[Ranma/SM][Fanfic] The Phoenix Prince Saga, Book 1, Part 3, Chapter 3, Section 1
Linda Ward
there's gonna be a mess while I get everything up to date.
Chapter Three: Fire Burning Brightly
Section First: Preparation
The moonrise found a very perplexed Hino sitting in sezia
before the Sacred Fire in the shrine. Many complex questions lay
heavily on her mind. The enigma that was Ranma Saotome and the secret
revealed to her by him. The riddle of her supposed elder brother from
the Silver Millennium, Shima, the Champion Amongst Mortals for the
Phoenix. Ranma's claim to have defeated the Phoenix in battle. Her
brief flash of second sight. All very puzzling dilemmas for such a
young and beautiful girl.
But what all of those bewildering problems boiled down to was
one central obstacle. Luna and Artemis, the Advisors to the Queen
themselves, had asked, no, ordered Rei to use her control over the
Mystic Fires to hurt... no, kill her cousin, and possibly even the
reincarnation of her elder brother! That above all is what hurt Rei
more than anything. Not the possibility that Ranma could ever be swayed
over to the path of Chaos, nor the thought that she may never be
reunited with her brother, nor even the remotest chance that she would
cause the Fires to devour her family member. No, what hurt Rei the
most, as she sat there contemplating her possible fates, was the fact
that the two creatures that all five girls depended on to provide
support and to answer questions could possibly be so ... so
blood-thirsty!
Somewhere, deep inside herself, some small part of her was
screaming about the injustice of it all. But the main part was saying
that Luna and Artemis were right, and that the only way to get Shima
back was through the Mystic Fires. But did she want Shima back? She
barely even remembered her brother! And what was so wrong with Ranma
that they had to destroy him? He was nice enough, for a guy. Besides,
from what she could see of Ranma, he was happy. What right did she
have to destroy someone like him?
Simple. She was a Sailor Senshi. It was her duty to protect
the Princess and neutralize any possible threats to her Princess'
safety. And Ranma, as he was, was definitely a possible threat. Shima,
on the other hand, was not. On the contrary, Shima was a powerful ally
of the Senshi, according to the cats.
Rei sighed and rubbed wearily at her forehead, knocking away
some of the sweat that had built up there from the long exposure to the
Sacred Fire. Trying to figure out what the right course was was giving
her a major headache. Besides that, she was growing tired. She groaned
and scrubbed at her face with her fists, trying to stay awake at least
long enough to figure something out.
She had never expected something like this to happen when she
had first followed the orders of the strange, talking, black cat. A
Sailor Senshi's life was supposed to be straight forward, right?
Everything black and white. The bad guys tried to hurt people and the
good guys, namely the Sailor Senshi, stopped them. Well, what happens
when the good guys start hurting people? Rei didn't know.
Staring deep into the Sacred Fire, Rei never noticed drifting
off to sleep there on the hard wooden floor.
**********
The young black haired maiden stretched and stood up from her
place on the cool marble bench, idly noting as she did that she seemed
a bit... smaller than she was used to being. For a moment, she gazed
around and tried to figure out what she was doing in that particular
part of the palace.
Then she remembered and a grin blossomed across her slightly
chubby face. She leapt up and down and clapped her hands together
joyfully. Today was the day! Her big brother was coming home for a
visit today! Then she remembered that she was all of sixteen winters
old and shouldn't be behaving in such a manner.
A soft chime rang through the hall, echoing lightly off of the
garnet-veined white marble walls and columns. With a squeal of delight,
the very prim and proper sixteen year old girl scampered off down the
hall as fast as any tomboyish street mouse.
Unfortunately, she wasn't really paying much attention to her
surroundings. Which was the reason that she stopped so abruptly when
the handsome sable-headed man had stepped out in front of her. The fact
that this halt was caused by her ramming face-first into his gold
plated chest and causing her to achieve a rather nasty bloody nose
didn't seem to faze her much though.
