Ranma and his friends were created by Rumiko Takahashi. Percy and his friends were created by Rick Riordan. This is fan fiction.

Author's Note: This story starts months after the end of the Ranma manga and near the beginning of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. My plan is to have Ranma participate in a quest that runs parallel to the Canon Percy Jackson one. I have the introduction written or plotted out, but I'm not sure how frequent updates will be after that.

The Athena style note about Kasumi's parentage simply means that she was created without being born traditionally-not that she burst out of Hestia's head.

Ranma stood in front of the address his mother had given him. It was a smallish house in the area of Nerima north of the Furinkan district. He shrugged to himself and knocked on the door.

His mother opened the door. "Hello, Ranma. Come in," she said.

She led him to the front room. He knelt at the short table.

"Would you like tea?" she asked.

"Yes, please," he answered.

His mother left and returned after a few minutes with a pitcher and a small tray with snacks on it. "I prepared this, since I knew you were coming."

She poured a cup of tea for him and then knelt opposite him. "Ranma," she said. "I wanted to talk to you about the direction your life was heading. I have a task I would like you to do. If you decide not to do it, I won't hold it against you."

She paused and then drew out the seppuku contract that had been hanging over his head for much of the last year. "I want you to know that I won't hold you to this and never intended to."

Ranma blinked. "Not that I'm not glad to hear you say that, but what about family honor?"

She laughed. "This thing is so poorly worded that there are any number of ways that it could be interpreted that you've already fulfilled. The trivial way that I said it was fulfilled before that nasty business at Jusendo among them. I'll have you know that this was never my idea. I never even saw it until after your father had taken you. I only went along with it to keep your father in line. I'm sorry that I left it hanging over you like that. I might not have realized how much it affected you if Kasumi hadn't told me. I sometimes get too caught up in my plans and I often have a hard time relating to people."

He shrugged. "Ah, Mom. Don't feel too bad about that. You let me off the hook once you found out who I was."

She looked a little embarrassed. "Um, I knew you were Ranko from the first moment I saw her. I guess I played dumb because I wanted you to tell me of your own free will."

"You knew?" he asked, shocked.

She smirked. "You do look like a younger version of me with brighter hair. Plus, I have certain advantages that I'll talk about later in our conversation."

She stopped as if gathering her thoughts. Ranma looked around curiously. "What is this place, Mom?"

"It's one of my houses," she answered.

At his shocked expression she smirked and said, "I have a lot more resources than your father knows about. I asked you to this place because I wanted to talk to you privately."

"Okay."

"Son," she said seriously. "What do you think about your fiancées?"

He shrugged. "I guess I like them all in some fashion. I don't really want to marry any of them, but what I want doesn't seem to matter to anyone."

"Even that Kunou girl?" his mother asked.

He grimaced. "I don't consider her a fiancée, no matter what she says."

"She did give your father a bunch of money to be considered such," she countered.

"And he had no intention of honoring it when he took it," he answered. "She's not old enough or sane enough to enter into contracts and the old man's too cagey to actually sign anything."

"I don't think your father actually signed any of the fiancée agreements—not even the Tendou one," his mother commented.

"What about Shampoo?" she said after a moment.

"She's okay when she's not trying to marry me or kill me," he answered, "but I don't want to marry her, no matter what she or the Old Ghoul say about us already being married. I've seen how they treat their men, and I'm not thrilled about a lot of their other customs—not to mention she was willing to kill me just because I beat her in a fight as a girl."

"I've talked to Cologne and she mentioned that during the Reversal Jewel incident that when Shampoo rejected the Kiss of Marriage, you tried to get it back."

Ranma grimaced. "My competitive nature rearing its ugly head. I can't stand losing even when I should. Plus, I have so few friends that I didn't want to lose her, even if it meant continuing the engagement."

Nodoka hummed. "If it weren't for that incident it would be trivial to argue that the Kiss of Marriage was invalid since you didn't know better and contracts such as marriage can't be entered into unawares." She looked at him. "You are aware that she faces harsh penalties if she goes home without you."

He sighed. "Yes. It's one of the reasons I haven't argued more strenuously against our engagement."

"What about Ukyou?" his mother asked.

"I think of her more like a buddy or possibly a sister now. I like talking to her, but the way she fawns over me sometimes turns me off. I also get the feeling that if I marry her, I'll be expected to become part of her family business, which doesn't interest me."

