[Ranma/SM][FanFic] The Phoenix Prince Saga Book 2, Part 6, Chapter 3

[Linda Ward]

Chapter Three: Leader - Minanoai

Minanoai was little more than a child when she first met the
man who was to be the Phoenix Prince. Shima was a studious youth then,
albeit a cheerfully studious one. He was nothing like the childish
little boys that she was so used to back home on Venus. Nor was he
like the boring dull men and students of Mercury, where her friends
Akai and Amilia lived. He was different, and older!
Plus, she got to see him a lot. Especially since he was the
beloved older brother of her friend Reiki. Which meant that she saw
quite a lot more of him then she had ever got to see of any of her
other friend's older siblings. He and Reiki were very close for
siblings. In fact, Minanoai's nanny had pointed out a very pretty
painting of Shima holding his little sister when she was a baby in
the main hall. Minanoai took that as a telling point for Shima since
most of her other friend's paintings of them as little babies showed
them with their parents.
But be all that as it may be, she had never expected for that
handsome older youth to ever notice a little girl like here. No one
else his age ever noticed her before. Which is perhaps why she was
so surprised when he made an especial point of taking the time to
introduce himself properly the first time he met her.

**********

The High Court was abuzz with the sound of gossip and various
comments scurrying this way and that around the large onyx hall. The
miscellaneous voices echoed almost eerily in the vaulted chamber as
far as the tiny girl-child from Venus was concerned. She felt so
unbelievably tiny in the gigantic room with the only color relieving
the inky darkness coming from the gaudily dressed foreign ambassadors
and the two massive chairs in the front of the room.
The first chair was made of what appeared to be a single huge
ruby. It looked very hard and infinitely uncomfortable, which made it
undeniably the War Throne, especially since it dominated the center of
the way and was presided over by the enormous mountain of a man with
his great shaggy black beard and long hair who was the Martian King.
To its immediate left was a slightly smaller chair, though no less
intimidating once you realized who was sitting in it. The smaller
chair was made of bright, highly polished gold. Which by itself was
impressive, but not awe-inspiring so. It was the boy who was perched
unconcernedly upon that inspired the awe.
The boy was young. Maybe thirteen or fourteen years old. His
face was unmarked by the massive bush that dominated his father's
face. His long hair was unruly, but no where near as bad as his
father's wild curls. He bore a pensive expression on his face and
reclined rather than rode his chair. He was thin, and did not look
to terribly fierce, but he sat the Throne of the High Prince with
ease. And he had the right to it, as he had bested the best warriors
of Mars in order to achieve that right. Besides, at his waist hung the
legendary Sword of the High Prince, which was enough to inspire
loyalty in nearly anyone on Mars.
These were the people who the tiny Princess of Venus was
slowly being taken to, and quite frankly she was just this side of
terrified by them. She would have been completely terrified if it
wasn't for the fact that it was her father walking with her and not
her nanny. For she was still a young girl and she firmly believed in
the deification of her father that all small children hold so
resolutely to.
"King Shoorisha, my friend!" Her father crowed, to grasp the
outstretched hand of the smiling giant.
"Ah-ha! King Ungaii! How are you, old boy?" The giant roared
back, rising from his throne to clap the smaller man on the back.
"Oh, you know. The usual. The usual." Ungaii shrugged with a
sly grin on his face. "Anyway, I came to meet the new High Prince!
This is he?"
"Ah! Of course! Ungaii, old boy, meet the finest warrior on
Mars and MY son! This is Shima!" Shoorisha bellowed, waving a massive
paw in Shima's direction.
Shima, for his part, looked mildly interested in the whole
going on.
"Well, Shima, my boy! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Ungaii
grabbed Shima's hand and pumped it a few times, leaving Shima with
an expression that would be familiar on the face of someone that had
just handled something rather disgusting. "So, tell me, boy! How are
you going to treat the Martian/Venusian treaty when you ascend to the
War Throne?" the overly jubilant Ungaii asked.
"You are being awfully rude, sir." Shima had answered in a
soft voice as he deliberately turned from the overbearing King of
Venus.
"What?! What was that?! Shoorisha! What is the meaning of this
rudeness!" Ungaii demanded of Shima's father.
"Shima! I order you to answer King Ungaii's question this
instant!" His father blustered.
"I shall not." Shima replied. "For he is a rude and arrogant
fool."
"How.. How dare you!?"
Shima completely ignored the red-faced looks he was getting
from both his father and the Venusian King in order to stand and walk
the two steps to where Minanoai stood forgotten. Dropping to one knee
before her he held out a gentle hand to her.
"Hello, little one." He spoke in a soft voice, confident of
his abilities, but gentle and sincere. "I am Shima of Mars, the Heir
to the War Throne and the High Prince of Mars. I apologize for my
father's arrogance in refusing to introduce us properly. I do hope
you shall forgive me." He continued in the same soft voice.
"Shima! What do you think you are doing!" Shoorisha roared in
fury.
"Please pardon me, little one." Shima said, before rising to
his feet and sneering at his father. "I happen to be CORRECTING a
FAULT made by YOU, FATHER!" he roared, anger evident in his voice.
"I made no MISTAKE, BOY!"
"You did. You made your mistake when you refused to
acknowledge a guest before you. You REFUSED to make PROPER
introductions between two people who are first met! Just as you
REFUSED to raise my SISTER! You are NO MAN, FATHER." The word
"father" was spat out with disgust. "For no true man would ever refuse
a person something so integral to their being just because they are a
girl. So, FATHER, just wait. The time WILL come, and you SHALL be
removed."
Then he turned his back on him and returned his attention to
Minanoai. "Now, little one. May I know your name?"
Minanoai nodded shyly. "I am known as Minanoai of Venus, great
lord."
"Now, now. I shall have none of that." Shima smiled. It was a
very pretty smile. "I am no great lord. I am Shima. And that is what
you may call me if you so desire."
By this point, Ungaii was positively glowing. If he managed
to look any more pleased, it is quite possible that he would have
burst. His daughter! A friend of the High Prince of Mars! What a
glorious match it would be! And his mind was gone off in visions
of a fairytale land.

