Avatar of Chaos

Chapter 8

4 days since the acquisition of a brand new pair of wings. 4 days since, once more, chaos came into Ranma's life, and changed it forever.

Now, granted, Xion had said that he would do his best to find a way to restore him to his former self, and yes, Xion had worked diligently to that end. Ranma however, knew how his life went. There were certain things that just didn't get undone. He knew, from experience, that his new wings would be one of those things. They would not vanish on their own. They would not be removed from his body, not without seriously harming himself in the process. This, he knew. He also knew that since they were new, and unfamiliar, they were a liability. Thus, Ranma did what he did best. He trained.

Day one, he moved his wings around to get a feel of them, and moved them in all the directions and positions he could think off. When his back began to hurt, he folded them on this back, and practiced his ki manipulation. An unfortunate close encounter with water, and some excruciating back pain later, Ranma discovered that the wings were indeed permanent, as even his female form had them. The second day, his back was seriously hurting from using muscles that didn't exist 24 hours before, so he tried to keep the wings as still as possible, and worked on regaining his balance and equilibrium. Again, he spent a decent amount of time working with his ki, to make it more fluid, more responsive to him. On the third day, he combined what he'd done the first two days and, as was his trademark, adapted very quickly. By day 4, he was moving as if he'd had the wings for months instead of a few days. He also tried to get airborne that day, and found that flapping his wings fast enough to attain lift was easier said than done. It had taken him hours before he'd found a suitable rhythm, and again hours before his feet even left the ground.

In the few hours that had gone by from what could be called the day in the strangeness of the Realm, Ranma had practiced flying a bit more, and had managed to lift off, hover, and even move ahead a bit. Flying was more exhausting that he'd thought it would be though. But he felt good about himself. Maybe it was the fact that he was older, or more experienced, but he didn't hate the fact that he had wings now. Sure, for now it was an inconvenience, but with the life he'd had until now, inconveniences were the least of his problems. And besides, even if Xion didn't find a way to restore him to normal, maybe he'd find a way to hide the wings.

Suddenly feeling itchy for some reason, Ranma stood from where he'd been sitting, and walked a while. When he was sure he was far enough from his shelter, he dipped into his Ki and brought it to the fore. He let it roar all around him, like a vortex, a hurricane, with himself in the eye of the storm. For once, he reveled in the power he had as he let it out, simply because he wanted to. And for the very first time since Saffron, he brought it all out. Every little bit he had, and he let it roar.

Ever since the battle with Saffron, his power had grown steadily. And he could never risk it to let it all out, for fear of hurting someone who could not stand against the power he now possessed.

"It feels good, doesn't it?" A voice sounded from behind him.

Startled, Ranma recalled all his power back to him, ready to defend himself at a moments notice. He relaxed when he saw it was just Xion. At the same time, he realized he'd been asked a question.

"Yeah, it does. I normally have to keep my power hidden or suppressed because I could harm someone all too easy this way."

"You don't have to worry about harming anyone here that way. What creatures live here are already pretty strong because of the enhanced gravity, and wild to boot, so they won't come close to you without a good reason."

Ranma nodded. Flexing his wings, he reminded himself to update Xion on their permanent status. Xion nodded to that news, somewhat sadly.

"From what I've been able to learn, I thought they might indeed be permanent. Some avatars from fellow-gods gained wings by accident too. None of them managed to get rid of them."

"I figured that. Stuff like this happens to me more than others it seems. I've gotten used to them. Mostly anyway. Just gimme a bit more time, and I'll be back to my normal level of skill."

"I have no doubt you will, but while I wasn't able to find a way to remove the wings from you, I have found a way to help you hide them. And since they are permanent, I looked for a way to make them stronger."

"Oh?"

"Let's begin." And Xion called upon the powers he had at his command. He focused them, let them envelope Ranma, who felt the immense power around him, and let his own power flow free with it. Xion felt the joining of his energy and Ranma's and was amazed at the way they resonated with one and other. They were actively amplifying each other bit by bit. Deciding that this was something best looked into at a later time, he began what he intended to do to Ranma's wings.

"First, we alter your wings to make them tougher and stronger. We'll do this by changing the outermost layer of them to a diamond-like substance."

A shimmer rolled over the wings, marking the progress of the change brought on by Xion's power. Where the shimmer had passed, the wings still looked essentially the same, aside from the fact that they looked a bit more shiny than before.

"Second, we make it so that your wings can be transformed into energy instead of flesh and blood. Doing so will allow the wings to regenerate faster from any wounds taken and open the way for the third and final part of this alteration, the effective hiding of the wings."

Unlike the first time, the shimmer that appeared started at the base of the wings, from Ranma's back. It wasn't a painful feeling, but it was unpleasant none the less, causing him to grimace. The shimmer surrounded the wings and began to pulse. This was a lot more complicated than the first step. The wings entire structure had to be analyzed so the transformation to energy wouldn't cause the wings to be destroyed. It was taking a lot of Xion's concentration to keep the process going. At long last, the shimmer began to pulse. Slowly at first, but faster after every pulse. With each faster pulse, the second part came closer to it's finish. They began to bleed into each other, no longer distinguished from each other. At last, the shimmer faded, leaving behind a pair of wings, completely made up from energy. For a moment, they stayed in the shape they had when they were matter, but they quickly lost that shape to become two fields of energy only vaguely resembling wings of a bird, but more looking like bat-like wings.

"And to finish, we retract the energy wings into your back, as to finish hiding them."

Under the guidance of Xion, Ranma's body began to pull the energy wings into itself, all the while teaching Ranma how to do it on his own. It didn't take long for the energy to be absorbed in his back, completing the undertaking. Ranma could feel the energy of his wings, they felt out of sync with the rest of his internal energies. He also realized that Xion had broken the merger of their power, leaving him to take his whirling power back into himself.