Conveniently, though, the man was paying attention. Moving
with the quickness and grace of a lifetime's training in the Arts
of War, he caught the falling damsel-in-distress in his strong arms.
Smirking down at her through his wild bangs, his braid falling down
over one aureate shoulder, he helped her back to her feet.
Her place on her feet didn't last long though, for as soon as
he released her to stand under her own power, she threw herself at
him and wrapped her arms around his waist in a wild bear hug.
"Oniisan! You're here!" She cried, completely ignoring the
fact that she was dripping blood on her favorite dress.
"Yeah, seems like I am... did you know you were bleeding on
your dress?" The older man replied, scooping her up in his arms and
continuing on down the hallway. "We should go and take care of that,
don't ya think? Can't have the prettiest princess on Mars dying on us
now, can we?"
The 'prettiest princess on Mars' merely chuckled rather
nasally through her now pinched nose and snuggled into her brother's
chest. "I'm not gonna die from a nose bleed, Shima-onii! I've gotten
lots of nose bleeds in training!"
"Training?! For what, Reiki-imoto?"
**********
The flames flickered higher and higher as they leapt and danced
about the man standing in the center of the marble throne room. Though
everyone was staring at the strange golden man, he only had eyes for
one person. The teenager sitting in the seat of the Heir to the Throne.
A young girl, maybe seven or eight winters old, sat on the
floor nearby and watched fearfully as the fiery man approached her
brother, who did not even flinch as the being came ever closer. Soon
the entity was standing maybe one pace away from the Throne of the
Heir. The flames roared higher and higher, whipping and snapping at the
raven-haired teen. Still, he did not flinch, or retreat. He simply sat
there, secure in who he was.
For a time the two stared at each other, one a being of fire
and passions, the other seemingly a creature of ice and rationality.
Finally, Shima let up on his cold aura and smirked at the spirit before
him. The being smiled back in acknowledgement of one who was brave
enough to challenge him.
"I am the Phoenix." The voice that emerged from the fiery
man's throat sounded like that of a child, singing sweetly. "Every
five hundred years, I die and am again reborn. This has continued for
eons of your time. Always I have stayed away from your kind. Yet
suddenly, I find my existence interrupted. One of your kind, on the
sphere called Earth, a king by the name of Solomon sought to confine
me within a vessel as he had done to my fellow spirits so that he
could draw from my powers as he does from theirs. I alone am now free.
As this assault was from your kind, I come to your kind for justice. I
seek one to be my Champion Amongst Mortals. One of your kind who shall
have the ability to draw from me in his time of need. My Champion need
not be of Royal blood, but as my Champion, he shall be a true Prince.
He shall be known as the Phoenix Prince."
Shima stood from his seat and stepped more fully into the
Phoenix's flames.
"I shall go."
"You? You are but a boy! There must still be much for you to
learn, is there not? Surely there is some other more worthy here, on
the Sphere of War?"
"Perhaps there is some other more worthy, but I'll take their
place. Your flames are hot and burn very brightly. I'd not have any
suffer when I could possibly take that risk in their stead. No, I
shall go."
"This is your true wish, mortal? Realize that you can never go
back once you have accepted. You can never return to what you are now.
The Fires shall burn you and change you, until perhaps not even you
yourself could recognize the result."
"That is not of matter, Phoenix. I cannot desert my people in
their hour of need. I shall not. I shall go with you, and so, preserve
them."
"Very well, mortal. Bid you your farewells, for in the morn, I
shall take you away to become the Phoenix Prince."
**********
"Oniisan? I want you to meet my friends! Come on!" Reiki
giggled as she drug her rather famous, gold, and tolerant elder
brother down the hall.
After a time, she pulled him into a room marked with a rather
out-of-place looking steel door. Inside the reason became apparent.
