Chapter 13

Akane was miserable. Grief wrenched at her heart, and sobs wracked her body as she rocked herself, imprisoned high up in a stone room deep in one of the palace towers. She was seated on the grey brick balcony that opened from the room, a respectable option given to those prisoners who didn’t want to face the hangman’s rope.

The moment when the soul stone of the Tendos had failed to glow kept running through her mind.

After the revelation, Happosai and the king and queen had conferred. Since they still couldn’t tell which Akane was the real one, they’d decided to place Akane and Shampoo under ‘room arrest’.

Still in shock, Akane had stared at them blankly, a look very similar to the one Shampoo was wearing.

Queen Kimiko looked from one of them to the other, wondering which one was the daughter she had raised for 16 years.

“Akane,” she said. She looked between them again.Identical. “Whichever one of you IS Akane. We’ll sort this out. Don’t worry. Nothing bad will happen to you. I…I wish I could tell you more, about your birth…I know you must have so many questions, but…Until I can be sure which of you…” She turned her head, unable to look at them any longer. “Take them away,” she told the guards.

So Akane and Shampoo had been taken to the west tower, where prisoners were held. Each of them had been escorted into a different room. Still numb with shock, Akane had walked out of her room onto the stone balcony and climbed up to sit on the cold, stone window seat.

She raised her pink and teary face. It seemed as though all she’d done since getting back to the palace had been cry.

From Akane’s perch, she could see the kingdom spread out on all sides, the view breathtaking. But Akane couldn’t care less. None of it was hers, after all. Well, she’d never been in line to inherit the throne, which was Kunou’s by right, but she had thought her parents were the king and queen, and that her ancestors had ruled this land.

Instead, they were…fisherfolk?

Where was Ranma, she wondered? He’d been standing next to Happosai when she left, looking stunned. No doubt congratulating himself on his sudden good fortune.

Or was it so sudden? Akane raised her head. It seemed too fortuitous that the very man who had kidnapped her and then dragged her to the palace would turn out to be the royal prince.

Had the geas been a ruse? Was Mousse a traitor?

But no. Akane cast her mind back to the last few days. Ranma had been furious about the geas. And irritated at having to go to the palace. He’d had some other plan entirely in mind for her. No, his surprise at the geas was genuine.

Akane wiped her eyes and puzzled over this new conundrum. In her mind, she played over again the scenes that Master Happosai had shown them. It had been Kulloden, she remembered, who switched her and Ranma as infants. She was the changeling, the intruder in the palace. She had no right to be here. She should be living in that cottage, with Kasumi and Nabiki. She wished she were back there again.

So….if Ranma didn’t know he was the prince, it was unlikely that Shampoo did either. From what little Akane had seen of the sorcerer, Kulloden didn’t seem like the sort of man who would trust a lackey, even an apprentice.

Yet what REASON did he have for kidnapping Ranma? What was so special about royal blood that he needed Ranma as an apprentice? Surely, there were other citizens in the city who had magical ability! Unless Shampoo was royalty as well.

Akane snorted at the thought.

She heard the locks to her room begin to unlatch, and turned her head. Someone was coming in. Curious, she slipped off her perch and walked back into the room, wondering who her visitor might be. Her father, or mother, perhaps?

A guard knocked and then poked his head in. “Lady,” he said, “His Highness, Prince Kunou wishes to see you.”

Kunou. Hope and dread filled Akane all at the same time. Her older brother, the crown prince. Tall, with wavy dark hair, and a look in his brown eyes when he watched Akane when he thought she wasn’t looking. It was a look that made Akane wish she were more covered up. And the things he sometimes said to her…lightly, mockingly, as though he were teasing, yet underneath Akane had the feeling he was in deadly earnest.

But she wasn’t exactly the same timid Akane she’d been when she’d left on her voyage. And Kunou might help to free her from here.

“All right,” she said. “Let him in.” She smoothed down her ragged dress and waited.

Kunou walked in, looking dashing as usual in his blue superfine coat with gold edging and black breeches, his boots shined to a sharp polish.

“Hello, Akane,” he said, and walked forward, invading her space until she had to step back or have him stamp on her toes. His greater height forced her to look up at him. Seeing him here brought back her memories in detail, and she cringed slightly.

