A Long Journey

"My lovely Cindra are you sure you want to do this?" 'Zar said, obviously having mixed emotions.

"I am not your Cindra. I am simply using your services in exchange for a price," Cindra stated, her voice dripping disgust.

"Ah yes. A date and a kiss," a dreamy look entered his eyes as a thin line of drool exited his mouth. Shaking himself from his stupor he continued, "Of course it would be best if your father was unaware of our relationship."

"There is no relationship, you freak! I mean...of course Daddy doesn't need to know. He'd get all upset over nothing. I am an a.d.u.l.t and since Daddy gave his permission to marry my love, it is my duty to track him down," Cindra said with conviction.

"He may very well be dead. He was taken away by a God of the Pantheon of Taut. They are not known to be friendly towards humans," 'Zar warned.

"I may not be able to follow him to whatever fate may be his, but I can follow him home. Surely if he lives he will find his way back. And I will be there waiting. It's so romantic," Cindra sighed.

"Er, yes. Very. Anyway once Ammit left us I was able to summon an alternate demon and find out our friend's home plane," 'Zar nodded to himself in obvious pride.

"Hey, I am not a demon," a querulous voice rose from the corner of the room.

"Be silent. If you weren't a demon and of supernatural evil my containment circle would have had no effect, demon." 'Zar stated in dismissal towards the source of the sound.

"But I wanna go home. Is this any way to treat a harmless old man? Why is everybody always picking on me?" wailed the diminutive figure, which could now be made out in the darkened corner.

"Oh stop your whining. Here," 'Zar hushed while throwing a piece of cloth at the containment circle. The figure leaped towards the object only to crash against an invisible surface, which happened to coincide with the edge of the circle. Fortunately, a moment later the cloth fluttered down to land on the figure's head.

"Ah! P.a.n.t.i.e.s!" the old demon sighed in satisfaction.

"Fortunately these demons of perversion are all simple minded and easy to satiate. I'll send him back when I'm sure you've safely arrived. Have a care, my Princess. I anxiously await our date," 'Zar continued smiling suggestively at Cindra.

"Oh please. I think I'm going to be ill," Cindra said, fighting her gag reflex. "Just get on with it."

"Fine," 'Zar stated while tapping a circle with his staff, mumbling incoherent words. After several minutes of this a glow formed in the air and a ripping, electrical cracking sound could be heard. A portal soon irised open in front of the couple.

Through the gate a young lady in an apron and dress could be seen turning from a sink and a pile of dishes, a look of mild surprise on her face.

Cindra took the time to grab her bags and walk through the portal. As she stepped through the portal closed quietly behind Cindra

"Greetings. I am the fiancée of Ranma Saotome. I will be staying here until my love comes for me." Seeing the girl still unresponsive she took some gold coins from her belt and placed them in the girl's unresisting hand.

"Oh my! Guests! Paying guests. Nabiki will be so pleased," the girl said, looking vaguely confused.

"Anyway, Hades and Dyval have a violent rivalry that has been going on for...hmm...probably since just after the Old Ones were subdued, which is a good hundred thousand years," Anhur started after Ranma had stopped beating herself.

"What does Hades have to do with anything?" Ranma-chan asked.

"I'll get to that. Rhada, who is the Deevil Lord whose dominion is the Fenry, captured Abdul-Ra more than three hundred years ago..."

"Who is Abdul-Ra?" Ranma-chan interrupted with a query.

"My you certainly inquisitive all of a sudden. Abdul-Ra is a Demon Lord of Hades whose dominion is...not important right now. Apparently Rhada fell in love with her captive. She freed Abdul-Ra because of this. It's really too bad the other Demon Lords found out about that little incident. They were really upset that one of their own would demonstrate such freakish emotion, especially towards such hated foes. They chained her in her own castle, bound her powers so she couldn't escape, and have been arguing over what to do with her for three hundred years."

"Abdul-Ra left his girlfriend to sit in a dungeon for three hundred years?" Ranma-chan exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well, it's not as if he ever proclaimed his love for her. That combined with this probably being the first time he's ever had anything resembling a warm emotion since...well, most likely ever. I know him by reputation, very honorable, which I approve of. Unlike most of the Demon Lords he takes his responsibilities towards his minions seriously, but love? Ha! He's probably been wondering what in Hades happened to him for the last several centuries."

"If he's not a friend of yours, then why are you helping him?" Ranma-chan asked.

"Well, actually this part is much less straightforward. Ammit is a...friend...of Abdul-Ra. He has been a go between for Abdul-Ra and Rhada since shortly after the incident. You see if Abdul-Ra, a Demon Lord, sets foot on Dyval, the very ground will scream his presence for all to hear. Ammit, though a fairly powerful deity, is of the Dark Pantheon of Taut, and there are no overt hostilities between us and Dyval."

