[FFML] Goddess Fayu 01: Nabiki's Unlucky Day? (Draft)

[Timothy Groves]

*Disclaimer*

All characters from Ranma 1/2 were created by Takahashi Rumiko, not me.  
Rights to such are owned by Takahashi-sama, Shounen Sunday Comics, Kitty 
Video, and (in North America) Viz.

Urd, Skuld and Verdandi are mythological.  But the interpretations of 
them within this fanfic are the work Fujishima Kosuke, not me.  Rights 
to such are owned by Kodansha, AIC, ADV Films and (in North America) 
AnimEigo and Dark Horse Comics.



Goddess Fayu

Written By Tail Kinker


Chapter One of Six:  Nabiki's Unlucky Day?



Nabiki was not happy.

Most of her underlings were scurrying about, trying to keep from 
attracting any wrathful attention.  Sadoko had done the worst at Jan Ken 
Pow, and was, rather unwillingly, trying to draw said attention.

"Um...Boss?"

Nabiki picked at her bento, then dropped it on the table.  "Man, this 
sucks."

"Boss?"

Nabiki's eyes slid over to Sadoko, then back down at the bento.  "Look 
at this!  This is supposed to be my lunch.  What was Kasumi thinking, 
letting Akane make lunch?"

Sadoko shuddered;  she was a year younger than the Boss, and two grades 
ago, had been partnered with Akane in Home Ec.  "So why didn't you just 
refuse it?"

Nabiki rolled her eyes.  "You think I want to get pasted?  I smiled, 
said thank you, and then tried to sneak into the kitchen to replace 
it."  She shuddered.  "Kasumi gave me such trouble for that..."

"Not Kasumi!"

"'Your sister worked very hard on that!'  And other such lies.  What 
could I do?"

"I...I guess..."

"Then that bonehead Kuno manages to tick off Hinako-sensei.  I managed 
to head her off before she drained him."

"...Why?"

"I dunno."  Nabiki shrugged.  "Maybe because I felt sorry for the poor 
goon.  Ever since his father was committed...Anyway, what do you have 
for me?"  Nabiki grabbed the clipboard, and scanned it quickly.  And 
groaned.

"I'm sorry, Boss, but I think we should have offered longer odds on 
Ranma.  It might have scared some--"

"We could offer thousand to one odds on Ranma, and everyone would still 
bet on him."  Nabiki considered.  "Pay 'em."

"But we could--"

"No, we can't.  You know what happens to a bookmaker who welches?"  
Nabiki scowled.  "No-one ever bets with them again."

"We don't have enough in the treasury."

"We can make it up."

"Okay."  Sadoko took the clipboard back.  "I'll see what I can do to 
drum up sales of Ranma pics--"

"No."

Sadoko blinked.

"No, it was my call to set the odds this way."  Nabiki heaved a sigh, 
and dropped a wad of yen on the table.  "I was saving this for a rainy 
day, but it looks like that day is today."

"Boss..."

"Don't tell anyone."  Nabiki scowled at the yen.  "I got a reputation to 
keep."

"Don't worry, I won't."  Sadoko grinned.  "Who'd believe it, anyway?"



* * * * *


Nabiki flipped open her cellular phone, and hit the speed dial button.

"Tendo-ke."

"Hey, Kasumi!  Listen, I thought I'd remind you that I'm not going to be 
home for dinner tonight."

"Thank you, Nabiki.  It was thoughtful of you to call."

"I just didn't want to see you waste effort on food I wasn't gonna eat."

"I'll save a little something, in case you're hungry after the concert."

"Thanks, Kasumi.  You're the best."

"Thank you, little sister."

Nabiki flipped the phone shut, and jammed it into her pocket.  Her pace 
quickened.  It was her best of luck - and best of connections - that had 
secured this ticket.  Regal was breaking up after this concert, and 
since they'd started in Nerima, they'd planned their final tour so that 
their last stop was right here, in their home town.

Not only that, but she'd saved back the three grand she'd need to buy 
the live concert album.  She'd been planning to also buy a jacket.  

"But hey.  What can you do?"

She paused, just outside the auditorium, and turned.

The speaker was a younger girl, perhaps five or six years younger than 
Nabiki herself.  Despite her youth, the girl was nearly as tall as 
Nabiki herself, though much skinnier.  Her long black hair stretched 
down to her hips, and was caught up in a bow, and the outfit she was 
wearing was a bit outlandish.

"Hey, kid."