Kunou’s sharp gaze caught the action, and he spotted the not-quite hidden fear in her eyes.

“It IS you,” he breathed. “I knew it. I knew it, Akane!” He grabbed her hands and raised them to his chest.

“H…how can you be so sure?” she asked.

“I can tell it when you look at me,” he replied. “You recognize me. The other one doesn’t.”

Hope filled Akane. “Really?” she asked, taking a step forward. “Then you’ll vouch for me? I don’t want to be stuck in this room! I want to go out and…and solve this thing! It’s awful that I’m not really the princess but…”

“Are you joking? It’s the best thing that’s happened all day!” Kunou blurted, and stopped when he saw Akane’s shocked, hurt gaze. She tried to pull away from him.

“Why…?” she asked.

Kunou’s eyes glittered. “Don’t you know how beautiful you are, Akane? Of course I’ll free you. But now, you do realize that…you’re not my sister, and…”

Akane’s heart started to pound as a dim feeling of terror overtook her. She felt as though she were suffocating.

“What are you saying, Kunou?” she asked, trembling.

“I’ve always adored you, dear Akane,” Kunour purred. “My feelings for you…have always been of a strong nature. And now, now we can be together…You’ll be mine, won’t you, dear Akane? Say it, say it and I’ll have you released right away!”

A black fog appeared before Akane’s eyes, and she would have sank into a swoon if Kunou had not been holding her upright. She definitely did not want to faint into his arms.

“Kunou, it’s impossible! I grew up as your sister…” she murmured in shock.

“It’s right! It’s a sign!” he proclaimed.

“It’s wrong before man and God…”

“But we’re not related!” Kunou shouted. “Don’t you see? It’s perfect! All these years…”

Akane dragged her hands from his and clamped them over her ears. She did NOT want to hear what he had been thinking all these years. Her childhood would be ruined.

“No!” she shouted. “I could NEVER see you that way! Get out!”

Kunou’s expression grew ugly. He began to advance. “Darling Akane, you haven’t thought this through. Where will you go? After 16 years of luxury, do you want to live as a pauper? An orphan? Be mine, and I’ll see to your every want. You can keep living in the palace. Nothing will have to change.”

“Even if I have to work as a drudge on the palace steps, I could never be yours!” She shouted, her eyes clenched shut.

Kunou grabbed her by the arms, and forced her chin upwards with his fingers. His mouth descended. “One way or the other,” he gritted out. “You WILL be mine.”

“Never!” Akane screamed, and slapped him with all the force in her frail frame. He actually rocked back a few steps, his hand raised to the darkening bruise on his cheek.

“Guard! Guard!” she screamed hysterically, sobbing. Guards rushed in, took one look at them, and began to usher a furious Prince Kunou out.

“Be calm, my lord,” they said. “The king requires minimal contact with the prisoners. You’ll have to leave now.”

“One way or the other, mark my words,” Kunou hissed on his way out, leaving a shaken Akane to collapse bonelessly onto the floor.

-

In another part of the palace, Ranma- now Prince Ranma- sat bewildered and befuddled on a chair, as Happosai and the king fired questions at him.

“Who raised you? How have you been living? What do you know about us? Where have you been staying? Who is your guardian?”

“Can he even speak? He’s been silent ever since we discovered him,” King Soun fretted.

The plan has gone so wrong! Ranma silently lamented. We were supposed to conquer this kingdom with the Book of Juesnkyou. But now they want to make me their…son…..I wish Kulloden was here to sort this out. What was he upto all these years? How was Akane, he wondered. Was she all right? And Shampoo? She must be as confused as him. What in all hells was going on? Since when was he the prince? It had to be some trick.

Ranma clamped his mouth shut and glared at Soun and Happosai. The magician sighed.

“We are not your enemies, boy,” he said. “You are among friends…and family here.”

Ranma kept glaring, hiding his confusion.

-

The door was unlocking again. Akane looked up, and began backing away. Was it Kunou again?

A dark head popped around the door. Akane stared.

“Mousse? What are you doing here?”

“Hello, princess…ah, Akane,” he began uncertainly.

Akane sighed. “Just call me Akane. That’s all I’m entitled to, anymore.”

