A/N: So here is chapter 12. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi holds the rights to Ranma and co.

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Chapter 12

Princess Akane Tendo tugged at her bonds hopelessly. The tears falling from her eyes did not help at all, blinding her so she couldn’t see through them to the knots that bound her.

“Damn him!” she cried out loud. “Damn him, damn her, damn the sorcerer… Damn them all for doing this to me!”

Her chest was heaving from the force of her rage and her exertions, but the rope was as tight as ever. Akane sank back down to the floor, staring sightlessly up at the ceiling as she considered the events that had brought her here.

How she’d wanted to return to the palace, convinced that if she could just get within the walls of her lifelong home, everything would magically solve itself. She’d acted as though she were on some great quest with Ranma, a quest to reach the palace and save the kingdom.

But Ranma was the threat.

“Are you with Kulloden? Is he here? I found the book! It was exactly where he told me it would be.” Shampoo’s words rang through her mind.

What book were they talking about? Whatever it was, it sounded important. Would she get out of here before Kulloden arrived in the palace and destroyed her family?

She blinked her tears away and sat up with determination. She HAD to escape!

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The court was ablaze with excitement. Happosai, the court magician, was back! No one knew where he’d gone, because he came and went of his own will, and lately the majority of his time had been spent in his castle in another province entirely.

Mousse swallowed as he hurried past the servants and nobles trying to get a peek at Happosai. Ranma’s words rang in his ears, a constant reminder.

“Akane is our prisoner. Say anything to anyone about us, and you will be responsible for her death.”

Her death. The death of the royal princess. The girl he thought he’d spent the last few days with, only that Akane had been an imposter. Mousse gulped. He wondered where they had hidden the real Akane. It had to be in the castle. But looking for her would take too long. There had to be another way to defeat Ranma and…the other Akane.

No. Mousse paused. Her name was Shampoo. Ranma’s cohort in crime. If only he’d known. If only. At least his unknowing geas had put a crimp in Ranma’s plans. His mind spun with thoughts as he hurried down the hall.

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Ranma watched the sun shine through the trees, his elbows propped against the stone shelf of the window. Behind him, Shampoo tried to contact Kulloden mentally and tell him of their success.

It was his birthday, he remembered suddenly. He’d forgotten completely about it in the last few days. It was not something he celebrated as such. Instead this was the one day of the year he usually allowed himself to ruminate on what his parentage might have been, and what his parents were doing right now. Were they alive? Most probably they were dead. He’d certainly wished them that way many times.

But this year…his mind drifted back to the cottage on the beach. Tiny giggling Ayako came into his mind, and Kasumi and Nabiki sitting around their rough dining table with Akane…Was it possible they were his family in truth?

His eyes drifted to his partner. Or even Shampoo’s? A sharp pain went through his chest, hurting him.

An even sharper pain seared through him, and he bent double with the pain. He groaned.

Shampoo’s concentration broke. “Ranma! What’s wrong?” Worried, she came over to him. Her worry puzzled him, Ever since he’d met up with her again, something seemed…different about her.

Not to mention the fact that she still looked like Akane annoyed the hell out of him. He didn’t understand why. It was a necessary disguise after all.

“I…I’m fine.” He straightened and moved away from her. “I’m fine!” he repeated harshly.

Shampoo recoiled slightly. So different from Mousse…she thought again.

“Well, I can’t reach Master Kulloden,” she said defensively. “Something is blocking me. It’s a lot easier for him to contact me. We’ll have to wait until he does. It shouldn’t be long.”

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In the dark, wet sea-cave, Ryouga eyed the sorcerer suspiciously. “What was going on just then? Your eyes rolled back in your head.”

Kulloden laughed. “I don’t normally do that. My apprentice, Shampoo, you see, she was trying to contact me. And I was blocking her.”

“Huh? What’s that? You were blocking her from trying to contact you?” Ryouga was confused.

“She’s found the Book of Jusenkyou, thanks to you. She found it earlier than I expected, so I’m waiting for the other part of my plan to come into effect.”

“Come and see,” Kulloden beckoned. As Ryouga came closer, he saw a dull glow emanating from a small globe the sorcerer had placed in front of him. Kulloden was peering into the globe with satisfaction.

“Ranma is so predictable,” he purred. “Look, Ryouga, look!”

Looking deep into the globe, Ryouga recoiled as he saw into it. Deep within the crystal, Princess Akane lay bound on a stone floor, tears running down her face.

“That’s Princess Akane!” he exclaimed.

Kulloden whipped around. “How do you recognize her so easily, boy? She is rarely seen outside the palace.”

Ryouga gulped. Kulloden’s searching gaze was incisive. “I’ve seen her around the gardens. She and her maids used to come out for walks now and then. Me and the other gardeners would hide behind rosebushes and peek at them.”