Three girls blasted away at various targets while another two
waited off to the side. Normally, this wouldn't have worried the
valiant warrior being escorted by Reiki, but at the moment they
stepped through the steel portal, one of the more active targets
floated right into their faces. This, of course, drew the fire of the
three girls fighting the targets.
Shima stared in shock as a bolt of lightning, a blast of hot
water and some kind of laser beam came blasting towards him and his
little sister, who was currently busy screaming.
"Fushichoo Hono'o Hogo Soochi!" Shima roared suddenly, casting
his hands up before him.
Immediately a strange sort of cold flames leapt into being
between the on rushing attacks and his hands. As soon as the attacks
struck the barrier, they vanished as did the barrier. Shima let his
hands down and exhaled while glaring at the girls.
Two, a leggy blonde and a tall brunette, actually looked
rather sheepish at not paying attention at where they were throwing
their attacks. The other however...
The midnight blue headed girl stormed over to Shima and latched
on to his collar, hauling his face down to hers. Glaring into his eyes,
she began her tirade. "Exactly what the hell possessed a stupid BOY
like YOU to walk into our DOJO while we are TRAINING?!"
"um..uh... reiki made me..." was the only even mildly
intelligent things that emerged from the stricken man's lips.
"You DARE blame YOUR STUPIDITY on MY FRIEND?!"
"Um... Akai? I... um... kinda did make him come..." Reiki
offered from behind her brother.
Akai's glare turned into shock. "Why'd you, of all people,
bring a stupid BOY in here?"
"Cause I wanted him to meet you all..."
"MEET US?!"
"He's my brother... Shima, the Phoenix Prince."
"Akai. Please, calm down. I'm most certain that Reiki meant
no ill bringing her dear brother in here in order to meet us." This
was a new voice.
Shima's eyes flicked sideways to appraise this new arrival.
She was the same age as the other girls appeared to be and bore an
uncanny resemblance to the firebrand currently clamped to his collar.
"Well, Reiki? Are you gonna introduce us to your cute
brother?!" Another new voice. This time it was a blonde with a hair
style that just screamed Lunar Royalty.
"Oh, of course I am! Shima-onii, I'd like you to meet
Minanoai," she gestured towards the rather bashful looking blonde,
"from Venus."
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Minanoai-chan."
Shima stated straightening up to his full height, and dragging Akai
off the ground with a squawk as she refused to release his collar.
"Nice to meet you, Shima-sama." She seemed shy... 'probably
because of the embarrassment of our meeting', Shima decided.
"Beside her is Kina from Jupiter." This time the gesture
brought his attention to the rather sad looking brunette.
'That simply will not do.' Shima thought "Kina-chan. It is
always an honor to meet such pretty young lady, such as yourself.
Surely things are not as terrible as you seem to think. Cheer up! And
you shall brighten the world!"
"T-thank you, Shima-sama." Kina replied, then quickly looked
down again. Then and there, Shima decided to help out the younger
girl.
"Shima-onii? This is Amilia, she's from Mercury." The gesture
took in the peaceful looking girl besides the Lunar Royal blonde.
"A pleasure, Amilia-chan."
"Likewise, Shima-sama."
"Reiki, before you go on, care to introduce me to this little
firebrand so that I can get her to release me?" Shima interrupted,
pointing down at the spitfire dangling from his lapels still.
"Gomen, Oniisan. That's Amilia's twin sister, Akai. Gomen."
"That's alright, Reiki-imoto. Akai-chan, I'm very honored to
make your most interesting acquaintance but could you kindly let go
now?" Akai coloured slightly red, but she let go, and proceeded to
fall towards the ground with a yelp. Shima reacted like a gentleman
and caught her in his muscular arms well before she smacked into the
ground. "Come now, Akai-chan! Wouldn't you feel ever so much safer
standing rather than falling?"
Akai fumed, but allowed herself to be set on the ground without
further argument.
