching plan 
of bringing Akane and Ukyo together.  All that it took now was to get the true 
targets of her motherly attentions alone by themselves and then she would 
unleash one of the other "pollen bombs" that she was carrying, and then the fun 
would really get underway.  It was such a simple plan that it was almost 
brilliant in its simplicity, and all that she had to do was somehow sneak it 
under the watchful radar of her other "divine Progeny," the apprenticed Lore 
Master, Nabiki.

As she smiled in watching Makoto go at it once again with the blonde dynamo 
named Minako she chanced to hear a voice speak up beside her, "You never really 
give up, do you?  Keep this up and you are going to wind up alienating both of 
your daughters..."

"GAK!!!" Peorth was so startled that she withdrew at once from the wall through 
which she had been peering in on the bedroom of two Senshi giving each other 
vigorous "69" style tongue action.  She whirled about on the narrow ledge upon 
which she had been perched only to find the Nekonlon priestess-Consort named 
Mon-Mon was perched there beside her, bare legs dangling over the ledge as she 
strummed a few notes upon her mandolin, facing out towards the greater city of 
Paris, France over which the hotel building where they were situated had such a 
magnificent view with the Seine river flowing by just beneath them.

"I will say it again, Goddess," Mon-Mon spoke up, "You ought to reconsider this 
course of action that you are undertaking.  You may be from heaven sent but you 
are neither omnipotent nor omniscient, and with the way things have been going 
of late this has the looming potential to blow up in your face very badly."

Peorth scowled and levitated off of the ledge to stare at the half-dressed 
Concubine before saying aloud, "I don't remember asking for your opinion, ma 
Cheri, nor do I think it is any of your business what I do on behalf of my 
daughters."

"Even so," Mon-Mon's fingers continued to tune her instrument as she regarded 
the hovering goddess from beneath her pale forelocks, "I am still obligated to 
Tendo Nabiki, and as such I feel it necessary to point out the obvious where it 
seems mete on occasion.  You are, of course, under no obligation to heed my 
words, but I think you would be well advised not to meddle so directly in the 
affairs of these particular mortals.  Nabiki in particular is likely to resent 
the rather ham-handed way that you have so far gone about in 'helping' her 
younger sister."

Peorth's regard of the beautiful Mon-Mon became more abstracted, and her tone 
took on a slightly distant air as she remarked, "There is more to you than meets 
the eye, Cheri.  I recall how you dealt with Neferti back on that island, and I 
find it difficult to reconcile your actions there with the behavior of a mere 
priestess to my Chinese colleague, Benzaiten."

"You mean when I saved your immortal life?" Mon-Mon smiled, "Or when I helped to 
revive you later?"

Unexpectedly the goddess had a sudden flash of unwelcome memories...of being 
defeated by Neferti then swallowed whole by her snake form...of being drawn into 
her stomach by tendrils that proceeded to ravish her all over, probing her 
openings while lavishing "rough-tongue" action over every square millimeter of 
her body, overwhelming Peorth with the sheer sensual impact of such all-
enfolding tactile stimulation.  And even as she was being devoured by the 
tentacles she felt her energies being leached away as Neferti grew stronger and 
Peorth gradually weaker until the Goddess of the Roses could do no more than 
impotently kick, writhe and twitch in the Snake goddess's belly, feeling 
helpless to resist as she was ever-so-slowly digested in the bath of Neferti's 
stomach juices...

She shuddered at this memory, then felt her body go red all over as she recalled 
the sudden release that came when Mon-Mon had defeated Neferti by allowing 
herself to be swallowed, all the better to attack the Egyptian daughter of Set 
from within, and how Peorth had lain twitching and spasming for several minutes 
after the end of her ordeal, only to find herself being picked up and carried by 
Mon-Mon like nothing so much as a sack of potatoes, to be deposited moments 
later into a nearby river so that the priestess could clean her up and help 
restore her divine circulation...

Peorth shuddered for an entirely different reason as she remembered all-too-
vividly what the Priestess had done next in the name of helping Peorth to 
"recover" from the trauma of her ordeal.  Hands far too skilled in the arts of 
pleasuring flesh had plied her skin and probed Peorth in those very places that 
the tentacles had ravished, only with such gentle and affectionate attention 
that it was not long before the goddess felt the first of several different 
kinds of spasming that were soon to wrack her body and...

With great effort Peorth wrenched her mind back to the present then glared at 
the opportunistic lady who had taken advantage of her in such an intimate moment 
of weakness, trying to form words to describe such an individual that would not 
imperil her self-image as a lady and finding nothing printable worth sharing.

"You..." Peorth started to growl.

"You are welcome."

The goddess blinked her eyes, "I beg your pardon?"

"It was my duty to assist you," Mon-Mon smiled, "Or would you rather I had left 
you where you were...to gradually become absorbed into Neferti, your immortal 
essence reduced to a mere shell of what you are so that you would become a 
willing slave to her?  Really, it was no trouble for me to help rectify this, 
and to see to it that you were purged of any lingering traces of her malevolent 
influence."

Peorth blinked again, "Is that what you are calling it, Cheri?"

"Well certainly, Cheri," Mon-Mon leered back even while stretching and curling 
her bare legs to show them off to full sensual inspection, "You don't honestly 
believe that a humble servant such as this one could get away molesting a 
goddess unless she were out of sorts and in desperate need of such attention?  
Fortunately I am well versed in all of the arts of touch-massage and therapy and 
it was quite enjoyable on the whole, helping you to liberate yourself from 
Neferti's diabolical influence."