Kulloden laughed. “Ah, I see. Very enterprising of you.” He returned his attention to the globe and began to create arcane gestures with his long, thin fingers.

“When Ranma and Akane were tied together, their geas gave me some opportunities.” He began to chant, in a low voice.

“Akane, remember your dream, Akane?”

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Akane was on the beach again, drawing pictures in the sand with her wooden stick. But the pictures meant something. They were runes. They could be spoken out loud. Her fingers could make those shapes.

As she drew them into the sand, it was as though each symbol was being etched into her brain.

Escape. Akane awoke with a gasp, tried to stand up, and fell over painfully when her bonds stopped her.

Escape. The runes she had dreamed days ago, and again just now, blazed with meaning. It was a spell to escape.

Akane began to chant out loud.

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“Master! Master Happosai!” Mousse tried to shove his way through the final group of courtiers standing in his way, desperate now to reach his master. Happosai would fix everything. Finally, he shoved the last couriter out of the way, and looked down.

Reaching barely to Mousse’s knees, Master Happosai, magician of the Nerima court, grinned up at his protégé.

“Mousse!” he cried in delight. Dressed in rich robes, his white hair sticking out in all directions, he was a sight for sore eyes. To Mousse anyway.

“Master! I’m so glad to see you!” Mousse cried, and fell to his knees in front of Happosai.

“Why, what’s the matter, Mousse?” Happosai cupped the smooth cheek of his student, his genial face creasing with concern. “I’m barely back in the palace a few minutes, and you descend on me like an eagle! What’s going on?”

And Mousse didn’t dare to tell him.

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Akane could feel the ropes loosening. She couldn’t believe it was actually working. She chanted faster, the runes glowing in her mind. The ropes uncurled from her ankles and wrists, and fell to the floor.

Akane wanted to draw breath for ashout of triumph, but she dared not stop. She wasn’t out of the woods yet. She stood and rubbed circulation back into her arms and legs, chanting all the while, focusing her magic on the door.

There was a click, and the door swung open.

Jubilant, Akane stepped up to it silently, and peered out. No sign of Ranma or Shampoo. Quickly, she slipped out of the cell and into the corridor.

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“You let her escape,” Ryouga gawped. “She’s going to spoil everything!”

Kulloden laughed a great booming laugh. “Hahahaha, no, my boy, that’s the thing. She is the key.”

Ryouga watched in puzzlement.

“Wait and see,” the sorcerer advised.

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There was a knock at Shampoo’s door, and Ranma barely had a chance to throw himself into the spacious closet before the door was flung open.

“Your highness!” A lady-in-waiting burst in. “The Queen, your mother, requires your presence immediately!”

“Why? What is it?” Shampoo asked, startled at the haste.

“Master Happosai is returned to the palace, and the Queen is going to see him shortly. You must join her.”

Shampoo cast a quick glance at the closet where Ranma was hidden, along with the Book of Jusenkyou. At this important point in their plans, she didn’t want to be separated from him, but it looked as though she had no choice.

She followed the girl out the door.

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Mousse was desperately trying to figure out how to tell his master that the princess and in fact, the whole palace, was in grave danger, without further endangering the princess’ life.

But it seemed as though everyone had come out to meet Happosai. Courtiers and nobles swarmed around him. Even Prince Kunou was there. Lofty as the spoiled prince was, even he respected Happosai. Only the King and Queen were missing.

Just then, they appeared in the archway entrance to the hall, together. Mousse stared, stunned. Behind them walked Princess Akane. Not the fake one, but the real, tattered one. How had she escaped?

And, even more unbelievably, behind the Queen stood the other Princess Akane, looking furious and shaken.

“Master…” he said urgently, but was interrupted when King Soun swiftly moved forward, his face a thundercloud. He was pulling Akane behind him like wayward child. Another guard escorted the second, better dressed ‘princess Akane’ more gently down the aisle.

Shampoo was stewing. When she got to the royal apartments, she’d found the King, Queen and Akane waiting for her. The King and Queen couldn’t believe their eyes, but neither did they know which was the real Akane.

They asked both girls all sorts of questions, but the spell ensured that Shampoo’s lips answered the questions as well as Akane did. Their birthmarks were identical. In fact, the real Akane now spoke in a way they had never heard her speak, so they were more suspicious of her. Shampoo would have smiled at Akane’s frustration if she weren’t so scared of being found out. They were so close!

The royal couple was baffled. What to do? Finally, Soun remembered something.

“Happosai,” intoned King Soun, and everyone around them, including Mousse and Happosai, bent a knee to the king.

“Majesty,” Happosai greeted him.

“You have come at a most opportune time, my friend,” the king said. “Rise, and give me counsel.”

“Yes, Majesty?” Happosai rose, looking puzzled.

King Soun jerked the tattered girl behind him forward, as though reluctant to touch her.

“Who is this?” he asked.