"Finally, Shima-onii, I'd like you to meet her Royal Highness,
the Princess of the Moon, Serenity-sama!" At last, Reiki bowed towards
the Lunar Royal blonde.
"Serenity-hime! It is an honor most profound to be graced with
your illustrious presence!" Shima replied, dropping his most courtly
and graceful bow to the Heir to the Lunar Throne.
"Oh, stop it, Shima-san! It is an honor to be allowed to meet
the Phoenix Prince himself! I hear you've been to Earth lately?"
**********
"Alright, Imoto. Let your consciousness flow into the Sacred
Fire here."
Reiki sat and stared at the fire. Then she stared some more.
Finally, she gave up.
"I can't, Oniisan! I just can't!"
"You can, Reiki-imoto. I believe in you. All you have to do is
relax. Trust the Flames. They will guide you as you learn to walk
through the Fire. In time, you will learn to guide them, as is your
rightful place as the Senshi of Fire." Shima smirked at his rather
frustrated little sister who was glaring at the Sacred Fire he had
taught her to build.
Reiki just growled.
Shima sighed slightly and shook his head.
"Listen. You want to be able to talk to me when I'm away,
don't you?" He asked.
Reiki frowned in puzzlement, but nodded her agreement with
the idea.
"Okay. Well, the only way that you are going to be able to
do that is by sending your thoughts through the Sacred Fire. That
way, no matter where I am, I can hear you."
Reiki nodded again, then sat down in sezia before the Sacred
Fire. She took a deep breath, let it out, then took in another and
closed her eyes. By the time she let out the second breath, she was
deep into a trance state.
She reached out gently with a tendril of thought towards the
Fire. In return, the Fire reached out and caressed her thought with a
gentle warmth. Shima had been right! The Fire would be her guide!
She smiled in the trance, and Shima just shook his head with a
grin. He knew she could do it, he just had to convince her that she
could.
**********
His terrible Firesword rested firmly in Shima's grip as he
sat astride the restless charger. Behind him, clinging to his waist,
was a young peasant girl who was either blessed or cursed with a
shocking mass of bright scarlet hair and was wearing his spare shirt.
He had found her earlier as he rode with Endymion and his soldiers
towards the bandit lair. The other's had preferred to leave her, but
he, for some unknown reason, hadn't. So, he had swung her up behind
him and charged off into battle.
They had been fighting for some time before the others began
to notice how the Phoenix Prince was battling with the bandits.
"Oji-sama! To your left!" the red-headed maiden might shout.
"Hai!" Would come Shima's rejoinder as he swung his Firesword
in a great arc and cleaved the bandit head from its shoulders.
Before too long, the bandits had either surrendered, fled, or
died on the battlefield. However, Shima and co apparently did not think
that the battle was over, for they raced after the fleeing bandits.
"Hurry, Oji-sama! Hurry! He'll get away!" The red-head would
shriek, gesturing wildly towards the departing bandits.
Shima spurred his charger to its fastest gallop as he raced
after the bandits, finally overtaking and passing many of them.
One bandit in particular tried to get away by running off at
a tangent.
Shima felt something tug at his waist, then, as he turned to
see what it was, he spotted the red-head leaping from the back of his
charger with his dagger in hand. She landed hard upon the fleeing
bandit and struck once with the dagger, plunging it deep into his
heart. As the bandit fell dead, she stood triumphant, bloody dagger
in hand over his body.
Shima reined in the charger and cantered back over. With a
smirk, he reached down and hauled up the girl. When she tried to
return his dagger, he just shook his head.
"No, you keep it. You've earned the right to wield that
weapon, Kodomo no Ran."
'Ranko' grinned back at him and stuck the dagger through the
piece of rope that served her for a belt.
Elsewhere, Reiki shook her head to clear it from the gore of
the battle.
**********
"Hurry, girls! Hurry!" Shima roared from the point, his
Firesword cleaving the life from the Youma surrounding him as he
cleared a path for the five girls behind him.