"Then why don't you go help Ammit?"

"It's not my concern. Furthermore I don't want it to become my concern. It would be distracting to come into open conflict with the Lords of Dyval. As it is Ammit will owe me a large favor for your services that I will eventually collect."

"Hey! What about me? I don't want a pack of Demon...er...Dyval Lords after me either!" Ranma-chan protested.

"It's very simple, you are merely human. Humans are very hard to sense, especially compared to other greater supernatural entities. Since you won't be declared my champion until after this little enterprise I won't be officially involved. The Dyval Lords will assume any mere human is a minion of Ammit's. Only the most petty would specifically target you for vengeance."

"Won't Ammit's involvement cause him trouble?"

"That's not a concern to me. Ammit can fight his own battles. The Dyval Lords would be fools to declare war on the entire Pantheon of Taut. Not to mention that in that type of general conflict our 'brother' Pantheon of Ra might be drawn into the war. Hades and Dyval's other enemies would take advantage of their weakness and Dyval would cease to exist soon after. It would be truly glorious, but very unlikely. They will confine their ire to Ammit," Anhur stated with finality.

"Okay, that explains your involvement, now how'd I get involved?"

"Thoth has been trying to deal with the problem with the Old Ones for long time, even for us. He needs someone whose power is so negligible as to be unnoticed..."

"Hey!" Ranma-chan protested.

"...Yet ironically he also requires a being of great power and ability." Anhur finished. "You have significant power and ability, yet if you hid your aura I myself would be hard pressed to sense you in this very room." Ranma-chan nodded, her ego soothed.

"Thoth can be very persistent so he finally found a candidate. You. He was actively looking and you caught his attention when that Western Empire fool accidentally summoned you for his own petty goals. You aren't quite ready yet so he contacted me. He has access to incredible knowledge, but for the arts of war I am your tutor."

"So you'll teach me...wait a minute, you mean you would have gotten me trained even if I hadn't asked for it," Ranma-chan cried out.

"Yes," Anhur replied simply.

"Greyson was right," Ranma-chan sighed in a defeated tone. "Why do you want me as your champion, and what is a champion anyway?" she asked still looking dejectedly at the floor.

"Aside from helping Thoth on an issue that is of vital importance, I am a god of war. This means that all aspects of conflict are of interest to me. I possess many armies, some with magical weapons and artifacts of destruction, others with technology people from your world have yet to see, or even imagine. But armies are useless by themselves, and though I am a god, I am not omnipotent. There are only so many places I can be at once. So I also collect individuals of intelligence and power, these are my generals and representatives. They wield my armies and even some of my power when I cannot be there myself."

"But I'm no general! I admit that I'm great with tactics, but leading an army isn't me. I'm a martial artist!" she protested.

"I never said you were. Besides, my generals may be required to negotiate, and I think you need to m.a.t.u.r.e a bit before you develop the patience and wisdom for that." Ranma-chan looked toward the floor in embarrassment again. "I do require a champion, however. There are times where disputes with other powers arise where open conflict is not d.e.s.i.r.ed and can be dealt with a contest between two minions. There will also be times where my own minions will commit crimes and must be brought back to be judged."

"I'm not going to kill anyone you point to. I'm no assassin!" Ranma-chan vehemently protested.

"I am aware of your limitations," Anhur stated, a hint of disdain crept into his voice. "Thoth informed me of your moral shortcoming and I assured him that I will take them into account. Your missions will be limited to those even you would consider criminals. Likewise I will not force you to kill. It is usually easier than capture, but I will leave the decision in your hands."

"Well, that's okay then," Ranma-chan said, still unsure that it was 'okay'.

"As to your powers as champion, they will be similar to those of a priest..."

"Hey I ain't going to worship you or nothin!" Ranma-chan indignantly cried out.

Anhur sighed, "That won't be necessary. A simple acknowledgement of me being your chosen god is enough. That, and your obedience."

"Well...as long as you don't tell me to do anything dishonorable," Ranma-chan nodded.

Anhur rubbed his temples, he could tell Ranma was going to be more work than almost any other follower or worshipper he had. If Thoth hadn't personally asked for his forbearance on the matter...and of course, short of the major supernatural entities under his command, Ranma had the most potential. It was all a simple matter of resisting the overwhelming temptation of blasting the idiot out of existence, while waiting for that potential, and his protege's mouth, to m.a.t.u.r.e.