“I’ve um...come to rescue you,” he said. He didn’t offer any explanation on how he recognized Akane, and she didn’t think to ask, in her hurry to escape.

“Really?”Akane jumped up. She didn’t wait for further explanation. She didn’t really understand everything that was going on, but she sure wasn’t going to unravel it by staying here. She slipped through the door, and paused.

Unconscious guards lay sprawled in the corridor. She glanced at Mousse, who blushed.

“Quickly! Help me move them into the room,” was all she said.

-

Shampoo paced the floor of her prison. Oh yes, they had said she was under ‘room arrest’, whatever that was, and they certainly hadn’t tossed her into the dungeons, but that was only until they figured out which Akane was which.

And she wasn’t. If only this room wasn’t impervious to magic, she would have spelled her way out by now.

Master! Can you hear me? Help us! She tried her mind call once more.

“Not so loud, you fool! You have practically deafened me.” Kulloden’s dry voice came from the door to her room. Startled, Shampoo spun around, and saw the dark, thin form of her master holding the door open.

“Master! You’re here!” Overjoyed, she could barely keep from hugging him, but Kulloden was not a man who permitted displays of affection.

“YES, of course I’m here, where else would I be?” He hissed, entering the room.

Shampoo paused. “Master, our plan failed. Of all things, some spelled stone recognized Ranma as the true prince of Nerima. It seems Akane is not really the princess!” She paused to savour this thought. She’d always hated the little bitch.

“You only think my plan failed, Shampoo,” Kulloden said, maliciously. “As usual, your feeble brain cannot encompass my genius…the plans I carefully put into action.”

“Ah, that’s right.” Shampoo suddenly remembered. “YOU stole Ranma. You switched the babies. Why, Master?”

Kulloden moved forward, smiling. Neither of them saw the shadow that flickered momentarily outside the open door.

“You see, dear Shampoo, you were but a distraction. Of course I wanted the Book of Jusenkyou, and shortly you will lead me to it. However, the grimoire is only a weapon to cement my grip on this kingdom. The true source of my power in Nerima will be...Ranma.” Kulloden paused to check Shampoo’s reaction.

She looked confused. Kulloden laughed a long, rolling laugh.

“It’s quite amusing, really. The geas that Mousse placed on Ranma is nothing compared to the geas I have placed on him. No, not just the geas between sorcerer and apprentice, like we share, but a true geas of power that matures on his sixteenth birthday. And if I’m not mistaken, that day is…today!” Kulloden grinned with glee.

“But what does this geas do?”

“Think, fool! He is a prince of the blood. After today, Ranma will be mine to control forever! Through him, the kingdom will be mine. And with the Book of Juesnkyou beside me, not even Happosai can stop me!”

Shampoo paled. It was a daring plan, she had to agree. What forethought and caution he must have used, to plan all this sixteen years ago! She had to admire his mind. And yet, some part of her felt disquieted.

“And why use Akane, of all people?” she asked. “I saw the vision. She’s just some fisherman’s baby.”

Kulloden lost his grin. “No, she’s not. Nevertheless, I’ve told you enough for now. Take me to the Book.”

They slipped from the room and Shampoo led the way down the steep steps of the tower. Eventually, they came down onto a landing, and followed a corridor down to another set of stairs that finally led down to the base of the tower.

From there, they used magic to cloak themselves, and swiftly made their way to Shampoo’s room, where Shampoo pulled the book from her closet. Kulloden snatched it from her hands.

“At last! At LAST!” Kulloden crowed, his hands grasped firmly about the Book of Jusenkyou, the grimoire he’d been searching for, for years. His eyes glittered with manic delight.

“Who are you?”

Startled, the sorcerer spun around to see a puzzled Kunou standing in the doorway.

“Prince Kunou,” he purred.

Kunou frowned as he looked beyond and saw the fake Akane. Akane’s face on a different girl only angered him.

“What are you doing here, imposter? You were locked up!” he cried.

Kulloden marched swiftly up the prince, and handed him the Book.

“Read this, my prince, it will explain everything,” he promised.

Bemused, Kunou took the book from Kulloden’s hands. It fell open in his hands to a page, and he began to read. The book grew heavier and heavier in his hand, until suddenly his world tilted.

