(C&C welcome. Not to mention needed)
Last updated: 1-5-14

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
THE FORGOTTEN GAME
By: Angela Jewell
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Based on the trilogy The Forbidden Game by L.J. Smith

Ranma 1/2 is the creation and property of Rumiko Takahashi . . . I know some other people and/or companies own it as well, but I'm too lazy to look up who they are. So please don't sue me . . . money is something I have very little of.

***
Volume 1:
Spellbound
***

Forever lost,
Forever gone.
We all have our costs,
Some, terribly wrong.

Drowning in the tide,
Now you can't breathe.
Pushed from side to side,
Without any relief.

Becoming a part of nothing,
But not really caring.
Just stop all your thinking,
Stop your heart from tearing.

Let your mind go blank,
Now just relax.
When they realize you sank,
There'll be no going back.

-Darling

***
Chapter 12
***

Ryoga was lost. So was Ukyo.

Though the latter was just slightly more pissed off about it.

"I'll KILL them," Ukyo announced, her pretty emerald eyes spitting fire as the grip on her spatula noticeably tightened. "I'll smack them, maim them, and then serve them up as an extra special ingredient in my super secret sauce!"

Ryoga, well aware of how volatile the chef could be, quickly hid himself behind one of the many statues lining the walls, trying desperately to blend in.

He had no idea who she was cursing (nor did he particularly care); all he knew was that he had no desire to end up as her own personal pin-cushion. So flattening himself more firmly against the wall at his back, Ryoga watched in silence as the angry martial artist stomped right past, muttering obscenities all the way . . . words that made even the intrepid wanderer blush.

One thing was becoming more and more clear: There really was no comparing her to kind, sweet Akane. It was no wonder the cross dressing chef was having so much trouble snagging Ranma's heart if that's the kind of stuff she was serenading him with. To further reinforce this thought, another colorful string of complaints reached his ears, and Ryoga sadly shook his head, feeling shame on his lovelorn ally's behalf.

Nope, no comparison at all. . .

Finally he began to wonder what could have happened to make the girl so upset. Since waking himself, Ryoga had been taking it relatively easy. Despite a gnawing fear for Akane's well-being, and a desperate need to pummel that Gabriel-guy and Ranma into the ground, he hadn't encountered any of those weird shadow people, and nothing had been lying in ambush, waiting to attack. But Ukyo was acting like she had a real grudge now, like she hadn't been aimlessly wandering the halls all this time like him. Could something terrible have happened while he'd been away? More importantly – was Akane alright?!

"Stupid, brain-dead brat," Ukyo muttered, kicking a nearby wall with her foot. "See if you don't just rot down here, Akane!"

At the sound of his beloved's name, Ryoga's superb survival instincts went right out the window. Without further thought for his own safety, he stepped out from behind his hiding place, his mind fully engaged in Akane-danger-mode.

"Oh, Ukyo! Hello," he yelled jovially as he began jogging towards her. "What a completely unexpected surprise. Whatever are you doing here?"

Ukyo turned at the sound of his voice, surprised but relieved to see the bandana-clad boy headed towards her. "Oh, Ryoga, there you are!" she said happily, a smile quickly replacing her scowl. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

Embarrassed, Ryoga put a hand behind his head, and attempting to appear nonchalant, laughed lightly, "Yeah, well . . . I kinda got lost," he admitted, right before glancing casually around the hallway, as though looking for someone. "So, umm . . . where's Akane? Have you seen her lately?"

At his innocent question, Ukyo rolled her eyes, not surprised to find the doofus had only one thing on his mind. "Your Akane," she answered snidely, with a touch of bitterness, "is with the enemy. She took off with that Shadow-goon or whatever-you-wanna-call-him. . ."

"She WHAT?" Ryoga demanded as he felt his heart drop to the floor. "You let Akane get taken by that, that—"

"I didn't LET her go anywhere," Ukyo snapped back defensively. "She practically summoned him here! Trust me, I'd have gladly knocked her out if I knew what she was up to!"

Ryoga didn't bother to hide his disappointment. Not only had Akane wandered off, but she'd gone to that Gabriel-jerk of her own free will. Surely, this was all Ranma's fault! With a fiancé like him, who could blame her? That insensitive pervert was constantly going out of his way to insult, torture, and tease her! If she was in some other guy's arms, it was because Ranma had driven her there!

But why – oh, why couldn't it be into his arms?!

Fearing he'd lost her again, a dark aura slowly began to surround him, and Ryoga hung his head, feeling dead inside.