Once again Peorth felt her body involuntarily shudder, but not so unpleasant 
this time, and she stared in renewed curiosity at the woman before her, 
suspecting a great deal but unprepared to venture more than a tentative guess as 
to why this mortal felt so curiously familiar.  And as she widened the range of 
her perceptions to take in more of the priestess's aura she became aware that 
there was a curious overlap that had a more than slightly nagging quality, as 
though she knew her from long ago in a different identity and...

Au courant?

All at once she had a sudden flash of memory and inspiration, and with a gasp 
Peorth said, "B-B-Benzaiten...?"

The priestess smiled, and in that knowing smile Peorth suddenly read her 
imminent peril...

And---meanwhile, inside the hotel room---Makoto and Minako briefly let off from 
their mutual tongue-to-twat session as the latter asked, "What was that?"

"What was what?" asked a slightly breathless Minako.

"I thought I heard a yelp," Makoto glanced towards the window then shrugged and 
decided it was unimportant, so without further ado she plunged her tongue back 
into the steaming hot snatch of her beloved fellow Senshi and felt Minako 
reciprocate after only the slightest of hesitations, and soon they were both 
bathing in the warm bath of their mutual juices, quite oblivious to the world at 
large or any personal commitments that they might otherwise have engendered...


*     *     *


Ukyo awoke with a start, having briefly fallen into a mild daydream in which she 
imagined herself being molested by tentacles with Makoto at her side and within 
her embrace, the two of them mashing their bodies together while writhing, 
moaning and struggling to resist the probing tendrils that were invading their 
three openings, plying against sensitive bare skin and giving them an overall 
body-massage from tip to toe that was made all the more overwhelming by the 
enveloping sense of being surrounded from all over and bathed in the mildly 
acidic juices of a snake's elongated belly...

"Are you all right, Ucchan?" Akane asked at her side as the two of them were 
riding a tram together along with Ryoga and the trio of Senshi named Usagi, Ami 
and Rei, along with their teacher, Miss Hinako and a "cursed youth" Happosai.

"Er...ah...yeah, no problems, Sugar," Ukyo replied, even though the sense of 
being slowly dissolved in the arms of Makoto was so vivid that she could almost 
feel their juices writhing together, "Uh...sorry to nod off like that...haven't 
been sleeping too good the last few days...nightmares..."

"I can't say that I find that too surprising, all things considered," Ami 
addressed them, "By accounts you and Makoto-chan had quite an ordeal.  Good 
thing for all of us that we're well away from that island and can relax while 
taking in the sights of this beautiful European city."

"Yeah, I always wanted to see Paris," Usagi smiled wistfully, "Too bad Mammo-
chan isn't here...but then again, it is his loss."

"Yeah," Rei smiled, "Imagine the guy missing out on a chance to tour Paris with 
a couple of hot babes like us.  Not that we're complaining about the present 
company...but, Ryoga-kun, do you think next time you could try sticking a little 
closer to us instead of wandering off by yourself in that museum?"

"Yeah," Usagi teasingly chided the boy sitting beside her and the others, "Who 
ever heard of anyone getting lost in the Louvre?  The place is only the size of 
a palace after all, and it doesn't have that many rooms to wander around in."

"Ah..." Ryoga smiled sheepishly, "Sorry about making you guys have to look for 
me, it's just...well...when they said Louvre I got confused and thought that 
they meant bathroom, and when I thought I found a door leading to one it took me 
to some kind of oval-shaped room in the west wing and...well...there were a lot 
of strange guys there speaking English who seemed awfully upset with me for some 
odd reason..."

"I am beginning to fully understand what it is that Mina-chan sees in you," Ami 
smiled in oblique appraisal, "You're not like the usual sort that she often 
chases after...you are a genuinely nice person, if a bit prone to straying off 
the leash without warning, and if she were here I am certain that she would give 
a ringing endorsement of your obvious manly virtues."

"Ah...hah?" Ryoga blinked, then colored abruptly as he caught the winsome regard 
of Akane's erudite (and near identical twin) cousin.

Usagi frowned a bit then said, "Speaking of ringing endorsements, Ami-
chan...what's the deal with you and that Raptor guy...Cha-something?"

"T'shalkri?" Ami corrected for her, "And what about him?"

"You two sure got awfully chummy for a while back there," Rei scowled, "I can't 
believe that you and him...I mean...the both of you, while the rest of us were 
screwing...you..."

"I mean, yeah," Usagi nodded vigorously, "What's the deal with that?  I 
mean...was it even anatomically possible?  You're, like, two entirely different 
species..."

"More like two distant cousin branches of a larger Family group," Ami corrected 
with an aloof smile towards her two best friends, "And if it is any concern to 
you, we happened to have been quite compatible in an inter-species discourse.  I 
found him an unusually charming and intelligent fellow who has great sensitivity 
and understanding, and we got along very well on a personable level.  
Besides...did you know that Raptors have fourteen inch tongues?"

Both Rei and Usagi blinked in unison at that before they arched their voices and 
cried, "FOURTEEN INCH TONGUES...?"

