Twins of Flame Slayers and respective properties are possessions of H. Kanzaka and R. Araizumi. Ranma 1/2 and respective properties are possessions of R. Takahashi. The Kaotarian People and respective properties are possessions of R.C. McFadden. What relationship they have with this story, I have no idea. Chapter 02 - The Sundered Rejoined Ranma groaned as she sat up, rubbing her face a little, wiping the glass from her face as she tried to figure out exactly where she was. "Did someone catch the number of that mallet?" Her eyes began to clear slowly as she noticed the two shapes before her. "Is someone there?" She calls out. A voice spoke, but Ranma didn't recognize the voice or the language, at least at first. "Why does that sound so familiar?" She asked herself. "I know I've heard that language before." Her brow creased as she tried to identify the language spoken. She wiped more of the dust and debris from her face as she looked through the dim light. "Who's there?" Philia tried to sit up, but Lina looked at the new arrival and stood up falteringly. "Who are you? What did you do?" Ranma stared at the vague shape. "I know that voice from somewhere... but where?" she muttered to herself, intent on her thoughts." Lina frowned. "Damn it, will you listen to me?" She yelled at the figure. Ranma looked up and yelled in Sailunese, "Will you lay off for a moment, I'm trying to think!" She then did a double take as Lina fumed. "Wait a second, what did I just say?" she said to herself in Japanese, eyes troubled as she continues to look at the shape of Lina, not quite identifying it yet. Lina stared. She recognized that voice. She did not recognize the language except for that brief protest, but that voice chilled and warmed her heart at the time. "Lana?" She whispered. Ranma shook her head. "It's Ran/ma/ not Rana." She replied in Japanese as she stood, a bit staggered. Lina stared at the figure. "Lana, it's you!" She yelled as she stumbled to hug the girl tightly. Ranma saw the figure stumble toward her and prepared to fight, but the pain in her body slowed her just enough for Lina to go through. The hug at first seemed like an Amazon-style glomp, but the sobbing against her chest changed that. Lina looked upward at Ranma and babbled something that the watching Ryuzoku couldn't understand. Ranma, however, could, and her eyes widened even further. "I know you..." She whispered hoarsely, and then very haltingly replied in that same babble. "I know you... who are you?" Lina looked into her eyes. "What did she do to you?" That speech seemed disturbingly familiar to the martial artist. Ranma could only reply, "What did who do to me?" She didn't even realize she was replying in the same tongue. This only furthered her confusion. Where did I know this stuff? It wasn't anything Oyaji taught… What is it? And then it came to her. Rolling a ball back to a little girl in front of her. Playing with little points of light. Ranma stumbled to her knees, clutching her head. "What is going on?!" She yelps in Japanese, shaking almost convulsively. Philia moved quickly to Ranma's side, chanting a spell quietly, in a soothing tone, trying to reassure the martial artist long enough for the spell to take effect. Ranma sank to her knees as the spell took hold of her, the pain in her head being silenced by blissful mage-born sleep. "What happened to her, Philia?" Lina asked, her hand gently squeezing the hand of the slumbering martial artist. "The spell shouldn't have done that. And how could she have forgotten so much? How could she have forgotten me?" The sorceress was nearly in tears. Philia seemed rather disturbed when she tried to learn of Lana's disappearance and hesitated to mention it, but then looked up. "Lina… I think… I'm not sure, but I think she was dead." Lina blinked. "Dead?" Philia sighed. "She only remembers a few things, because whatever happened killed her. I don't know what brought her back, but she has the smell of chaos about her. Perhaps it's that chaos that brought her back. I don't know." She admitted, embarrassed. Lina looked at her sister, sighing. "Lana… what happened to you out there?" Ranma stood amidst the darkness, the noises of people yelling at her, driving her to distraction. All the voices were all too familiar, as each one hammered at her with weapons and insults she had heard all too often. The wizened form of Happosai strode through the croud and said, "Here you are… Find the family you never knew you lost…" The voice didn't sound like the irritating wheezy voice the letch, but younger, amused, and somehow knowledgeable. Ranma took the object offered by the ancient martial artist, and stared into the depths of the Nanban mirror. First it showed her male form, which melted away to show a reflection of her. That reflection subtly shifted before her eyes into someone who looked very much like her yet subtly different. It didn't even occur to her that nobody except herself would know the differences, but she knew it was someone else. The face in the mirror suddenly spoke, "Lana, please… come back to me. Please." Ranma's eyes widened. "I'm not Ranma, I'm Lana!" She protested, not even realizing she had gotten that backwards. She did, however, notice that she was speaking in the same language as the reflection in the mirror. And noticing even further that it was not Japanese, but a language she knew even more fluently than her native tongue. The image reached a hand through the 'glass' and grasped her shoulder. It was then the mirror shattered. And it was then that Ranma woke. A gasp woke Lina from her doze, causing her head to jerk upwards, looking at her sister. "Lana?" Ranma snapped, "I'm Lana, not Ranma, damn it!" She paused and blinked, wincing as her free hand moved to her head with the surge of pain. Lina stared at the girl. "Lana, what's going on?" She asks blearily. Ranma blinked. Did I just say what I thought I said? "My name is Ranma…" She said hesitantly, seeming rather confused, almost as if she wasn't even sure. It was then that a loud rumbling sound could be heard from her abdoment. Lina blinked and tries not to laugh. Yep. She has to be my sister… --- Lina blinked, and tried not to stare or choke. Yep. She has to be my sister, she thought to herself again. Ranma was not only outeating her, but stealing off of her plate at the same time. Lina did her best to prevent the thefts, but even with her eating everything she could, Ranma still decimated the contents of the table at an alarming rate. "So Lana..." Ranma mumbled around some bread, "..an/ma/.." before swallowing the food and grasping for a mug and taking a sip of it before pausing, turning a bit green. "What is this stuff? Tastes like," Lina looked up. "Liram juice... Never cared for it much, I know." Ranma slammed the mug down, the metal putting a dent in the table. "How in the hell do you know anything about me? I've never met you before!" Lina stood. "Then how come you're understanding everything I'm saying? Only Lana, only you ever understood what we're saying right now?" She couldn't keep the heat out of her voice. "Remember? We always talked to each other like this? It was a language we always used!" Ranma stopped, trying to figure out some way to argue against it, fighting the pain building right between her eyes. "Think about it, Lana, Lanma, whatever you wanna call yourself. You used to be so intelligent... even smarter than me. Think for a moment, will you?" Lina said, frustrated. The pain pounded between Ranma's ears as she stumbled backwards. "stopitstopitStopItSTOPIT!" Ranma roared as she clutched at her head. Ranma collapsed sideways, only to be caught by a pair of hands.