"The sister comment has merit. I could adopt her if her father won't accept her."

"That would be great, Mom," said Ranma, "but I doubt she would go for it if it gave Pop legal authority over her. He'd have her married off for a pittance before she could sneeze."

"It would be trivial to get your father declared an unfit parent and remove any legal authority if it came to that," said his mother. "I've rather carefully documented what happened to you on the training journey. The Cat Fist Training alone would do it."

He laughed ruefully. "You know about that, huh?"

She frowned. "I almost ended the training journey right there. Only the rules I have to live by stopped me."

"Rules?" he asked curiously.

"I'll explain before you leave today," she promised, "but let's finish this discussion first.

"What about Akane?" she asked.

"I care about her. At one point I thought it might be romantic, but in the months since we almost got married, I've come to the conclusion that we think about each other as close siblings more than anything. We fight and argue way too much to actually marry."

"Have you talked to her about this?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "She agrees. We just haven't told anyone because of the turmoil it would cause."

"What about Nabiki?" asked his mother.

"Nabiki?" he asked. "She isn't a fiancée."

"Technically, the engagement is to any of the Tendou sisters."

He grimaced. "I was engaged to her for about a week one time when I made Akane mad. She sold me to various sports groups and fiancées. I'd rather have nothing to do with her. If she has any good points I haven't seen them very often, if at all."

"What about Kasumi?" she asked.

"I think of her as an older sister. She's nice, but she keeps herself aloof from all the craziness. I get the feeling that there's more to her than she shows, but she keeps it pretty well hidden."

"If you had to choose between them, including all the Tendou girls, which would you choose?"

"Honestly? Probably Kasumi, if I didn't think it would ruin her life. She's the only one of the girls who has never actively abused me. However, the other girls would kill her, I don't think she would appreciate the craziness, and, most of all, I don't think she's interested. After that, probably a tossup between Akane and Ukyou. If I could get away with, I'd marry none of them at this point. I feel like I'm too young to get married."

His mother hummed. "Kasumi's life is about to change drastically. I think she could use your support."

"Really?" he asked. "In what way?"

"It's not my place to say. The families will find out about it tomorrow on her twentieth birthday. However, I will say that she will most likely have to go to America soon. I would like it if you went with her to keep an eye on her, but the only way to honorably do so would be to. . ."

"Marry her," Ranma finished for her. "Is it going to be dangerous for her?"

"I expect so," said Nodoka. "She'll be thrown in among some powerful people who are undergoing some pretty serious turmoil right now with minimal support."

"Can't she stay here?" asked Ranma.

"Her main protection that has shielded her until now will be expiring after her birthday," she answered.

Ranma stared at his teacup with a gloomy expression.

Nodoka looked pensive. "I'm sorry to have to spring the duty card on you like this. I owe the Tendou family my protection, but I can't protect Kasumi in her situation. I'd like you to fill in for me."

"What's your relationship to the Tendou family?" Ranma asked curiously.

She sighed. "I'm going to release my aura. Please don't be alarmed. I'm not who you think I am, but I am your mother."

Ranma stiffened, but nodded.

Nodoka's aura started to grow and grow and grow. She was much more powerful than Saffron, Cologne, and Happosai put together.

"This isn't my natural state, but it's as much as I can safely release here," said the woman who claimed to be his mother.

"Who are you?" he asked. "What are you?"

"Actually, my original name is Nodoka, but most people call me Inari."

"Inari? The god of rice and foxes?" he asked, confused.

"That's right," she answered as she pulled her aura back in.

"My mother is a god? Err, goddess?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm both, actually. And I'm sorry, but because of that, things like your curse are occasionally drawn to my children."

"It's your fault?" he asked, shocked.

"Not intentionally." She chuckled ruefully. "You can see why I was never going to hold you to that contract. That would have been highly hypocritical."

"How does this relate to the Tendous?" he asked.

"Soun and his girls are actually descended from one of my other sons."

"What?" he said, surprised. "You want me to marry one of my nieces?"

She looked at him calmly and said, "Don't be ridiculous, Ranma. The son that they're descended from died over 300 years ago. You aren't closely related. If you want to be technical, at least half of Japan is descended from me at some distance, since I've lived for almost 2000 years. However, I only closely follow those that retain some of my divine spark, which averages out to about one family per child of mine after a few generations. I feel I owe them my protection, but there are rules that I have to operate under and I can't do much for them directly. I'm especially fond of Kasumi—she's a special young woman. She's been sheltered in many respects, but I think she could do well if she's given a buffer to protect her while she adjusts."