Seeing the familiar signs of Ryoga's growing depression, Ukyo groaned in annoyance. Here we go again, she thought. Intent on snapping him out of it, she smacked him smartly over the head with her handy spatula, though the big lug barely flinched. "Don't go getting mopey on me now, Ryoga," she warned him. "The faster we find your nightmare and get it over with, the quicker we can get outta this freak-show and find Ran-chan. So stop sulking already and start looking!"

Ryoga obeyed and got quickly to work. But not because of Ukyo.

He had no idea how these nightmares worked, but he was pretty sure he knew what would be waiting for him on the other side of that door – Akane's absence could only work in his favor. Better yet, if he did find the door to his nightmare, he intended to smash it! He couldn't let Akane find out about P-chan. Not here, not like this. "It's gotta be around here somewhere. . ." he muttered, as he began to search like a madman.

Satisfied that the threat of a shi shi hokodan was over, Ukyo took a moment to finally take in her surroundings. Though she'd noticed it before, now it was hard to dismiss how strange this place was. So far, every hall they'd come across in this godforsaken place had been darker than dark, equipped with horrible lighting, and boasting decorations out of a horror show.

This one was different.

It was brightly lit, nearly double the width of the other corridors they'd been in, and filled with gorgeous paintings and statues as far as the eye could see. However, there was so much here that it seemed almost tacky; like the decorator couldn't quite decide what to include so threw in everything wherever it fit. One entire wall was completely covered with famous paintings, lined up one right after the other. And there were miniature sculptures of famous landmarks wherever she looked – the Eiffel tower, the Sistine Chapel, the pyramids of Giza, the Louvre – it was a curator's nightmare and a tourist's dream.

If there was a door here, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Ukyo sighed, despondent. She was certain this mess was all Ryoga's doing; probably some strange conglomeration of all the places he'd traveled. In fact, it wasn't all that different from Kasumi's messy room – only less disgusting and less stifling. Not that Ryoga seemed to care.

The big dope was looking for a door every place where one couldn't possibly exist: the floor, the ceiling, the statutes. . .

Ukyo was about to smack him again for being so stupid when she heard footsteps approaching fast from behind them. Pausing in her search, she glanced back to see Shampoo hurrying towards them, Nabiki just behind, appearing to be taking her sweet time. Almost immediately though, confusion crossed the Amazon's face as she quickly noticed the lack of one of their party. "Where Akane?" she asked, irritation seeping into her voice when she finally reached them. "She go find Ranma without Shampoo?"

Ukyo resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "No, she ditched me to go looking for Gabriel . . . probably trying to get Kasumi back or something."

Shampoo nodded, not at all surprised to hear that. In her situation, she probably would've done the same thing – though more kicking and pain would've been involved in her type of negotiating.

"Get Kasumi back. . .?" Ryoga questioned, and Ukyo slapped her forehead, having forgotten to let him in on the most important bit. For once, she tried to break it to him gently – after all, unlike Akane and Nabiki, she'd actually liked the sweet-tempered Kasumi, but at the news, Ryoga's eyes seemed to shine with an angry fire – so much so, that for a moment, Ukyo was certain she must have misspoken and said Akane's name by mistake. But the next words out of Ryoga's mouth quickly settled that fear.

"That dirty bastard! How dare he do that to Kasumi!" Already his mind was filling in the blanks, connecting the dots that Ukyo had failed to supply. Akane had obviously ditched the chef in order to sacrifice herself for Kasumi's sake – she was just that kind of girl. Honorable, caring, self-sacrificing, and he knew it was something she'd feel compelled to do, especially with the responsibility of the game's sole "prize." Tears welled in his eyes at the realization.

He had to find her! If only to sacrifice himself in her place!

"Don't worry, Akane!" he yelled. "I'LL save you!"

Ukyo hit him again as he started to storm off, a sudden tornado of fury. "We just found you, you dolt! Don't you dare go getting lost again!"

"But Akane!"

"Akane is fine. He wants her alive, Ryoga. He's not going to hurt her – that would defeat the entire purpose of the game. And he can't very well seduce her if she wants to break his neck now, can he?"

At the words "Akane" and "seduce" Ryoga's eyes narrowed, and his battle aura began to really shine. Ukyo cursed her choice of words. Again, he looked ready to bolt.

"That's a door, right?"