The girl turned in anger, and Nabiki blinked.  "Hey, you're not a kid, 
after all."

The anger changed to a smirk.  "Nope.  I'm definitely not a kid."

"Not quite a woman yet, either."  Nabiki looked the girl up and down.  
Her hair had concealed - from the rear, anyway - the fact that she was a 
foreigner, but her Japanese was crisp and unaccented.  "You from the base?"

The girl shook her head.  "Nope."

Nabiki glanced up at the wall.  "You were staring at that poster.  You 
like Regal?"

The girl beamed, and nodded.  "They're the best band I've heard since 
coming here!"

Nabiki grinned.  "I kinda like them, too."

The girl opened her mouth to add to her enthusiasm, but was cut off by a 
sudden growl.  She looked down, embarassed.

Nabiki leaned in a bit.  "You're starving, aren't you?"

"Yeah."  The girl's expression turned cross again.  "My sister brought 
me here, but then dumped me and went off to the bar.  And I haven't had 
anything to eat since this morning."

Nabiki blinked.  "Not much of a sister."

"Tell me," the girl growled.

Nabiki considered.  She had that three thousand...but she wanted that 
CD.  She looked again at the girl, and sighed.  

"It looks to me like this ain't the first time you've gone hungry."  She 
turned, and glanced down the street.  "There's a place over there...why 
don't we go get something to eat?"

"But my sister said I..."  The girl looked up at Nabiki.  "She said that 
Tokyo's a dangerous place, and I shouldn't go off with people I don't know."

"And where is she now?"  Nabiki was starting to get a little angry.  
"Off at some bar!  She left you all alone, with nothing to eat, and no 
money.  If my older sister were here, you'd already be fed, dressed in 
something warm, bathed, and tucked into the spare bedroom."

"You have an older sister like that too, eh?"  The girl dimpled.  "I'm 
the youngest of three."

"I'm stuck in the middle."  Nabiki chuckled, her bad humour fading.  
"Let's go get something, shall we?"  She let her voice become taunting.  
"They serve ice cream..."

The girl's eyes lit up.



* * * * *



"Man, can you put it away!"

The girl had made almost three liters of ice cream vanish already, and 
was working on another outlandish banana split.  For her own part, 
Nabiki had purchased a tall parfait - the sort of thing Ranma liked, she 
mused.  But she'd only put a dent in it, and the scrawny tornado in 
front of her was eating to beat even the whole Saotome clan.

The girl dropped her spoon into the banana split, and grinned.  "Sorry.  
It's really good!"

"I know.  My brother-in-law likes to come here."

"Yeah?"  

"He brings his mom and my younger sister."  Nabiki looked around.  "He 
says he likes the way their eyes light up."  She glanced back at the 
girl.  "Much like yours."

"That's nice of you.  And thank you for the treat."

"That's all right."  Nabiki waved it off.  "Kasumi's always tellin' me I 
should be nicer to people."

"You're not normally this nice?"

"No, but..."  She sighed.  "Last month, I did something really nasty to 
my younger sister.  She's only maybe a year or two older than you."

"What did you do?"

"She was going to marry her fiancee, and I invited people that I knew 
would break it up."

The girl considered this.  "I think I know what you mean.  You like your 
brother-in-law, don't you?"

"Not that way."  Nabiki chuckled.  "He's really good-looking, and he's a 
sweet guy, always trying to help people out.  But he's a little 
too...unpolished...for my tastes."

"Yeah.  My sister's boyfriend..."  She looked down.  "I never thought 
I'd call him that.  But he is."  She picked up the spoon again, and 
started pushing the ice cream around the plate.  "I wasn't very nice to 
him, kept trying to come between him and my sister."  She dropped the 
spoon again.  "I shoulda known I was going to fail."

"Don't worry, kid.  You'll grow to like him."

"I already do, kinda."  She looked up, and grinned.  "Don't call me kid."

"All right, all right!"  Nabiki held up her hands in self-defense, then 
laughed.  "When do you think your sister will be back?"

"Who knows?  Probably not till last call."

Nabiki's hand was already in her pocket.  She paused, and considered.  
"You know what?  I already have all of Regal's CDs.  Probably, they 
aren't gonna do anything I haven't heard before."  She pulled out the 
ticket, slid it across the table.  "No need for you to be bored before 
your sister gets back."

The girl looked down at the ticket, her eyes gleaming.  "Are you sure?"

"Yeah.  Knock yourself out."

"Oh, Nabiki, thank you!"  The girl jumped around the table, and hugged 
Nabiki tightly.  "This means a lot to me!"