"Isn't marriage a little extreme for that?" Ranma asked, doubtfully.

"I've lived a long time and had over a dozen husbands and even a couple of wives. The modern idea of marrying for love does not actually produce more happy marriages than arranged marriages. You can see this by looking at the divorce rates. However, I genuinely think that you and Kasumi could be very happy together."

"Wouldn't it be better if we had more in common?" Ranma countered.

"Sometimes, but you and Akane actually have very similar personalities. How do you think that would work out for you?"

He chuckled. "Like a roller coaster at 100 kilometers per hour—moments of wild fun bracketed by moments of wild terror. Like I said before, Akane and I decided it would be better not to try."

They both chuckled.

"I think Kasumi would balance you nicely. She has some real steel underneath her soft exterior. If given an opportunity to grow, I think she would surprise you nicely."

The conversation lulled for a moment.

"How many children have you had?" Ranma asked curiously.

"You are my 27th child, Ranma," she answered.

"That's not a lot for two millennia," he commented.

"No, it's not," she replied. "I'm not promiscuous like a Greek."

"What possessed a goddess to marry Pop?" he asked.

"Your father was different as a young man; Happosai ruined him. Even so, he still has many of the qualities that a Shinto deity looks for in a spouse."

"What?" He looked at her like she was crazy.

She smiled wanly. "You, Ranma, for your age, are one of my most powerful children. We Shinto deities look to challenge our children so that they can grow and take their place by our sides. Your father has done that very well. I regret some of the things he has done to you, but I think, overall, you've turned out rather well. You definitely need some refinement, but that will come with time."

Ranma looked thoughtfully at his teacup. "I can accept that, although I think it's kind of cold."

His mother reached over and touched his shoulder. "I know that it seems that way, but over the years we've tried several ways of child-rearing and this has gotten the best results. I agree that it's not nice." She shrugged. "The world is not a nice place—even now."

"Is Pop descended from you?" Ranma asked tilting his cup back and forth so that the liquid in it swirled.

"He is very distantly, but that's not why I've followed your family for many generations. Have you ever thought about what your last name means?"

"Rice-planting girl?" he said, hesitantly.

She nodded. "That surname was first given to my first priestess. The gift I gave her has traveled down the generations to your father and now you." She paused. "Have you ever wondered why most of your associates here are more powerful than your typical martial artist?"

"I thought it was just that Nerima attracted that type of person," he said.

"That's true to a certain extent, but those people are powerful in the first place because they have the divine spark. I've already mentioned about your father and the Tendous. The Amazons are descended from several Chinese gods, distantly. The Kunous are descended from Amaterasu through an illegitimate daughter of an Emperor several hundred years ago. Ryouga is the son of a god, like you."

"Which one?" he asked.

"It would be considered poor manners for me to say," she said.

"You told for the Kunous," he pointed out.

She smiled. "No one cares about them—not even their ancestor. If she could, Amaterasu would revoke their gift.

"The major rule that I've been talking about is that we're limited in the amount of help we can give our mortal offspring. I can give you a few minor gifts, but that's it. I'm not allowed to help you directly."

"That's fine," said Ranma. "To tell you the truth, I'm a little disappointed that my abilities are not purely from training."

"In some sense they are, Son," she assured him. "If you didn't do anything, your talents would languish. It's true that skill comes easier to you, but that's true of everyone. People are born with talents that they have to develop. You were just born with more potential than most."

"Will I become a god like you?" he asked.

"It's possible," she said. "Eight of my offspring have, but all but two of them have faded away due to boredom. Those six are why I have so many domains—too many. They ascended and then faded, at which point their domains defaulted to me." She stared sternly at Ranma. "If I ever even catch an inkling that you're going to dump another domain on me by ascending and then fading, I'll make sure you end up as the God and Goddess of Gender Changes."

Ranma blanched. "If I ascend, I'll make sure I mean it," he said fervently.

His mother smiled and nodded. "Good. About marrying Kasumi. . ."

"I'll think about it tonight, but if she really needs me, I don't think I can say no."

"That's all I ask. Just remember that if either of you two doesn't want to, I'll give you an out—no matter what your fathers say. Also, please don't tell anyone who I am. If you do marry Kasumi, you can tell her, but no one else, please."