"You should be able to feel your wings, I purposely altered their energy pattern from that of your Ki, to avoid they get absorbed in it. While it would get rid of your wings, it would mess up your Ki pretty bad as a result. Your wings will regenerate faster when they've been folded into your back. I guess in times of extreme need, you could use their power as you would your normal Ki, but that will damage them. As long as you don't use all their power, they should regenerate to their normal state again. To be honest, I have no idea what would happen if you did use all that power. Perhaps they would simply be gone, perhaps not. You should practice releasing and retracting them so it becomes second nature to you. I think you'll have to let them out ever once in a while, since their pattern is different from you Ki, to avoid harmful friction between the two."

Ranma nodded his understanding, while trying to get a better feel of his wings while they were 'folded'.

"I've brought you two more gifts. And looked for a more practical application for when you're in the Realm." Xion told Ranma. He then tossed a flat stone with a rune carved on it to him, which was caught without problems. "That's a portal stone to get to and from the Realm. Now you don't need to rely on me to bring you here anymore. You activate it by channeling your Ki into it, and observer the way it flows in the stone, so you can learn to create your own portals without it in time. It will open a portal to the Realm from any dimension you're in, and from the Realm it will open a portal to the dimension you were in when you activate the stone. Activating it right now will take you to your home dimension, as I used it to test it out."

Ranma looked at the stone, wanting to test it out and see what it would do. But he didn't really want to go back yet. So he waited. "Thanks Xion. This'll sure come in handy when I need a place to train without being interrupted."

"The portal is invisible to anyone who's not touching the stone or holding on to the person activating the portal. You'll be able to see the portal no matter if you are holding the stone or not, cause the magic used to create the portal is chaotic in nature, so it's your element. Most likely, you'll also be the only person who'll be able to activate the portal, because of your magic-natured Ki. But I'm not truly sure of that, so don't be surprised if someone is able to open a portal anyway."

"I'll make sure nobody gets their hands on it anyway. It'd be far too dangerous for someone to learn of this place."

"True. The less people who know of this Realm, the better. Which is not to say you can't tell anybody, the Realm has no owner at any rate, but still..." He left the sentence unfinished. Pulling a book from out of apparently nowhere, he tossed that to Ranma too. Ranma knew that the apparent nowhere was really a pocket in folded space, or subspace. Much like Mousse's technique of hiding weapons, it could be used to hide and store all manner of items. He knew the basics of how to use one, but he hadn't really dedicated himself to learning how to actually use one. He made up his mind to learn as soon as he could, because who knew what could happen in the future, and having at least some supplies with you always could only be a good thing.

Looking at the book he'd caught, the title caught his eye. 'Seals and hand seals, a complete guide' "What's this?" He asked.

"There exist a whole world of Ki powered techniques, and a large portion of those make use of hand seals to focus and form them. With time and practice, you could learn to use those techniques without the seals, but if you wish to learn them, you'll have to start with using the seals. The book is a complete collection of all knows hand seal-based techniques to this date. One of the perks of being the avatar of a god, us gods can do whatever we wish to make our avatars stronger. Since I know you won't let me augment your power more than I already have, I chose to give you new techniques to study."

Hearing that Ranma practically began to salivate on the spot. A whole book with techniques! He'd have to keep this away from the others, especially the amazons. They'd do anything if they knew he had a book like that. One more reason to learn about the subspace pocket.

"The other seals in the book are those used the seal things away, such as demons and other nasty creatures. Or seals to help control magic, to curse somebody... You name it, it'll most likely be in there. I thought you might want to look through it to see if you can't find anything that would help with your Jusenkyo curse. I can't guarantee it, but it's worth a shot." Xion finished.

"Hmm. My curse doesn't bother me all that much anymore, but it'd be good for Ryoga at least. Thanks Xion, I'll look through it and see if I can find anything."

"Good, good. The book is self-updating with any technique you encounter, whether you understand it or not. I'll see if I can create another of those focal stones, for your illusions. Better to have an outside focus till you get more control over the magical side of your power, so we don't have repeats of the last attempt. With your imagination, who knows what you'd end up as." Xion said the last with a grin, taking the sting out of his words. Ranma just grimaced. While it was very true what he was saying, he didn't have to like it.

"Well, I have to leave soon, but first this. I've contacted somebody from a different dimension, asking her if she'd like the challenge of building a more permanent home for you. She's a genius scientist, but a bit eccentric. When I told her of you, she suddenly began to cackle like a truly mad scientist, but I managed to strike a deal. She'll build the home in exchange for the possibility of studying the Realm. She's also a doctor, and she's agreed to become your physician, if you allow her to study your unique nature. I did tell her that any and all experiments she wants to do had to be explained in detail to you, and you get final say in which you want to do and which you don't. That should give you some control over what you want known and what not. I do think she's trustworthy though, and the more she knows, the more she'll be able to help you when you need it."

Ranma nodded, but decided to wait until he knew this person a bit more before he began telling her everything there was to know about him. Knowing his luck, Xion would've found the most loony person in the known universe to be his doctor...

"Anyway, I have to go. Remember, if you need me, I'm only a thought away, and the Realm is always open to you. See you next time, my young Avatar."

"See you later, my Lord." Ranma said, unusually formal for him and with his fist to his heart as he bowed his head. After all, Xion was his patron God, and had gained his respect. All familiarity aside, the would be time where formality would be needed, and some practice never harmed in cases like these. Xion bowed back, and then vanished, without the use of a portal, Ranma noted.

'All in good time.' He thought. For now, he had some studying to do and he sat down and opened the book to see what new techniques he could learn and how difficult learning them would be.

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Done for this chap. Tell me what you think. Reviews are very helpful in that regard. :D