**********

She had thrived under the friendship of the High Prince and
his sister. The gawky young girl had matured quickly into a beautiful
young lady. Though she still bore her slight crush upon the handsome
Shima.
Then one day he disappeared entirely. The Lord Phoenix had
claimed him for his own. And Shima was gone.
Minanoai found out what had occurred when Reiki had appeared
suddenly in her chambers on Venus with tears in her eyes. Minanoai
knew of only one possible thing that could bring the fairly religious
Reiki to such a point. Immediately she was filled with concern for her
only truly male friend besides Princess Kina of Jupiter's elder
brother Shinouki.

***********

Minanoai slowly pulled open the doors of her chambers with an
understandable wariness.
"Yes? Who is it?" She asked through a crack in the door.
"Mina-chan?" the trembling voice was immediately recognizable.
Minanoai pushed the door open enough so that Reiki could enter then
quickly shut it again after looking both left and right. So far no one
knew where her chambers were and she would like very much to keep it
that way.
After securing the door, she turned to where her friend had
sat down on the edge of her simple bed. The poor girl looked like she
had been sobbing for days. No tears ran down her face anymore. She had
none left to cry.
"Reiki, what is it? What's wrong?" Minanoai asked the poor
girl, coming over to sit by her side and drape a comforting arm about
her shoulders.
"It's - It's Shima." Reiki choked out between sobs.
"Shima? Oh no. What happened, Reiki?" Minanoai's voice was
becoming anxious.
"He's gone, Mina-chan! He's gone! The Lord Phoenix came and
took my brother away and now I don't know what to do!" Reiki wailed,
suddenly turning and burying her face in Minanoai's shoulder.
Tears were beginning to stream down Minanoai's face. She had
heard about the Lord Phoenix. Rumors said that he went from planet to
planet and took the best from each and then destroyed them completely.
At least, no one ever came back from being with the Lord Phoenix. And
now He had gone to Mars. There was no doubt in Minanoai's mind or in
Reiki's that He would take Shima once he came to Mars, for who could
possibly be better than Shima upon the Planet of War?
And now it had occurred. Already the two girls were beginning
to feel the desolation that his loss would cause them for the rest of
their lives. So many had gone with the Lord Phoenix and never
returned. They couldn't afford to hope beyond hope that Shima would be
the exception to the rule. They both loved him so dearly, but they
knew better than to confidently expect the impossible from the young
man every time something happened.
Now they saw only two options lying before them. The first
wasn't really much of an option as far as they could see it. It was
to simply forget and go on with their lives as if he had never touched
them. And that was absolutely impossible for two girls who's lives had
been shaped around knowing him.
Which left the second option. To find a path. To chose a
direction in which to live their lives. And most of all, to chose a
path that would honor the young man they both looked upon with the
eyes of an adoring little sister who's hero was no more and no less
than her big brother.
"What are we going to do now, Mina-chan?" Reiki asked softly,
as she gradually gained control of her emotions again.
Minanoai swallowed down the lump in her throat that attempted
to prevent her from making an choice known. It was a dangerous program
she was thinking of suggesting they enroll in, but it was a distinct
honor to be accepted into it. She knew that most often only one person,
most often a girl though she had heard rumors of one young man
managing to get through the program, from each planet would be awarded
a position in the program. However, she felt that it would be a worthy
operation to dedicate their lives to, as they could not truly inherit
their patriarchal kingdom's thrones.
"There... there is one thing we could do, Reiki..." Minanoai
gulped, her gaze unfocused and random.
Reiki looked up and stared confusedly at Minanoai. "What?"
"The Senshi Program." Minanoai whispered, almost as if she
didn't really want to say it.
"The Senshi Program?" Reiki breathed, almost in awe. "Do you
think we have a chance?"
Minanoai's eyes refocused, and she directed their gaze to her
friend's questioning features. "Well, we can't know unless we try,
don't you think? Who knows, maybe we'll be Chosen for a position on
the Senshi themselves!" She laughed at the possibility. She didn't
really think that they would be accepted, but it was an honor to try
anyways.