Nabiki was standing by one of the many statues, her finger pointed lazily towards a life-size drawing of a door. It was half hidden behind a statue of a lion preparing to strike and the statue of David, sans leaf. It certainly looked like a door in any case, but a door without a handle. Ukyo frowned, embarrassed at having missed it. Trust this stupid house to hide the dang thing in plain sight.

"Think maybe it's waiting for our entire party to show up?" Nabiki questioned, indicating her missing sister. "We seem to be down a member."

Ryoga's face suddenly went pale, and he looked ready to jump right into the lion's jaw – visions of a dancing P-chan flitting in and out of his fading vision, a portent of his impending doom.

Ignoring him, Ukyo groaned, and silently cursed Akane for her lack of foresight. They were on a time-limit here! Couldn't this have waited until after they'd beaten the game and actually had something to haggle with? Ukyo was pretty sure no amount of bartering was gonna get them the oldest Tendo sibling back anyway – not for any price Akane was willing to pay.

"So what we doing now?" Shampoo asked, not thinking nearly as deeply as her companion. She was running her hands over the painting, as if trying to will a doorknob to appear.

"What else can we do?" Nabiki asked her. "We wait."

T * * * G

By the time Akane finally managed to stop crying, Ranma's red shirt was nearly soaked through. Feeling self-conscious for having lost control like that, she muttered a quiet sorry and released him before climbing unsteadily to her feet.

Ranma, still half-kneeling, caught her before she could fall back down.

"Careful dummy," he warned her, "You're not back to yourself yet."

Akane shrugged off his hand, and standing fully, leaned heavily against the wall for support, though her gaze never strayed far from Ranma's. Even with him standing right in front of her she still couldn't believe he was really here. It was silly, of course, but part of her kept expecting him to vanish at any moment; afraid that if she blinked he'd be gone, leaving her alone again.

Akane was determined not to blink.

"So. . . you gonna stare at me all day or what?" Ranma asked, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Embarrassed at being caught, Akane blushed and reluctantly looked away. "How did you find me anyway," she asked, ignoring the question. "I thought Gabriel had you locked away somewhere?"

Ranma snorted. "You think a jerk like that could keep me locked up for long? Gimme a break, Akane."

Akane smiled softly to herself. Only Ranma could be so cocky and arrogant after getting himself kidnapped – not that she was surprised. Nothing ever seemed to faze her fiancé for long, no matter what craziness came his way. It was a comforting thought, if not a slightly disheartening one.

Now she felt even more useless and ashamed.

HE never failed in a fight, not when it mattered the most. And she knew this time would be no different: Ranma would find Gabriel, beat him to a bloody pulp, rescue Kasumi, and they'd all leave this place together – angry and changed, of course – but alive.

And with absolutely no help from her.

When had she gotten so weak?

Ranma, watching closely, must have read her mind. "Look, Akane," he began as he moved to stand. "I know about Kasumi . . . about what happened . . . and well, you know it's not your fault, right?"

"Of course it's my fault," she told him, her voice bitter as angry tears burned behind her eyes. "You heard Gabriel, Ranma. We're here because of me, and now Kasumi's gone because I wasn't fast enough, because I couldn't—"

"Couldn't what? Fight her nightmare for her," he asked, leaning against the opposite wall. "Don't be stupid, Akane . . . for all we know she's locked away someplace, bored out of her skull. I mean,think about it: If the guy hopes to have any sort of future with you, he can't very well kill off your sister now, can he? More than likely, she's his trump card, and he's keeping her hidden in case he loses this fucked up game."

Akane had suspected as much herself, but still, hearing it from Ranma's lips gave her renewed confidence she hadn't felt in awhile.

"Besides," Ranma continued, on a roll now, "if this Gabriel guy knows you as well as he says he does, he must've known you're all thumbs and suck at doing anything even remotely domestic; the odds were stacked against you from the start. There's no way you could've won!"

Akane stared at him in disbelief, all her good thoughts slinking away back into the dark recesses of her mind, to be replaced by something darker, more familiar. "So you think I lost Kasumi because I couldn't handle a bit of cleaning?" she repeated incredulously, giving him a chance, just this once, to not be an idiot. "Is that what you're saying?"

"See, I knew you'd understand," he told her, and then patted her lightly on the shoulder, like a dog he was rewarding for a job well done. "That's why there's no point in getting all bent out of shape about it."

"Ranma. . ." she protested, a hint of warning in her voice, though her fiancé continued on as though he hadn't heard her.