"Your powers as a champion are as follows: you may dimensionally teleport to any dimension I have personally been to, assuming you know it exists. This is not very accurate without a quite a bit of practice. Be careful, you may end up anywhere on that world. You can use this three times a day. However on the bright side, whatever world you end up in you will be able to survive the local ambient conditions, and speak the local tongue

"Why three times a day?"

"It's the standard number. Ask Thoth, I'm sure there's an arcane reason that he'll be aware of," he took a breathe before continuing his explanation. Second you will gain a slight resistance to possession, mind control, soul-drinking and magic in general. This is because I am imbuing a small amount of my essence into you. Not much, as it would defeat the purpose Thoth has in mind for you. Your life span will, as a side effect, be enhanced and you will age at one tenth the normal rate."

"But as a martial artist and a master of chi I already had that. Why if Cologne and Happossai can live to over three hundred I bet I could double that," Ranma-chan boasted.

"It doesn't really matter. If what you say is true, you could look forward to a lifespan of six thousand years under my service. As it is, if you make use of the circle Thoth will give you for Cologne periodically, you can work in my service for whatever part of eternity you wish, and then retire for the rest of forever. Aside from all that, you are far more likely to die of unnatural causes," Anhur smiled cheerily to himself, imaging himself to be one of these unnatural causes.

"Wow, I could get, like really good, given forever," Ranma-chan mumbled dreamily to herself. "And I wouldn't even shrink like Cologne did."

"Yes, I'm sure you could. You also have the ability to contact me directly to ask for divine intervention or simple communication. Do not do this often. I don't need a champion if I have to do all the work anyway."

"I won't need any help," Ranma-chan confidently stated.

"We'll see. Finally, if you die in my service, assuming your soul is not trapped, dispelled, destroyed or otherwise inconvenienced, I will undertake it upon myself to resurrect you."

"Wow. Neat. I mean how often does that stuff happen?" Ranma-chan rhetorically asked.

An uncomfortable silence greeted her question. Just as Ranma-chan was going to follow up on her question again with more emphasis, Anhur continued on a completely different track.

"If you decide to leave my service I will remove these abilities, and you may continue normally with your life. Be warned, if you anger another deity, and he is aware of your special 'status' he has the capability to strip these abilities from you one by one. At least until you again come into my presence and I renew the contract," Anhur emphasized.

Anhur paused to gather his thoughts. "For now the only glaring faults I see in you is your ignorance of Deevils and Demons in general, and the Neko-ken. The first can be dealt with easily," Anhur extended his hand and a large tome appeared in it, "Take it. It is a complete description of the powers, abilities and anatomy of most dyvals, demons, elementals and dragons. These are the most common of the supernatural threats you may face."

"Does this have pressure points and martial arts technique in it?" Ranma-chan asked doubtfully. That book looked way too much like school work.

"No. Supernatural entities are very resistant to simple nerve and chi manipulation. It does contain diagrams of the musculature, skeleton, tendons, and full range of motion capable by such creatures. The specific techniques I will leave to you. Mostly for now you should think of how to apply the maneuvers you know to creatures having a completely different center of mass, density and flexibility. It would be most embarrassing to try a throw on a demon only to be disemboweled when you find the joint actually moves the other way."

"Hah! Never happen," Ranma-chan stated, gathering the book under her arm with more appreciation than previously shown.

"The next problem is the Neko-ken. There may or may not be cats in Dyval, but there are definitely fear spells and shape-changers. It would be unfortunate if you went 'cat' in Dyval, you might win the battle you were in, but I doubt we'd ever see you again. Ammit would certainly not bother to bring you back if you resisted," Anhur laughed with good humor that was somehow lost on Ranma-chan. "In the short term I have a amulet that will keep you from feeling fear. Don't use it too often, preferably only in combat. It blunts the self-preservation instinct, and most other emotions as well as fear." He tossed Ranma-chan another object he had pulled from nowhere.

"For the long term, I will have a mind mage in my service show you certain meditation techniques, that will allow you to control your fear. I think that with enough time and practice you might be able to employ the Neko-ken techniques at will, without the debilitating side effects." Ranma-chan perked up at this wonderful news. "You can probably perfect the technique in just a few centuries," Anhur continued heartily.

Seeing Ranma-chan's dejected look, he offered some advice. "I suggest you start looking at the long term, you're going to be busy, but forever is a long time even for a god. However, for now you should start studying. I'll have one of my servants show you where you'll be eating, training, and sleeping."

As one of the feline Raman walked into the room, a terrified Ranma-chan created her own exit leaving the room in the opposite direction. Sighing Anhur motioned to the servant to bring a bucket of hot water.

"I suppose I should have had him wear that amulet first. Oh well, I knew there was a reason I loathed pets," he muttered to himself. Anhur then went to start a process that he hoped wouldn't become a habit.