They were immediately shushed down by their fellow Tram passengers, causing both 
girls to haunch their shoulders and look sheepish while Ami just smiled back and 
spaced her index fingers apart from one another, indicating a gap of around 
thirty-five centimeters.

Ukyo just blinked at this while Akane seemed...somewhat disquieted at her 
cousin's bland expression of contentment.  Ryoga seemed even more confused than 
ever while Miss Hinako leaned closer and said, "Do try to keep some decorum in 
your behavior, Students.  We represent Japan while abroad and during our stay 
here visiting this fine city we must act the part with dignity and restraint."

"Yeah, fat chance of that with this lot," Happosai remarked before turning his 
head and whistling appropriately at a passing pedestrian, "Whoooh-baby!  Check 
out the gams on that Parisian cutie---OW!  I was only looking, Hinako-chan...no 
harm in that..."

"What I say goes especially for you, Happosai-sensei," Hinako said serenely, her 
own adult-form beauty turning more than a few heads while she covertly "drained" 
a bit of energy on the sly to maintain her appearance.

"So, where are we going now, Sensei?" Akane asked, more to divert the subject 
away from the pervert than genuine curiosity since any place they went was fine 
in her eyes as long as she was with her beloved "Ucchan."

"I believe we shall check out the Eiffel tower next," Miss Hinako announced, "It 
is a bit smaller than the Tokyo tower, but it has great historic significance 
and affords a fine view of the entire city, and from there we can pick out many 
historic landmarks and famous sites that have great significance to this ancient 
Romanesque city as a whole."

"How wonderful," Ami smiled, "I have always wanted to stand atop the Eiffel 
tower...it is such an exciting feeling just being here...walking the streets 
that once were trod by Napoleon and Caesar..."

"Too bad Minako and Makoto-chan couldn't be here," Usagi sighed, "I just know 
they'd love to boy-watch on this trip...such a target-rich environment of 
cuties."

"Yeah, wonder why they begged off like they did?" Rei frowned, "It's not exactly 
like them to pass up a chance to cruise such a romantic setting."

Ukyo was wondering much the same thing, but privately she hoped that Makoto was 
making good on her promise to "have a few words" with her colleague and fellow 
Senshi so that they could nip off any budding affairs that might prove a 
distraction to Makoto's relationship with Ukyo...or Minako's budding 
relationship with Ryoga.

For the most part Ukyo trusted Makoto implicitly and felt the strength of their 
commitment to one another, which was founded upon genuine need and affection.  
Makoto had assured Ukyo that she would find a way of explaining things to Minako 
to help dismiss any "misimpressions" that might resulted as a side-effect of 
that pollen-spore inspired incident of a few days back.  No one was exactly 
behaving themselves at the time, so the fact that Makoto had wound up with that 
"blonde bimbo" was something for which Ukyo was prepared to forgive her fiancée.

Just as long as Minako was made to understand that it was a one-time lapse on 
Makoto's part and would most definitely NOT be soon repeated.

A tightening on her own arm alerted Ukyo to the presence of that other wild card 
in her relationship to her "Mako-chan," Akane.  The dark haired girl was leaning 
her head on Ukyo's shoulder and snuggling up in such a way that made Ukyo 
vividly aware of just what had happened between them while under the influence 
of those spores.  The chef colored a bit and felt tight around her collar, 
trying to think of a way of explaining things to Akane that would not hurt the 
feelings of the other girl.  Ukyo did care about Akane...but in an entirely 
different sense than the way that she cared about Makoto.

Hopefully she would think of something by the time that they got to the Eiffel 
tower, but unless she could find a way of convincing Akane soon that the two of 
them were NOT eventually headed towards the altar then she was looking at real 
relationship troubles that would make anything Ranma ever went through seem 
astonishingly mild by contrast.  Ukyo did not want to hurt Akane's 
feelings...any more than she wanted to risk further alienating Makoto, but how 
to reconcile these two ideals without getting killed in the process?  It was too 
bad that Akane and Makoto did not get along so well together...it would 
certainly be convenient if the two of them liked each other like, say, Shampoo 
and Nabiki...

Ukyo blanched as soon as the thought formed in her mind, then wondered if this 
were another one of her cursed-state's errant impulses that was influencing her 
thinking.  Though she was presently female, she knew full well that her guy form 
reacted favorably to the presence of both ladies, and the thought of having the 
both of them at the same time came upon her so strong that she almost had a 
fantasy in which she envisioned them as a couple...

No wait...that did happen, didn't it?  Back on the island during that last mass 
orgy...she kind of lost track of who was doing whom there, and though she woke 
up with Akane in her arms, she did indeed recall doing it with at least two or 
three of the other ladies...including Minako.

[That's it, it's official, I am definitely perverted,] Ukyo silently thought to 
herself, adding in an underthought, [I am sooooo doomed...] while wondering why 
she heard that peculiar rumble somewhere off in the far distance...



*     *     *



Nabiki's Journal Continues:

Chartres Cathedral de Notre Dame is certainly one of the most spectacular 
examples of medieval architecture yet still in existence, and it's quite a 
breathtaking thing to view in person, far more picturesque than any photograph 
could ever hope to do justice.  As I stood there marveling at the place beside 
Ranma and Shampoo I could literally feel the age and solemnity of the place as 
though I were plugged into the ages and could drink in the atmosphere like a 
fine French wine.  Even now I can close my eyes and recall vividly what it felt 
like to be standing there within the folds of history, and if I wanted to peel 
back the layers of time I don't doubt in the least I could have done so, 
traveling in my mind on a tour of the past through its many pages.

