Hi again, it's Jorge Pratt, back with more of my "tiny" Ranma/FF
crossover ^_^

	It's been a while since I posted TCP to both RAAC and the FFML, so I
thought I'd start posting the last "book" of Song of the Phoenix to the
list. Since I have written about 3/4 of the first chapter, I thought I
should post it already to see what I could fix before I delve into more
advanced chapters (which are already planned out.) My prereaders will
receive the newest batch tomorrow, though.

	For those of you who are familiar with my writing style, you know that
I tend to write chapters divided in "sections." So, this time, I'm only
releasing the foreword, prologue and the first section of the first
chapter. It's simply a sort of introduction that starts at the very end
of TCP.

	For those of you who are new to the list or never read Song of the
Phoenix: it's a crossover between Ranma 1/2 and the Squaresoft game
Final Fantasy 3, which started with "The Four Birds of Fire" (TFBOF) and
continued with "The Caller's Plight" (TCP). Basically, its plot is about
how Ranma's male and female sides are split apart thanks to a being from
the FF3 world, with onna-Ranma being the -real- spirit that was trapped
inside Nyannichuan. She also has a twin sister, Yuannyan, that is Herb's
fianc馥. Other highlights (which are also SPOILERS) include:

--Ranko and Yuannyan's real names are Zhaodi and Pandi, in that order.
They were the twin sisters that drowned in Jusenkyo 1500 years ago.
--Lael Phaeron, who lived with the twins before they drowned, was taken
to the world of FF3 and became the Esper Phoenix. He was trapped in
stone for over 1000 years.
--Ranko lost much of her memory from her life before Jusenkyo; this
caused Phaeron to believe she didn't love him (they were in love before
the accident.)
--The twins died because Lael's brother, Raphael, was possessed by a
demon and took the name "Coldfire."
--After Lael came back to Earth, he saved Pandi (who was asleep inside
the monkey thrown into Nyannichuan by Herb) and later, Zhaodi. They
later adopted the names Yuannyan and Ranko, and they were taken into the
Saotome family.
--Nodoka gave Ranma and Akane up until Christmas to decide about whether
or not they wanted to keep the engagement. The result, although only
Mrs. Saotome saw it, was an obvious one.
--There was a battle on the Esper World, during which most of the cast
(all fighters) received magic abilities and weapons. For example, Ranma
received Wind magic, Herb received Lightning, Ryouga received Earth, and
so on. On Earth, they use this magic thanks to special gems called
Brindstones.
--Mrs. Saotome is really an angel named Pax Angeum Femina, who came to
Earth approximately 1516 years ago. As an angel she had given birth to
Cordis Fortitudo A.F. (meaning, "Strength of Heart") and as a human she
gave birth to Pandi and Zhaodi. She and her husband, Kuroma, died when
the twins were 12 years old. She was later reincarnated as Nodoka
Saotome.
--There is a demon named Dysithal, aka Debilitatis Cor ("Heart of
Weakness") who is the "patron" demon of Fear. He is bent on destroying
Ranko and Cordis, as well as whoever protects them.
--When Coldfire came back and tried to kill Ranko, Phaeron sacrificed
himself to save the gang. Later, Ranko devised a technique named "The
Caller" to bring him back to life. First, it killed her. Then another
angel, friend of the family (so to speak) gave her a second chance and
revived Phaeron for 4 months, after which he died again.
--Mousse now has a new suitor, a blonde Amazon named Mink who has the
Drowned Hawk curse.
--Ryouga, after falling out of love with Akane, fell for Ranko, but
decided to remain only as a close friend. He has recently met Akari
Unryuu, though.
--At the end of TCP, Ranko decided to try again at the Caller, knowing
what had gone wrong the first time.


	TCP left off with Ranko's successful attempt at the Caller, which has
finally brought Phaeron back to life (thanks in part to the assistance
of the Crimson and Emerald Stars.) Other significant events are:

--Dysithal, has been defeated and sent to the Shadows by Ranko. This let
Cordis regain control of her own body, which had been possessed by
Dysithal.
--Ranma gave Akane an engagement ring, and they're quite aware of each
other's feelings.
--Phaeron and Ranko have admitted their love, although she has NOT said
the words yet (at least not to him.)

That should give you an idea of what Song of the Phoenix is about. The
stories themselves in at RAAC's archives, in the "Song-of-the-Phoenix"
directory. You can also find them in Andrew Huang's fanfic pages at:

http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/ranma/fanfic/phoenix/

Well, now to get on with the show!


The Zephyr
al709382@campus.ccm.itesm.mx