At his side, Akai the firebrand sent gout after gout of hot
water blasting into the attacking creatures. To his other side, Kina
doomed the beasts to death with her electrifying attacks, willing to
die to help her 'old boyfriend', as she jokingly called Shima. Next
to Kina, Reiki incinerated fiends to the left and right. Over by Akai,
Minanoai was shooting down daemons overhead with the accuracy of a
trained sniper. In the center of their informal arrowhead formation,
Amilia used her computer to locate weak points and used her powers to
provide defensive shielding.
It would have been a great battle. One for the history books.
Only one problem. The person that they were fighting so hard to get to
was already dead with her beloved. It was over before it had even
really began.
One by one they fell, and were sent forward by Queen Serenity.
First, Kina fell, impaled upon a beast's claw, she took out more than
a hundred more with the explosive release of all of her powers at
once. Next Minanoai. A lucky hit knocked her off balance and she went
down to be trampled underfoot, but not before letting off the most
powerful Shower that anyone had seen. It was Amilia that was laid low
next. A flying daemon came down and picked her off the ground. Minutes
later, its and others' frozen carcasses came thudding down.
For a while, it looked as though they were going to win. Akai
and Reiki and Shima. All three fighting for each other. The Youma were
thinning faster and faster, until there were almost no more.
It was one of the last that got Akai. It came up behind her
and raked its claws down her back. She never even had a chance to wreak
her vengeance. Shima did that for her. With a wild, unforgiving roar,
he leapt into the fray, Reiki at his side. His Firesword left huge
swaths of destruction in his path, his fists and feet, glowing with
power, did no less. Finally, it seemed all were gone.
Shima made his way slowly back over to Akai's still form.
Unlike the other's she had not vanished. Shima and Reiki both knew
why. It was because only one could be sent from each royal family.
Shima fell to his knees and gathered Akai's cooling body to him as
tears ran down his face. Reiki couldn't help but cry herself, as she
watched her manly elder brother in tears over the loss of his beloved.
"Phoenix! I call!" Shima screamed, his voice thin. "I have
need of your powers! Send Akai and I into the future! Find us a place
where we can be together and send us there!"
The flames were blinding. They leapt up and consumed Shima
and Akai, taking them away from Reiki and the moon forever.
The last thing Reiki remembered after that was looking down
to see the long claw of a not-quite-dead Youma piercing her chest. She
fell to the ground as her life bled away.
"This really sucks." She whispered as she died.
**********
Rei woke up from her slumber to the rays of the sun hitting
her face. She sat up and yawned. Stretching, she popped her back and
rotated her neck until she didn't feel quite so stiff. Finally she
stood.
"That was weird... I mean really weird..."
At length, she remembers what she had been pondering the
night before.
"No! I can't do it! I can't destroy Ranma! I don't care
what the cats say! B-but... the only way to remind Ranma of what
he was..."
**********
Meanwhile, the moonrise had lit the face of a curious young
man creeping about the district after dark.
It was Saotome Ranma, and he had an idea.
Since his cousin, Hino Rei, turned out to be Sailor Mars, he
figured that the girls he had seen her hanging out with could be the
idiots that had attacked him the other day.
A few checks had proved him correct so far.
The brain, Mizuno Ami, shared the aura he had seen around the
blue-girl.
The ditzy blonde, Aino Minako, not only looked like Goldie,
but she wasn't anywhere near her house either.
His guide, Kino Makoto, shared the aura of the green-girl.
All that was left was pig-tail girl, Tsukino Usagi.
He crept across the roof of the Tsukino residence and peeked
into windows until he finally found Usagi's. Normally, he would have
just hung there and studied her until he figured out her aura. Except
for one thing. There was a cat. And not just any cat. A BLACK cat. And
it was sitting on the window sill. Right. In. Front. Of. Him.
Ranma never did find out if Usagi was blue-and-red-girl.
**********
End Section First