Lotion seemed amused by my childlike fascination with the place and said, "Yes, 
it is quite something to behold on your first visit.  Mind you, there have been 
a few changes since the last time I stopped by here, but it is nice to see that 
they have not made too many concessions toward progress.  Some traditions are 
worth preserving on the whole, and this certainly ranks near the top in my view 
of historical landmarks."

I gave my mentor an amused sidelong glance...only to feel that peculiar 
sensation once again that I get when I sense strong energy currents flowing near 
me...and for a moment I had the brief impression of a looming shape standing 
beside Lotion...only she was a much younger Lotion back then and her hair was 
still a bright pink coloration, and she was quite a bit...taller.  Of the 
shadowy figure at her side I could only sense that it was male, extremely tall 
and had an extremely potent life aura, but then it was gone again before I could 
glimpse his face or form of this giant or get more than the most general of 
impressions.

Lotion seemed to be aware of my changing focus and nodded sagely, "You will get 
used to that in time, my Child.  Time for us is not an inflexible curtain nor a 
fresco set in plaster but a very real and vibrant thing.  You must be prepared 
to sacrifice any fixed notions you might have about the past being immutable 
else you might cause a shift in your surroundings that you would find most 
disconcerting."

"You all right, Nabiki?" Ranma asked, concern for me written plain in his every 
fiber, not just his face.  I felt the warmth of his regard for me and I was 
moved almost to tears, being more aware of just what he means to me at that 
moment than I could ever remember feeling, even as I felt the equally welcome 
presence of Shampoo radiating love in both of our directions.

"I'm...fine, Ranchan," I replied, "But...well, like Sensei here says, it takes a 
little getting used to having all these...sensations..."

"Aiyaa," Shampoo softly marveled, "Nabiki is becoming Lore Master truly.  Airen 
need time to learn what mean be like elder of Joketsuzoku.  Nyanchiczu warriors 
know it like being one foot in other world, see farther and deeper in both 
worlds of womans and spirits."

There are times such as this when I really and truly love that girl...I 
mean...when I really do appreciate Shampoo and those surprising depths that she 
keeps hidden beneath her bouncy exterior and exterior packaging as an 
uninhibited wanton.  I reached out a hand and squeezed her hand on impulse and 
she smiled back at me as she gently squeezed back, and the both of us knew a 
closeness then and there that was almost like making love without removing our 
clothing.  More than ever I am so grateful that she chose to make me her Airen 
instead of treat me like an obstacle in her path to winning Ranma, and I know 
that I could have asked for no closer friend and helpmate from the heavens...

In fact, knowing Peorth as well as I now do, I think I'd pass on asking heaven 
to set something up like this for me since events seemed to have progressed just 
fine on their own without her prior interference.

But still I found myself glancing back at Lotion, who understood me at once and 
said, "Give it time, Child.  You are strong, you will recover, and soon you 
won't even have to think twice about tapping into the power, it will become 
second-nature to you...just like any other muscle group that you exercise with 
practice."

"Maybe so," I admitted with a sigh, "But...it sure feels weird sometimes.  It's 
like...I can see everything around me in terms of swirling energy patterns, 
and...well...like that thing I did to Neferti...it was like I could see the way 
she was put together...and I only had to pull something loose and she came apart 
like a bunch of thread that used to form a sweater..."

"Yeah, what was the deal about that?" Ranma asked, sounding very much disquieted 
at the memory, nor could I blame him since I had been a bit freaked out at my 
own behavior.

"Nabiki deal with bad snake woman like old silk that get eaten by glow worms," 
Shampoo observed, adding her own understated tone at the disturbing quality 
behind my own actions.

"It's quite simple really," Lotion replied, "My apprentice here merely reduced 
her enemy to her raw constituent coding then trapped her essence up in a 
tangible form that could be delivered to the appropriate agencies for her 
ultimate disposal."

"But she was a goddess," I argued, "I'm strictly a mortal...aren't I?"

"Gods may seem to define the essence of raw power, Child," Lotion explained, 
"But as a Lore Master you have an inner sense of pattern and form, and you can 
see how the power contained within her body was arranged...and how it might be 
undone since she had given you just grievance."

I had to sigh again, "Yeah, but...well...about that...how come that Magnus guy 
couldn't do anything about her before?  I could tell he's a lot more powerful 
than he lets on, and by that I don't just mean the size of his bank account 
either..."

"Magnus is an Immortal," Lotion explained, "Or rather I should say that he is 
THE Immortal since there are many other kinds of beings who live long lives and 
seem not to age upon the surface.  Magnus is a Guardian...a very rare type of 
elemental being, perhaps even unique since every world has at least one Guardian 
of the Elements, a post that cannot be inherited, only passed along from one 
chosen avatar to the next.  He is like a living philosopher's stone and no power 
on earth or in heaven can harm him since he is held at a fixed point in creation 
by the Powers That Be, who bestowed upon him the alchemical gifts that he has 
mastered."

"Weird," Ranma said, "I wondered why I got such a weird sense about the guy.  
But I'm with Nabiki here...if he's so powerful then why didn't he do something 
about those creeps who tried to hurt Nabiki?"