"Okay, so, while I'm rescuing Kasumi, you just go and hide somewhere – I'll come and get you once I've pounded that Shadow-jerk into the ground and it's safe to leave. Me, Ryoga, and the others should be able to take him easy. I mean, no offense, Akane, but if you tagged along, you'd only slow us down. So, sound good?"

Although he should've seen it coming, the resounding slap to his face still managed to catch him completely off guard. Shocked, Ranma put a hand to his aching cheek, his eyes narrowed accusingly. "Dammit, Akane – what'd you do that for?"

To her disgust and horror, she felt tears building behind her eyes again and wiped at them quickly with the back of her hand, silently cursing his name. It was one thing to know she was useless, but quite another to hear it stated so bluntly in her fiancé's cruel, offhanded way.

At that moment, she hated him, really, truly despised him.

"What makes you think I want your help?" she declared angrily, drawing strength from the familiar, comfortable fury he always managed to bring out in her. "I can beat this game by myself AND get Kasumi back! You just watch me!"

At her declaration, Ranma raised an eyebrow, his cocky expression back in place. "Oh really?" he mocked, looking amused. "And how do you plan on doing that then? When I found you, you could barely stand up! You gonna crawl to the finish line?"

"And I suppose getting dragged off and stuffed in the attic was all part of your 'master plan' too, was it?" she scoffed. "Honestly, Ranma! For someone who barely lasted five minutes in this game, you sure talk big!"

"And what's YOUR big strategy then, huh?" he replied, his words full of vitriol. "Cozy up to the Shadow Guy and bat your eyes until he agrees to give Kasumi back? The guy doesn't have any common sense at all, stupid. If he did, he'd go for a nice, cute, docile chick . . . not some violent, uncute, tomboy who can't cook to save her life! Any deal he does offer you is sure to be idiotic, dangerous, or both."

"Gee, when you put it like that, I don't know why I've been fighting Gabriel as hard as I have," Akane replied sharply. "He's half the man, no, TWICEthe man you'll ever be, Ranma! If anything, I should be thanking him for trying to save me from a lifetime of misery with an idiot like YOU!"

"Then what the hell are you waiting for?!" Ranma yelled back, so enraged his eyes were practically electric. "Why don't you go ahead and marry HIM then?! It's not like anyone else on the planet would be stupid enough to have you!"

"Fine! Maybe I will!"

"Maybe?" He taunted, narrowing his eyes. "You holding out hope you can do better?"

"Fine, I WILL then! Happy?!"

"Is that a promise?" He challenged.

Akane, too enraged to think clearly, nodded vigorously. "Sure. Fine. Whatever!"

Ranma went silent for a moment, as if drinking in the sight of her flashing eyes, flushed cheeks, and quivering lips. "Remember, Akane," he breathed, "you promised."

And without another word, Ranma closed the distance between them, and pressing his lips to hers, sealed her vow with a kiss. . .

T * * * G

The sound of the mirror shattering against the wall still wasn't enough to bring Ranma back to himself.

He had to kill Gabriel.

He attacked the attic door again, trying to kick a hole through it, to break it down, to get out.

When that wasn't working, Ranma threw a moko takabisha at it, giving it everything he had – and screamed in frustration as the biggest explosion he'd ever thrown passed right through, like a harmless tornado petering out. The door disappeared moments later, leaving nothing but a blank wall – but even so, Ranma continued to ram himself against it, again and again, ignoring the sharp pain shooting up his arm and the left side of his body with every attempt.

Ranma was getting out of here even if it killed him.

Screw waiting.

T * * * G

At first, Akane was too shocked to react.

Ranma was kissing her. Why was Ranma kissing her? Hadn't they just been fighting a minute ago?

She was still a bit foggy on the details, but she shut her eyes obediently, and tried not to think too deeply . . . because his lips . . . had they always been this soft? And as his tongue slipped past her parted lips seconds later and began sparring gently with her own, Akane lost the power to think rationally at all. Sensations swept through her she'd never felt before, and as his fingers tangled in her hair, as he angled her head just so so he could explore her mouth more thoroughly, she decided this moment could go on forever and she really wouldn't mind.

Oh. She could get used to kissing Ranma. . .

Much too soon for her liking though, he pulled away, his lips lingering on hers for the briefest of moments, tugging and nipping playfully, and causing a breathless sigh to escape her that had him grinning and laughing a hair's breadth away – until suddenly he wasn't, and she felt his absence like a cold, hollow ache deep in her chest.

"There now. Was that so bad?" he asked her, and Akane froze at the familiar sound of his voice.

It wasn't Ranma's.