Happosai peered closely. “Why, it appears to be the Princess Akane,” he said with great astonishment.

“Yes, it does appear so, doesn’t it?” King Soun said. “And who is this?” He gestured to Shampoo.

Happosai appeared even more more astonished, his big eyes bugging out. “It is also Princess Akane!” he exclaimed.

Around them, the crowd began to buzz with shock and disbelief.

“This one…,” King Soun pointed at the ragged Akane, “tells me a most remarkable story about doppelgangers and spells. But only you can solve it.”

“How would you like me to do that, Majesty?” Happosai enquired, still dividing his gaze between the two girls.

King Soun took a deep breath. “I hope you have the soul stone,” he said.

The soul stone? Still kneeling, Mousse wracked his brain for the meaning of it. What on earth was the soul stone? Slowly, his memory awoke and he began to remember something he’d studied…dimly….

“The soul stone of the Tendos?” Happosai asked, curiously.

“No, the soul stone of the Saotomes! Of course…” King Tendo stopped, and shook his head slowly. “Saotomes…I haven’t thought of them in so long…I…” He shook his head again. “Now is not the time. Come, Happosai, have you the stone or not?”

Happosai smiled. “Certainly, Majesty. But er, I have just arrived from travel. Good knows where I pack these things…” He began to root through the various pockets of his voluminous robes.

Akane, still in her father’s harsh grip, waited with bated breath. She remembered the soul stone slightly more clearly. It was an ancient tradition of the Tendos. A stone was spelled to recognize those with royal Tendo blood, and was used at the birth of princes and princesses to ensure the bloodright.

But it was an ancient tradition. It hadn’t been used for decades. Did Happosai have it? It seemed so. The old sorcerer finally pulled out a blue velvet bag, from which he drew out a scarlet stone that shone brightly.

The crowd gasped.

“It reacts to you, Majesty, because you are so close to it.” The magician said. Soun moved away, and the light dimmed somewhat. Happosai covered the stone, and muttered a spell over it. “So it doesn’t react to you or the Queen, or Prince Kunou,” he said.

He looked up at the two Akanes. “Now ladies, come stand before me.”

The guard pushed the two young women to stand before Happosai. From his kneeling point, Mousse sighed with relief. At last, Shampoo would be found out, and everything would be all right. He wondered why his heart gave a tiny twinge at the thought.

Outside the hall, at a different entrance, Ranma peered at the crowd in the Great Hall.

“What’s going on?” he wondered. “Is all this to greet Happosai?” He listened carefully as the figures spoke, and was chilled when he learned Shampoo had been captured.

Damn it! She was vital to the plan. Her skill was the one that could contact Kulloden, not him! He needed to free her.

“Who wants to go first?” Happosai asked.

Shampoo was almost dead with fear, and busy wondering when Kulloden might show up, so Akane stepped forward with no dissent. Ranma crept closer into the room, and saw her over the heads of the crowd. He wondered how she’d escaped, but there were other things to think about now.

“Me! Me first! Please,” Akane begged.

“All right,” Happosai said, and raised the stone as high as he could, which was on level with Akane’s chest. He uncovered it.

The stone sparked slightly, hesitantly. Akane held her breath.

Then the stone went dead.

Akane and Shampoo stared at the stone in disbelief.

“No,” Akane whispered. Her eyes filled with tears. “No, its…”

Happosai looked up at her, his face serious. “You are not a Tendo,” he said.

She must be caught in some kind of nightmare. Akane felt the ground falling away from her. Her head spun. Nonononononononononono………..

Ranma crept farther into the hall, trying to figure out a way to snatch Shampoo. He would have to use his magic of course, but with Happosai there, he had to be very, very careful. He looked away from the spectacle, and began to think.

Akane barely heard as Happosai tested the stone on Shampoo. The test was negative there as well…causing great consternation among the onlookers. Neither of the girls were the princess.

“Then where is the real princess?” Soun demanded, worry in his voice.

Happosai was about the reply when the stone began to brighten again, slowly, faintly.

“Ah, it’s responding again!” The magician exclaimed.

Akane’s head shot up. Had it malfunctioned? That must be it! But…Happosai was pointing the stone away from her. The diminutive magician began to walk forward, and the stone began to pulse more strongly. The crowd stood and parted before him as he walked.

Mousse stood as well, watching. Shampoo and Akane, numb, watched as well.

Happosai walked with the stone, and Soun followed. More and more peopleparted, and the stone shimmered.

Happosai stopped. The stone was almost blinding in its brilliance now, and by its light Happosai made out a tall young man, black haired and blue eyed, his face stamped with the features of the Tendo kings.

The young man, boy really, stared down at him, uncomprehending.

“Highness,” Happosai said, and sank down to one knee.

Unable to refute the evidence of the glittering stone, most of the rest of the crowd bent their knee as well, even though they had no idea in hell who this person was.