"There are limits upon even a Guardian's power, young War Master," Lotion 
answered, "Magnus generally tries to mind the peace between the mortal world and 
the various worlds of the Gods, but Neferti was an outcast even among her own 
tribe.  She could not harm him and he could very much have thwarted her but she 
ultimately held the upper hand by threatening the ones he cares most about.  You 
might say that they had an uneasy truce between them, one that could only be 
breached under very specific circumstances."

"Fine," I said, "Then it doesn't count that I was almost boiled to death and 
eaten?"

"I didn't say that," Lotion assured me, "However...I will say this much 
concerning your ordeal: that during the training and apprenticeship of all Lore 
Masters there must come a time and a place where you face a trial by fire and 
must surmount it using only your own resources.  I faced mine down a long time 
ago, and in a way it was every bit as harrowing as what you went through, but in 
the end it taught me how to better tap into my own inherent powers.  Up until 
then I was quite as much as you were, Child, largely ignorant of my own 
potential.  In facing death I overcame my fear and found the will to exceed the 
supposed limits that I was born with.  You came as close to dying as you have 
ever known, Apprentice, yet you looked inside yourself and found the will to 
live, and that gave you the strength that you needed to overcome the enslavement 
of your own ego.  You awoke to your own might, and thus you were able to wreak 
vengeance upon those who had troubled you and so many another less fortunate 
victim."

"So, it's like an initiation rite, huh?" I said, "I pass, I live, I learn to use 
my powers more efficiently, and never mind what might have happened if I'd let 
myself be overcome by the heat?  Too bad, just another failed apprentice?"

"I am sorry that you feel that way," Lotion informed me, "And if it had been 
within my power to spare you from that fate, then you must know that I would 
have moved heaven itself to instigate your rescue.  But, as it turned out, I 
need not have worried so much...for you are exactly the sort of woman that I 
knew you to be from the time of our first meeting.

"But you knew I was going to be going through all this, didn't you?" I accused, 
"You tried to warn me with that lecture about us all being part of the food 
chain and how savagery is the underlying force in human nature, and how 
civilization is just a veneer that separates us from the animals, am I right?"

"A wise man whom I once knew once coined the phrase that Barbarism is the 
natural state of man, that civilization is but a fluke and that, given the 
opportunity, the barbarian will always triumph," my mentor quoted, "Actually 
it's not quite that brutal in real life since most intelligent beings prefer to 
live a civilized existence, but without a knowledge of our savage roots that 
very civilizing impulse becomes nothing more than a mere mask to hide the 
lurking savage.  How else can you account for the way nominally civilized people 
can degenerate into brutish thugs when circumstances strip away the protective 
layers of social conditioning?  When the institutions entrusted to maintain a 
civilized existence break down, is not the natural impulse of a great many 
people to act the part of the savage?"

"You mean like with civil wars and stuff?" Ranma asked, surprising the lot of us 
by making such an intelligent connection.

"Precisely," Lotion smiled at him in warm approval, "What can be more uncivil 
than a war?  Yet military institutions attempt to give structure and purpose to 
the barbaric impulses of human aggression.  A warrior is taught to master his 
emotions, to use cool intellect when facing a crisis and to react in accordance 
with training that has been developed to improve a soldier's chances for 
survival.  A warrior is able to adapt from the role of civilian to barbarian and 
return back again with relatively little effort.  Not so a civilian who lacks 
the discipline of war, who might be totally unprepared when faced with life and 
death choices for survival, and that is where the true test of the civilized man 
is measured.  The savage can arise from even the tamest hearts under the right 
set of circumstances, and so a wise person is one who is prepared to meet their 
savage counterpart head-on in the battle of minds, heart and will.  That was the 
purpose for my lecture, Child, and why I knew that you had to face your ordeal 
alone without my protection or guidance."

"That's just swell," I snorted, "Of course you could have just come right out 
and told me to watch out for cannibals before letting them stick me in that stew 
pot."

"And what would be the point to that?" she smiled at me with hidden amusement, 
"Not much of a trial if you knew in advance what was about to happen."

"Look," I said, "I can appreciate that you wanted me to know that we're all a 
part of nature and that the purpose behind living is to live, and that I had to 
find my inner voice that told me not to lay down and die when I was close to 
heat prostration, but if it hadn't been for Shampoo and Ranma providing me the 
distraction that I needed..."

"You still would have triumphed in the end," Lotion said confidently, "I knew 
you would not fail yourself in the end or let your vast potential go to waste so 
that it might be leeched from you and into that evil goddess.  In truth it was 
the light within you that drew the cannibals towards you like flies to honey.  
They could sense the potency of your aura and they hungered to consume your 
essence.  That is, ultimately, the nature of what cannibalism is about, after 
all...the desire to draw some favorable aspect from the victim the way a vampire 
drinks the life essence of his victims.  Had you been a warrior it would have 
been your physical strength and courage that they would want to consume, but 
since you, as a Lore Master, contain within you the secret wisdom of the 
ages..."

"Right," I said, "And we're all just one part of a really big circle that turns 
in an endless cycle, one great big happy food chain..."