***********

The two friends' enrollment into the feared and awe-inspiring
new Senshi Program that was instrumental in providing the key defenders
of the Realms seemed almost destined. They had both prospered from the
friendship with the High Prince of Mars both physically and mentally.
Reiki easily beat out all of the other girls running for the
position of Senshi of Mars in the Martian Arts competition that was a
big factor in the Choosing of a Senshi of Mars. It was a definite
advantage to have been trained in hand-to-hand combat by the best
warrior nonpareil on the planet. And her helping her brother with his
studying allowed her to show well in the religious backgrounds.
Minanoai had charm to spare for the position of Senshi of
Venus. There was a reason after all that she took such care in keeping
people from knowing where she slept after all. And then she managed to
impress the first Senshi of Venus with her skill with a bow and arrow
and her accuracy and rapidity of fire.
Soon, the two found themselves before the Board which would
give the final interview that would decide once and for all whom would
get the honor of entering the Chamber of Choosing that would decide
who would be the best Senshi overall. Without too much surprise
involved both Minanoai and Reiki were among the selected groups that
would venture into the mysterious Chamber of Choosing. The question
was who would emerge victorious.
Reiki went in last of her group. It was a long time before she
emerged, which most everyone took as a good sign, since everyone else
was only in there for a few Terran minutes at most. Then, finally,
Reiki emerged, weary but striding from the chamber with a pride that
had been noticeably absent from the other applicants who had emerged
from the same chamber.
She had emerged victorious. In her hands she bore the mystical
charm that held the powers of a Senshi of Mars. On her face she bore a
proud smile. Yet, she appeared so much older than she had been when
she went in.
This is what Minanoai saw before they called the for the
Venusian group to step forward. Minanoai had sometime to wait before
they called her up. But eventually she came to her turn to step
through the stone arch into the dark chamber beyond.