“Ranma?!” Akane and Shampoo breathed together.

Shampoo felt the plan unraveling as she stood there. What was going on? How did Ranma suddenly become a prince of the Tendos? And where was Kulloden to help them? Or at least answer some questions.

“I’m not…”Ranma said jerkily.

“The stone doesn’t lie,” Happosai said calmly.

Ranma’s eyes flew first to Akane, who looked stunned. He didn’t understand what was going on, but he was sure as hell determined to figure it out.

“He’s of my blood?” King Soun asked faintly.

“He is of your seed,” Happosaid said bluntly.

“My…son?” Soun looked poleaxed. “How can this be? I’ve never cheated on my wife. Where did he come from? Is Kimiko his mother?”

“We can discover the details later,” Happosai said. “For now..ahem…”

Soun looked around at the crowd. “You are all dismissed. Guards, gather up those girls and take them to the royal apartments. We’ll figure this out.” He turned to Ranma. “Young man, what is your name?”

“Ranma,” answered the possessor of the name somewhat dazedly.

“Follow me, Ranma.”

Prince Kunou watched them go with stunned eyes, then raced after the party as the rest of the crowd dispersed to talk excitedly about what had happened.

In the royal apartments, Soun and his queen brought the entire party into their large receiving room, and ordered wine for themselves and Happosai.

“Is he my son?” Kimiko asked, looking at Ranma. “But how could I not know? And where is dear Akane?”

“There is only one thing to be done to divine the truth,” Happosai said. “I must cast a vision.”

There was a collective gasp around the room. Casting a vision was highly dangerous, and often put the spellcaster’s life in jeopardy if not done correctly. Only very experienced mages could even attempt it.

“Master, that’s too dangerous!” Mousse protested.

“Hush, boy,” Happosai admonished him. “The truth is more important.” He turned to the King. “Be on your guard. After the vision, I may faint, and be unable to protect you. Guards, watch the King and Queen!”

Happosai knelt and drew a circle on the floor with a piece of chalk. Then he began to chant.

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“Now is the moment I must grasp!” Kulloden said. He stood up and made a swift gesture. A hole appeared in the air, and he stepped through it.

Ryouga watched as the hole began to close. “You won’t leave me behind that easily, sorcerer!” he said, and jumped through the hole.

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Happosai had been chanting for a while now, and sweat was beading his forehead. But eventually, his efforts began to bear fruit. The circle faded to grey, and then brightened, showing a scene in a room.

A dark haired young woman lay panting on a small wooden bed. Beside her, another, older woman crouched, holding a bundle.

“My baby,” the woman in the bed gasped. “Please, show me my baby.”

Queen Kimiko gasped. “That’s Lady Saotome! She was in childbirth! I never knew!”

“Don’t worry yerself, my lady,” the older woman was saying. She was leaving the room. “I’ll wash yer babe and bring it back safe and sound.”

She left the room and swiftly exited the small cottage. With a start, Akane recognized the cottage as belonging to Kasumi and Nabiki. The woman made her way up a bluff, to where a cloaked figure was waiting.

“Here she is,” the woman muttered. “Take her.”

“And here is your payment,” said a voice that Ranma and Shampoo both recognized immediately. Even Akane remembered the oily voice from the cave she’d been imprisoned in. Kulloden.

Swiftly, he slit the neck of the startled serving woman. Everyone in the room grimaced. He swept away with the bundle, from which loud cries were emerging. Thunder crashed through the skies, and rain began to pour.

The scene changed to the palace. A much younger King Soun paced his room, muttering to his valet.

“The doctor’s been in there for an hour! Why do these things always take so long?”

“That was the night Akane was born!” The king whispered.

The shadow slipped past the King’s guards and entered the Queen’s bedchamber. The women in there were snoozing, their heads bent forward on their chests.

The shadow slipped a white-clothed bundle from the cradle, and replaced the first bundle within.

“Have a nice life, princess,” he said.

He looked at the white clothed bundle in his arms. “And you, my prince, will come with me.”

“So neither Akane ever was a Tendo,” Happosai said, as the screen faded to grey again. He turned to the King.

“Ranma here is the true prince, stolen from his cradle the night he was born. Akane…has always been a Saotome.”

Ranma watched with dawning awe. HE was the true prince of Nerima. How could it be? He was just an orphan. He was planning to take over the palace, for goodness’ sake! Could he still let that happen? And what loyalty did he owe these people? And..Akane! How was she taking all this?

Akane felt her world shatter. Her mind raced back to the moment outside the cottage with the Saotome sisters. She’d felt so close to them, wondering if they were Ranma or Shampoo’s family. Instead, they were her own.

They were Akane’s sisters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Well, long chapter no? As you can see it really is getting close to the end. A couple more chapters, and this story should be done! :)