"More than that I should think," Lotion explained, "For each and every one of us 
is the embodiment of an endless line of descent from our most primitive 
beginnings.  The unbroken chain of your ancestors might have ended with you had 
you not rallied in the end to preserve your own integrity.  Think of it as a 
legacy that you inherited from your mother and your mother's mother, and from 
your mother's mother's mother...all the way back to the beginning of time like 
the Mitochondrial strain of your genetic makeup.  You are the result of an 
unbroken history of survival, yet for every human being who fails to live long 
enough to produce young that line comes crashing to an end.  That is the real 
tragedy about death, my child...it brings an end to history for the individual 
and all that is locked within their potential."

I had to concede that she was making a lot of sense with this point, but still I 
was hardly convinced that my life means nothing more than passing on my genes to 
another generation.  I'd like to think I'm more than just the sum of my 
chromosomes, so I said, "I always thought the bad thing about death is that it 
hurts a lot, and you leave a lot of loved ones behind to grieve for you and all 
that."

"There is wisdom enough in what you say, Child," Lotion looked at me with those 
inscrutable eyes of hers as though secretly pleased with me for having made this 
observation, "Of a certainty your loved ones would have done much more than 
grieve...but fortunately the worst that could happen did not come about on this 
occasion."

"Hey!" Ranma spoke up again, moving closer to me as he and Shampoo flanked my 
sides as though to offer me the support of their presence, "I don't like this 
talk about Nabiki dying---ever!  What kind of stupid test is that if she could 
have gotten killed back there?  Not that I'd ever let anyone mess with her like 
that again," he added with a scowl as though to challenge some invisible 
opponent to try something.

Lotion seemed to take his belligerent attitude with a hint of warm amusement.  
Turning to me she said, "It is well for you to be so loved, Child.  A woman is 
never so rich as when she has an Airen or two who would move heaven and earth to 
protect her."

"But Elder," Shampoo argued, "Was necessary for Nabiki to go through all that 
just to become better Lore Master Apprentice?"

"Understand, Shampoo," Lotion replied, "Your Airen is growing stronger by leaps 
and bounds with every challenge she faces and surmounts.  I warned her against 
relying too much upon the both of you to protect her from danger...but I might 
just as well have been addressing myself as the three of you are growing 
together in strength and wisdom.  Sooner or later all parents must face the fact 
that their children are outpacing them, and soon you three will progress to the 
point where you will no longer need my guidance and can find your own way, 
discover your own wisdom."

"Sensei?" I was surprised to find how shocked I was at her suggestion.  Was she 
telling me that I no longer needed her?  That I was close to graduating?  I felt 
an immediate protest rise up from within me as I wanted to tell her that she was 
wrong, that I still needed her, that I was no where near ready to fly solo and 
had no intention of doing so any time in the near future.

Once again she seemed to read my thoughts and chuckled, "My dear girl, I never 
said that you were ready to fly solo.  In truth, you have barely learned to flap 
your wings, by no means do I intend to kick you out of the nest as yet...at 
least, not until you have gained much, much more training."

I felt both relieved and alarmed at that reassurance, as though I---on the one 
hand---afraid of losing her companionship, and on the other of being put through 
the virtual wringer.  If what I'd endured at the hands of director Akuma was 
nothing more than an initiation rite, then the more advanced courses were bound 
to be a real killer!

"Elder," Shampoo suddenly spoke up once again, "What means Nabiki gain such 
power so sudden like?  Is very sudden she go from knowing basic things to speak 
with dead people and make snake woman go bye-bye.  Will Airen be able to control 
so much power so soon in training?"

I had to admit that was a very interesting question, one that concerned me a 
lot, but Lotion just smiled and said, "Your Airen has the gift, she has always 
possessed such abilities, she just did not understand how to use them until now, 
but be assured that she will have the training she needs to adjust to her new 
threshold.  It is only a matter of learning to trust in her own intuitive sense 
of proportion to judge how much power she needs to use in a given situation..."

"Let me guess," I ventured in a droll note of sullen humor, "It comes attached 
with lots of practice, practice, practice?"

"That goes without saying," Lotion smiled, "You practice to familiarize yourself 
with your hidden talents, and before too long they become second nature."

Ranma had a different question that he wanted to broach right then while I was 
absorbing my mentor's typically cryptic meaning, "What about the kid?"

"Jingo Takura?" Lotion replied, "What about her concerns you young War Master?"

"Is she gonna be all right?" Ranma asked, "I mean...leaving her with that 
Challenger guy..."

"Believe me, young man," Lotion said, "She could be in no safer hands than with 
Magnus and his organization."

"That's good," I said, "I made a promise to her mother...and I'm still worried 
about doing the right thing.  I mean...she may be young, but that girl was 
raised to be a cannibal.  She even ate the flesh of her own dead mother..."

"You are right to be concerned about this," Lotion assured me, "Imprinting such 
as that is not so easily overcome, and the girl has had twelve long years in 
which to absorb her father's philosophical perspective.  In truth it might have 
been a blessing for her to be sent back to the great beyond rather than to allow 
her to grow and mature into whatever her nature has shaped her to be...but then 
again, as you say, you don't war against children."

"Right," I said tightly, still quite a bit uneasy about assuming such a large 
commitment on my shoulders.  Pai's daughter needed guidance and I was not at all 
certain that I was up to handling the challenge, and adopting a kid at my age 
was simply out of the question.  On the other hand the kid had been one of those 
cheerfully urging me on my way into the cook pot, and she clearly had no qualms 
about eating human flesh, so was I doing the right thing taking her away from 
Pangea island?  Granted most of the adults who might have looked after her were 
dead, but she and the other orphans were not exactly innocent babes, especially 
considering that most of their mothers had been cooked and eaten one right after 
another in ritual feasts for which these children had been full participants, 
and Jingo was their leader, meaning they were more than likely destined to grow 
up to be spitting images of their parents.