"Sure.  Just don't tell anyone."  Nabiki sighed.  "I got a reputation to 
keep."

"Okay."  The girl grabbed the ticket, then squawked.  "It starts in five 
minutes!"

"Get going, then."

The girl was gone in a flash, and Nabiki chuckled.

She was almost done her parfait before she realized that she'd never 
given her name.



* * * * *


"What was I on?"

Nabiki shook her head, and stepped out of her outdoor shoes.  "I'm back."

"Welcome home."  Kasumi wandered out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on 
a towel.  "Did you not go to the concert?"

"No.  I gave the ticket away."

"Oh..."

Nabiki waved it off.  "Don't worry, it was for a good cause.  I'll tell 
you the story tomorrow."

"All right."  Kasumi gestured towards the kitchen.  "I saved you some 
pork buns."

"Thanks, Kasumi.  But I'm really tired.  I'll have 'em for breakfast, 
all right?"

"All right.  Oh."  Kasumi raised a hand to her mouth.  "I almost 
forgot!  I moved the television from my room into yours, while I was 
rearranging furniture.  It's still on your desk.  Is that all right?"

"Sure.  Mind if I use it?"

"No, go ahead."



* * * * *



Nabiki flipped on the television, then collapsed across the bed.  

"I can't believe I gave away that ticket.  And the money for the CD.  
And the money for the jacket."  She paused.  "Okay, the money for the 
jacket, I didn't really have a choice."

She sighed, and rolled over to face the television.

'And that wraps up weather.  Now for the financial department.  Sayoko?'

Nabiki sat up.  "Financial?  At nine?"

The woman on the screen was not the usual financial anchor, but a tall, 
bronzed woman with long, flowing white hair.  She looked a bit familiar, 
though Nabiki couldn't remember ever seeing her before.

'Thank you, Ichigyo.  A mild drop in gold futures today, though the 
fluctuation seems to originate in the rise in value of the yen against 
the American dollar.  This despite the fact that some Japanese girls are 
being much more free with their money.'

Nabiki blinked.

'I mean, random acts of kindness like giving away concert tickets and 
buying little girls ice cream...'

Nabiki backed away from the television.

It didn't help.

The woman seemed to step *through* the screen, flowing out like a ghost, 
until she stepped lightly down on the floor of Nabiki's bedroom.

"I'm talking to you, Tendo Nabiki."

Nabiki wanted to scream.  She wished she could remember how.

The woman stepped up closer to her.  "My little sister was very happy 
with you, Nabiki.  She also told me that you've got a major Karma 
imbalance."  She smiled at the frozen teenager.  "You've done some good, 
and you've done some bad...all of us have.  But today, you've done so 
much more good than you ever have before..."

She stepped back, and crossed her arms.  "This area has been getting--"

"Your sister?"  Good, her voice had returned.  "The little girl with the 
black hair?"

"Oh, yes."

Nabiki scowled, and launched a right cross.  It connected squarely with 
the woman's chin.

The woman yelped, and grabbed her chin with her hand.  She turned back, 
and scowled down at Nabiki...then sighed.

"Okay, I guess from your point of view, I had this coming."  She pushed 
at her jaw gingerly.  "Come to think of it, my sisters wouldn't be very 
happy with me, either.  So I'll let it slide."  She grinned down at 
Nabiki.  "The only chance you'll ever get to punch a Goddess."

"Goddess?"

"Yep."  The woman fished down her top, and produced a card.  "Urd.  
Goddess Second Class, Limited License.  On special assignment from 
Yggdrasil, to find the source of the karmic imbalance in Nerima."  She 
looked Nabiki up and down.  "I'd say we've found a good portion of it."

"...Me?"

"Yes, you."  Urd smiled.  "There are others, of course.  Your sisters.  
That hunk that all three of you have lusted after.  Even that spinny 
purple-haired bitch.  But you've had the largest net adjustment of Karma 
in the last twenty-four hours.  So we're giving it to you."

"...Giving what?"

"Whatever you want, of course."  Urd's smile widened.  "We had to plan 
this carefully, you know."

"Planned."

"Yes.  I left Skuld where I did, because it was the best place to do 
so.  I triggered that witch of a schoolteacher's rage, to see who would 
act to protect him.  And do you really think that that sweet boy who 
attacked Ranma would do so of his own volition?"

"Ryouga?  Constantly."

"But near a water fountain?"

Nabiki paused, and eyed the Goddess.  "So you've been pulling strings 
all day."