Her head immediately shot up, and her eyes narrowed dangerously as she found herself staring, not into the face of her fiancé, but a perverted jerk of an entirely different sort.

Gabriel was looking much more pleased with himself than he had a right to, and if Akane hadn't been fighting off a case of debilitating shock, she would've wiped that smirk right off his face. At the moment though, she was having enough trouble forming words, let alone going on the offensive.

"You know, you're beautiful when you're mad," Gabriel told her, his eyes sparkling as he leaned towards her. "I really can't blame your fiancé for always wanting to pick a fight with you."

After that, everything came into clear, sharp focus. "You—you tricked me!" she shouted, her face now red for an entirely different reason.

Gabriel shrugged innocently, not looking the slightest bit repentant. "I told you I could give you anything, Akane—if it's him you truly want, then for you, I'll be him."

She stared at him, incredulous. "Be him?" Akane repeated quietly, unsure if she was more disgusted or terrified by such logic. "Is everything a game to you?"

"What's life if not a game?" he answered, frank as ever.

Something within Akane snapped at that. "Do you honestly think I'm worried about my love life right now?" she demanded, taking a small step towards him, for once, acting rather than reacting. "If you can give me anything—anything, you said—then give me back my mother and my sister! THEY'RE the ones I want, you stupid insufferable creep! Give THEM back to me!"

A smarter man would have retreated after noticing that familiar, dangerous glint in her eye—but Gabriel wasn't exactly a man. He held his ground, unmindful of the hurricane that was quickly barreling towards him. Instead he said, "you know the rules Akane. You can't get something for nothing, you know."

She shoved him then, so hard that he was actually pushed back several feet and had to move quickly in order to avoid the side kick she aimed straight for his middle. "All you've done since I've met you is take!" she yelled, striking out at him again, this time, throwing a punch that was aimed for his head. But Gabriel was ready this time. He grabbed her wrist as it shot past, then the other, and pushed her up against the wall, trapping her there. "You don't know what love is," she told him, breathing hard, her voice raw. "You couldn't possibly."

"I know," he insisted, and there was a threat behind those words.

But Akane only glared back, sick to death of his games, sick to death of him. Nothing he could possibly say mattered to her anymore. As far as she was concerned, everything he'd told her as Ranma, everything he'd said before she entered her nightmare, it was still valid. It hadn't all been a lie.

Kasumi was safe, she was sure of it.

And to get her back, all she had to do was win. Ranma and the others could take care of the rest—they wouldn't let him keep Kasumi. And once her sister was safe, once they'd got her home safely, then they'd figure out how to find her mother . . . now, at least, they knew where to look.

She had to be here somewhere. In the Shadow World.

But Gabriel didn't know what she was thinking. He moved closer, his eyes drawn to her small wrists which he could now safely touch—though even that was no longer enough. He wanted more. He wanted all of her.

Suddenly Akane stiffened as Gabriel's entire body began to shift before her—silvery hair turning dark, eyes deepening into a more familiar, more natural shade of blue—until once again she was staring, not into the eyes of the Shadow Prince, but into the familiar eyes of her stubborn, wayward fiancé. "One last chance, Akane," he told her, speaking with Ranma's voice now as he leaned closer. "Stay here. Stay with me. I can make it worth your while. . ."

His fingers gently brushed her cheek, like the rose he had dragged over her skin in what seemed eons ago, and before she could stop him he was leaning towards her again, intent on stealing her lips for one last sweet kiss—until Akane, defiant, turned her face away.

Gabriel slowly pulled back, looking angry. "So, it really IS him you want then? Even a damn COPY'S not good enough for you?"

"No," she told him, not because it was necessarily true, but because it would hurt. "I guess it's not."

Gabriel's face hardened at her reply, but when his eyes fell upon her lips again, slowly, he smiled. "You'll come around," he told her, and leaning forward whispered softly in her ear, "you made a vow, Akane. And that's the most powerful magic in the world." At his words the room grew colder and the pressure on her arms suddenly subsided . . . and just like that, the Prince of Shadows was gone.

***
End of Chapter 12
***

A/N: If you're reading this, thanks so much for sticking with this story for as long as you have! I realize it's in desperate need of a rewrite, so I appreciate you making it this far, terrible formatting, writing, and all! See you next chapter! We're finally almost done!

And as always, thanks to my amazing pre-readers and friends, who without their invaluable input and constant pestering to stop being a crappy perfectionist, this chapter never would've seen the light of day - love you, Lichan44, tomboy 26, and Luna12. ^_^