Horrible thought that this was, I had to wonder just how committed Jingo could 
be to a philosophy that---by all rights---consigned her and everything else 
female to the level of "prey."  In a few more years she would probably have gone 
the same way as her mother, so maybe it was still possible to convince her to 
give up on savagery and try civilization for a change.  In either event I had 
talked it over with Magnus Challenger and decided to leave the kids in his 
possession...at least until things settled down enough that I might consider 
bringing her back home to Japan to look up the family she's never even known 
about until now.

So why do I get the feeling it would be a colossal mistake to bring her back to 
civilization?  Why do I keep imagining Jingo as a young woman stirring up 
trouble, and trying to put me back into that damned stew pot?

Maybe Lotion was right, maybe it would have been a mercy to just kill the kid 
outright, send her to her mother in the great beyond, but I just can't imagine 
ever doing such a thing to a young girl whom is only just on the verge of early 
womanhood.  I just can't consign her to death the way I did her father and the 
rest of her tribe.  I'm simply not that ruthless.

They say no good deed ever goes unpunished, so maybe the promise I made to Pai 
Takura's ghost was a mistake, but I'll just have to take my chances and reserve 
my hope that the future isn't quite as bleak for her as my fears would have me 
imagine...

"What I don't understand is how things could go so bad back there and nobody 
ever tried to do anything about it," Ranma spoke up again, once more pointing 
out a glaring sore point for me that had not yet been addressed in a 
satisfactory manner.

"Ah, young War Master," Lotion sighed, "That is the eternal question is it not?  
Why tolerate the existence of a great evil when you have the means at your 
disposal to end it?  Magnus must surely be wrestling with his own conscience 
over that subject, not that I expect that is any great consolation to you and 
your Airen."

"You could put it that way," I said drolly, "The guy's got access to incredible 
technology, and I can't really believe he was cowed into submission by that 
witch and her maniac band of studio headhunters."

"Believe what you must, Apprentice," Lotion replied with a particularly sage 
expression, "But you were the one whom Neferti had the most to fear.  It is in 
the hands of mortals, not immortals, that the power to bring an end to evil must 
reside.  Evil is opposed to nature, it warps and corrupts the very fabric of 
whatever it contaminates through direct or indirect contact.  An idea by itself 
is neither good nor evil, but when put into practice it can take the shape of 
such monstrous things as what you encountered in the hearts and minds of Akuma 
and his people.  Where once they lived in harmony with nature they became 
obsessed with conquering death through the sacrifice of others, much like the 
Aztecs of Central America, or the Anasazi...or many other groups who believe 
that the secret to prolonging life is to take life from another.  In that sense 
they were seeking to prolong themselves by stealing your vitality and essence, 
much as Neferti sought to drain the energy of her victims and thus sustain 
herself while cut off from the normal access routes of her true power."

"In other words she wasn't as tough as she looked?" Ranma scratched his head, 
"But I thought she was supposed to be some kind of goddess...or something..."

"Gods are the embodiment of elemental energies, young War Master," Lotion 
informed him, "They are, in a sense, anthropomorphic representations of the 
primary powers of nature...but Gods such as Peorth and Neferti are actually a 
part of an extended tribe of ancient beings whose lineage goes back many 
thousands of years to a time when their line diverged from the human genotype.  
Star Tribes are what we might call the original Homo-Sapiens-Superior who once 
visited this world many millions of years ago in forgotten antiquity, in the 
time before there were even Lore Masters.  Once they were giants who had 
incalculable mental and physical abilities that allowed them to span the very 
stars themselves in search of higher life forms..."

"Wait a minute," I said, "Are you telling me the original humans were aliens?  
That's pretty far-fetched don't you think, Sensei?"

"No more so than that it took our ancestors twenty-five million years of 
evolution to invent the pocket lighter," she responded with typical straight-
faced facetiousness, "But you need not take my word for it.  There is evidence 
of their once having existed all over the planet, buried in the collective 
memories of people the world over.  The Giants came down from Heaven and loved 
the daughters of man, and by them gave birth to a race of titans that some would 
call the Nefflim..."

"Aiyaa," Shampoo spoke up again, "Is like in legends of Amazons?  Stories of 
really big people who teach people to make fire and give birth to gods of White 
Mountain?"

"Yes child," Lotion replied, "The legends have a kernel of truth to them, as do 
most mythologies when you scratch beneath their surface.  The Giants helped to 
evolve human kind to the next level of physical and spiritual development and 
they taught our distant ancestors how to tap into the very same elemental forces 
that they could harness as if second nature.  Unfortunately, as the generations 
progressed, human beings became proud, arrogant and foolish.  They misused the 
power and started a great war that eventually destroyed their civilization.  All 
trace of them is buried now and the human race itself has been diminished.  Only 
we, the keepers of the Lore, have knowledge of what was lost to time's pages, 
and that is why we train to remember, to rediscover these lost arts, to 
safeguard their legacy and to help guide human civilization back on the tireless 
road towards greatness."

"So...you're saying that Gods like Peorth aren't really just super-beings but 
are actually a more advanced branch of the human race, one closer to the ancient 
power?" I gathered.