"Yep."

"Including mine."

"Right again."

Nabiki's eyes narrowed.  "That takes considerable power.  And you're 
just a second-rate Goddess?"

Urd frowned.  "That's Second Class!"

"Oh, my apologies, great Urd."  Nabiki's voice dripped sarcasm.  "Second 
Class.  Limited License.  You can't handle a little wish-granting 
without your little sister tagging along.  You can't even look after her 
while you're off partying!  I wish I was her sister!  I could show you 
how--"

Nabiki broke off in horror.  "Did I just say..."

"Yes.  I'm afraid you did."  Urd's voice was sad.

"Oh, no!  That's not my--"

Urd was glowing.  Her hair was flowing outward, defying gravity, and a 
triangular tattoo glowed on her forehead.

Nabiki backed away, raising her hands.  "Please, forgive me!  I didn't 
mean to say--"

"Yes.  You did."  Through the glow, Urd's saddened face glistened with 
tears.  "And I am very sorry you did, Tendo Nabiki."

There was a blast of searing white light.



* * * * *



Nabiki groaned, and sat up.  She winced;  the action caused her earring 
to jingle loudly in her still-bruised ears.

"Earrings?"

Come to think of it, she'd never even had her ears pierced.  She raised 
a hand, and was relieved to feel the clips.

She struggled to her feet, and turned towards the mirror...and gasped.

Her jeans and T-shirt were gone, replaced by long, brown flowing robes.  
Her hair was unchanged, but on her forehead was a tattoo, two half 
circles, one above the other.  She rubbed at it, but it just felt like skin.

"No way."  She stepped back from the mirror, and groaned.  "What the 
heck have I done now?"

The mirror shimmered.

"Ack!"  Nabiki stumbled backwards, tripping and falling on her backside, 
as a woman floated out of her mirror.

The newcomer - she looked a bit like Kasumi, if Kasumi had been born 
white - was dressed in a manner similar to herself, though in blue and 
white.  She floated an inch off the floor, and had a tattoo on her 
forehead, a slender oval.

"Don't tell me."  Nabiki sighed.  "Another Goddess."

"Yes."  The woman floated a little closer, and held out her hand.  
"Goddess, First Class, Unlimited License.  Velthandi."

Nabiki looked puzzled.  "Berudandi?"

The woman smiled.  "Yes, my Keiichi-sama says it the same way."  She 
touched down, and took Nabiki's hand.  "It may be easier for you to call 
me Belldandy.  I'm very pleased to meet you."

"Likewise."  She glanced around.  "Hey, where's Urd?"

"When she realized what happened, she came back to our Temple to get me."

"Temple.  Makes sense."  Nabiki shrugged.  "Look, I didn't really mean 
for this to--"

"Yes.  You did."

"Sure I did.  Wish myself a Goddess.  Why not?"  Nabiki sighed.  "I'm 
sure you guys have rules or something."

"We do."

"So didn't I just break a bunch of them?"

"That was as a mortal.  Now, you're immortal."

Nabiki's eyes lit up.  "So that's true, is it?"

"Yes," said Belldandy.  "But this three-dimensional form you wear...It 
is not immortal.  Eventually, you will shed it, to be born again."

"Reincarnation?"

"Not in the sense you mean, but yes."  Belldandy turned, and pulled 
Nabiki gently towards the mirror.  "It's time to go."

"I--but my sisters--"

Belldandy smiled sadly at her.  "We are your sisters now."  She turned 
back, and touched the mirror.  It seemed to melt before her, creating a 
tunnel.  "This is your path.  It will take you home."

"But *this* is my home!"

Belldandy turned back to her.  "If you stay here, all the chaos that you 
regret bringing on your family will be magnified a hundred-fold.  For 
their good as well as yours, you must come."

Nabiki bowed her head.  "I..."

"You must learn our ways.  You must learn to control your powers, and to 
touch the hearts of others."

Nabiki sniffed.  "I'm gonna miss them..."

"They will always be here."  Belldandy placed her hand over Nabiki's 
heart.  "And you will be able to come back.  I promise."

"Okay."  Nabiki heaved a sigh.  "As long as they don't worry about me..."

"I'll have Urd come back and leave a note."

Nabiki laughed, then turned to the mirror.  "Time to say goodbye to the 
old Nabiki."

"And hello," added Belldandy, "to the Goddess Fayu."




* * * * *



This idea has been preying (praying?) on my mind for the last ten 
years.  C&C welcome.