***********

Minanoai stepped into the inky darkness of the chamber and
felt for a moment as if she was falling. Then she remembered another
place that had shared the inky quality of the darkness. And the
darkness changed. About her formed the high arching walls and vaulted
onyx ceiling of the Throne Hall of the Martian Palace where she had
first met Shima so long ago. Under her feet formed the smooth black
obsidian flagstones that made up the floor. No longer did she feel
like she was falling. She smirked and walked down the uninhabited hall
towards were the two thrones she remembered so clearly sat.
There were the two thrones. The ruby War Throne and the gold
Throne of the High Prince beside it. And in those chairs sat Shima and
his father. For a moment she seemed to hesitate, but then she kept
going, striving to keep the laughter from burbling out of her at the
sight. For the beings that now imitated Shima and his father may have
pulled their images from her mind, they most certainly did not get
every detail correct. For there in the ruby War Throne sat Shima with
an amusingly imperious look on his face and there on the gold Throne
of the High Prince crouched the bushy giant that was his father with
a positively uncomfortable look on her face. Which made sense as the
Throne of the High Prince was far too small for King Shoorisha to sit
in comfortably, and apparently the being which had taken his image was
beginning to notice this.
"Hello, little one." The voice rumbled from everywhere and
nowhere, yet it was the Shima-being who's lips moved. "We are quite
amused by you. Not often does a candidate enter the Chamber of
Choosing with laughter in her mind. Or does one managed to so quickly
find a place of comfort to their minds. We are impressed,
congratulations."
"Thank you, good sirs. I am most honored by your
congratulations." Minanoai offered politely. "Forgive me for not
introducing myself. I am Minanoai of Venus."
"Yes, we were made aware of your name some time ago. Now,
we suppose that you are perchance wondering what your test shall be.
Are we correct in this supposition?"
"Actually? Yes. You are correct."
"Good. Because your test is upon you."
Suddenly Minanoai found herself deep within a raging battle
with the powers of Venus at her command. She found herself commanding
a force in gold and was leading it quite against an opposing force in
red. Then she recognized the leader of the opposing force.
Reiki herself sat proud upon a massive roan charger wearing
crimson armor embossed with the emblem of Mars.
Looking down at herself, she found herself in yellow leather
armor embossed with the crest of Venus. And suddenly wept in loss. For
whatever it was she had done it had driven apart the friendship
between herself and Reiki. Not only had she lost Shima to the Lord
Phoenix, she had now lost Reiki to her own foolishness.
Suddenly, one of her archers loosed an arrow. The golden shaft
flickered through the air and plunged deep into the crimson breastplate
of Reiki's armor. Reiki paused for a moment, looking down at the burst
of golden fletching protruding from her chest. Then she tumbled from
her mount with a massive clatter to strike upon the ground hard.
"NOO!" Minanoai screamed. "Everybody STOP!"
As the two armies slowed to a halt, Minanoai threw herself
from her own mount and raced across the ground to her dying friend's
side. Dropping to her knees beside her, she lifted her bloody friend
into her lap. Reiki looked up at her with her remarkably violet eyes
lacking any form of recrimination that Minanoai so deeply expected to
be there.
"Oh, Reiki.. Reiki, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry this
happened." She sobbed, holding the slightly taller girl to her as she
rocked back and forth.
"Do-don't blame yourself, Mina-chan." Reiki choked out through
the blood that frothed from her lips. "I-it wasn't your fault. You
were being controlled by the evil."
"No. Reiki. No, I wasn't. I-I.. oh, blessed Venus, it was my
fault, Reiki. It'll always be my fault you died, Reiki!" Knowledge
suddenly came to her giving her the information she needed to know
what had caused the events that were occurring now to have started.
"It was all my fault. I let myself be capture. I was overconfident
and stupid, and oh, Reiki! I'm so sorry!" She sobbed. "I should have
listened to you! I should have known I couldn't resist the evil. I
should have KNOWN! It's all my fault! It's my fault Serenity fell!"
Minanoai sobbed heavily into Reiki's cape, then looked down at
her friend and saw that the light had gone from her violet eyes. At
that, Minanoai lost it. She laid Reiki's body back down upon the
ground and pulled the arrow from her breast.
Positioning the arrow between her breasts, she took a deep
breath and yelled.
"I know that I was at fault! I know that I have been cause of
so many deaths that could have been prevented! I know that I am at
fault and I choose to make amends!" she sobbed as loud as she could,
kneeling between the two armies were all could see, beside the
extinguished body of her dearest friend. "I know that what I do now
will never be enough, but maybe, someday, someone can find it within
them to forgive what I have done! I hope that somehow peace can be
found with my death!"
And with all the force in her arms she plunged the arrow that
had taken the life of her friend deep within her heart and fell back
to lie upon the rocky ground beside the one who's life she had caused
to end untimely. As her life-force slowly bled away into the
ensanguined soil, she stared up into the cloudless blue sky and
wondered upon what soil they fought.
As she stared into the sky, her hands still enwrapped about
the shaft of the arrow, she noticed a very peculiar thing occurring
in the sky. As she watched, it darkened and became not unlike onyx.
Then it came to her. She was no longer on the field of battle.
She had been returned to the weird Throne Hall of Mars that
the beings that wanted to test her had messed up so badly. Then she
began to remember. It had been a test. Reiki was still alive. And
more than that they were still friends. She sat up suddenly, not even
thinking about the item in her hands.
"Congratulations are in order, Minanoai of Venus." The
Shoorisha-being's lips moved in correspondence with the words this
time. "It seems that you have past our little test."
"Past? I don't understand. I failed. I must have." She argued
confused and weary.
She was rewarded with the distinct feeling that the beings
were laughing at her because of her argument.
"No, you most certainly do not understand, do you? The test
was a question of responsibility. And you did pass. Because, despite
everything, you did take responsibility for your actions at the last.
Your way of proving it was a bit on the strange side, but it
definitely proved that you are willing to take responsibility for
what you cause. Responsibility is an important part of a Senshi. And
we all think that you shall perform well as the Senshi of Venus. So
rise, good lady, and leave now. We have Chosen."
Minanoai stumbled out of the room in a daze. The amulet of
Venus was clutched tightly in her hands, having replaced the arrow
that she had attempted reparations with.

End Book Two

--
Look not for me in bright of day
Look not in dark of night
I am but a solitary figment
Alone created of your mind.
-
Siobhan Recca
The Cybernetic Ninja