"More or less," Lotion replied, "They are a cadet branch of the human family 
that retains their kinship to the light.  It is something like a recessive gene 
that they possess and most humans do not, the ability to tap into the elemental 
powers of nature.  That is why history is replete with legends of heroic beings 
who claimed a divine being for a sacred ancestor, yet only a few ever achieved 
real greatness.  Most of the offspring of Gods wind up as little better than 
mortals...there is only a one-in-four shot at them being born with the divine 
spark, which is why the world is not overrun with immortals, in spite of some 
gods being notoriously prolific."

"But I don't get it," Ranma scratched his head, "If they're so much like us then 
are they really gods...or kami?  That Peorth character sure seems awfully 
human..."

"They are indeed quite human where it matters," Lotion smile obliquely, "But 
given their extraordinary power levels, if they say that they are gods, who then 
are we to dispute them?"

"Riiight," I sniffed, thinking of just how human my "heavenly mother" truly was, 
but that prompted me to ask, "What about this computer she and the other 
goddesses keep referring to, Yggdrasil?"

"Ah yes," Lotion nodded, "Why would gods need to rely upon technology to augment 
their abilities you must wonder.  The simple answer is...that even gods are 
lacking in perfection.  They are neither omniscient nor omnipotent, no matter 
what they tell you in the legends.  Yes, they are knowledgeable and many of them 
are wise, but few of them can predict the future with any degree of accuracy, 
and fewer still can control the direction of the fates...and therefore they have 
come to rely upon Yggdrasil, the world computer, to manage most of the mundane 
affairs that would be tedious in the extreme for any sentient being to handle."

"Elder," Shampoo asked, "If gods no be all powerful, then what of legend that 
say one god rules over other gods in heaven?"

"The gods to have their hierarchy, to be certain," Lotion replied, "But legends 
of an Uber-God, a Supreme Being above even Kami-sama in preeminence, remains 
mostly a legend."

"So you're saying a Supreme God doesn't figure into the picture?" I asked.

"No, I am only saying that such a being is beyond the conception of either man 
or god to contemplate," she answered, "A guiding intelligence can be discerned 
through inference and observation, and the Universe as a whole does behave as 
though there were a greater force moving through the background, but the one 
thing we can be almost certain of concerning this being is that---if She does 
indeed exist---she is so far beyond our definition of humanity as to have as 
little in common with us as we do with an Amoeba."

"She?" Ranma asked, picking up on her gender inflection.

"Well, surely you don't imagine the supreme creator of the Cosmos could be a 
man, do you?" Lotion replied, "A man may lend his spark to fertilize the mother, 
but it is a mother who bears within her the force of all creation.  Perhaps the 
Supreme Being is both Male and Female, or perhaps neither.  Perhaps even such a 
one transcends all definition of gender identity altogether.  All that can be 
known with any certainty is that the Universe behaves as though there were a 
rational element holding the forces of Chaos at bay, and by allying ourselves 
with this greater Force of order we can create a better world than the one into 
which we were born.  By balancing the Yin and the Yang of nature we can overcome 
disharmony and discord and learn to regain the light of the ancient Star Tribes, 
who were said to be as one with the Creator."

About this point I might say things were getting a little too mystical for my 
liking, but then again, by now I'm used to that from hanging around with Lotion.  
Ranma and Shampoo, however, appeared to be more than a little confused by my 
mentor's teaching methods, so I decided to have some mercy on them by saying, 
"Who's up for lunch?  I'm in a mood to try some French cuisine, and since 
Challenger loaned us some traveling money to keep us busy while he's making 
repairs to the Nekonlon air ship..."

"Sounds good to me," Ranma patted his stomach, "I'm starving."

"You always starving, Airen," Shampoo gave him an indulgent wink, "But Shampoo 
think Nabiki have too-too good idea, and while maybe food not from China, is old 
Amazon saying, 'When in Beijing eat cooked duck.'"

I had to smile at my wife's cute way of turning a phrase there, but even so the 
thought of food tended to send me back in mind to that moment a few days ago 
when I was nearly somebody's dinner.  I know I tend to obsess a lot on that, but 
it's going to be a while before I can even take a hot bath and relax without 
smelling the aroma of cooked lentils.

And so we set out to search for a place to satisfy our material cravings, but 
little did any of us suspect (not even Lotion, I imagine) we were shortly to 
have a dramatic encounter that would push the envelope of coincidence and bring 
me face-to-face with the fact that my father is an idiot, and the proof of that 
would haunt us for the rest of our stay in beautiful Paris.

You see, the place we selected to go for a meal was named "Le Chardin d'Affair," 
and who there should we run into but my other heretofore unexpected fiancé... 
the inestimable Picollet Chardin...



Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Chardin d'Affairs Reservations: shadowmane@ridgenet.net

Ukyo and the gang get more than a sightseeing trip while surmounting the heights 
of the Eiffel tower (and WHAT an eyeful they'll be getting!) while Ranma, Nabiki 
and Shampoo have their first dramatic encounter with the Chardin family, and 
Peorth makes a dramatic escape only to find herself going from one frying pan 
into the saucing container.  Be here next time for our concluding chapter to the 
Pangea series: "Serving up Trouble with a Smile," or, "You and your Big Mouth, 
Daddy..."  Be there!