Shampoo looked astonished. Kulloden merely looked satisfied. He reached out and squashed between his fingers the fly that had just a few seconds ago been Prince Kunou.

Shampoo grimaced. She thought she was going to be sick.

“And that, my dear, is the power of Jusenkyou,” Kulloden said.

-

Akane finally remembered to ask Mousse as they were crawling on their hands and knees through a hidden passage in the tower to avoid soldiers.

“How did you know I was…ppbbbt..the real Akane?” she asked, as she shoved a cobweb out of her face.

In front of her, Mousse stopped crawling and turned a red face to Akane. “Promise you won’t hit me? It’s because you have short hair, remember?”

“Oh! Doh!” Akane smacked herself for forgetting. Not that that would prove anything totheir Majestiesbut… “It would have helped if you would have told the King and Queen that,” she said.

“Yes, I…only thought of it later,” he lied. The truth was he had known Shampoo was safe as long as she hid under the guise of Akane. Once they discovered the truth, who knew what they would do to her? But his guilty conscience had forced him to rescue the real Akane, anyway.

“Well, now you can explain it to my par…uh, their Majesties,” Akane sadly amended.

“Yes, of course,” Mousse agreed. Perhaps he could plead on Shampoo’s behalf.

They continued on.

-

Happosai and the King had given up on Ranma for now and moved away slightly to talk between themselves.

Ranma wondered what to do.

“Hey, boy, hold it right there!” The guards in the room came to attention as a young man charged into the room. Spears shot up in guard position, preventing him from approaching the King, Happosai or Ranma.

“Ryouga?” Ranma was surprised into saying.

Happosai cast him a sharp glance. “So you can talk. Good, I was starting to think you were mute.”

Ranma blushed.

Ryouga stumbled to a stop and knelt down on one knee. “Your Majesty,” he said, bowing. “Master Happosai. I’ve come to report on my mission.”

“Yes, Ryouga?” Happosai asked, moving forward, and waving the guards’ spears away.

“You know Happosai?” Ranma asked.

“Yes,” Ryouga said simplyand repeated,“I’ve come to report on my mission.”

“And what do you have for us?” Happosai asked.

“I’ve discovered Kulloden’s plan, milord.”

Happosai’s eyes glittered. “You don’t say. You ARE a smart boy. Pray, continue.” He clapped for wine, seeing the tiredness in Ryouga’s eyes.

“It’s worse then we thought. Kulloden has placed a geas on Ranma. A lifetime geas that will go into effect forever today. Kulloden means to control Ranma as a puppet prince, and through him, rule Nerima.”

“Lies!” Ranma leapt to his feet, enraged. “My master would never do such a thing! You’re lying, Ryouga!”

“I overheard him explaining it to Shampoo,” Ryouga said, pity in his eyes. “Yes I know her name, Ranma. And you know why today is the day your geas comes into effect? It’s because that’s what it’s supposed to do on your sixteenth birthday. That’s today, isn’t it?”

He saw the sudden pale look on Ranma’s face, and grinned humourlessly. “Happy birthday, my prince.” He took the cup of wine from the server and downed a mouthful.

Happosai was frowning, turning the information around in his head. “But Kulloden knows that Kunou is the crown prince, and that Ranma won’t…” He turned white, and exchanged a look of dread with the King. “He’s planning to assassinate Kunou.”

“Find Prince Kunou!” The King shouted. “Find him and keep him safe under guard. Check everywhere!”

Guards clattered out the door. The King sat down with his head in his hands.

Happosai turned to Ranma. “Ranma, please understand. From what Ryouga has told us, when the clock strikes midnight, Kulloden will have complete mastery over you. You have nothing to fear from us. Please, let us help you.”

Ranm hung his head, still unable to believe it. Pain wracked his chest. Then another shooting pain went through him, making him cry out. He checked it with his sorcery. It wasn’t coming from anyone in the room, but within himself.

Happosai took a step forward. “Oh no,” he said. “Has this happened before? It’s a sign that your geas is growing stronger.”

It had happened before, Ranma remembered, earlier, in Shampoo’s room. He gasped with pain, and finally he believed.

“I’ll tell you,” he said.

-

Well, there you have it:) One more chapter, and then an epilogue, I think. We'll see how it goes. Review, if you want an update:)