[FFML] [Ranma/orig][x/over] Phoenix Kinght Pro (revised)

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This is the final revision of the prologe to the story. I have sent out =
the first chapter to my pre readers and as soon as they are finished =
blasting it to pieces and I have reassembled it I will have it posted to =
the list. Read and enjoy.

-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: pkpro.txt

The Phoenix Knight
By Dark Knight

Prologue

Saffron's frozen body hung in the air for a few seconds before it started its descent back to Earth. 'How is it possibly for a lowly groundling to have done this?'
He was answered a minute later as Ranma called out his next attack. "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" The attack had enough force behind it to shatter Saffron's brittle body. The shattering caused his own final defense to kick in starting the pillar of fire that would be his rebirth.
Ranma saw the pillar of flames and knew what he had to do. He grabbed the doll-like form of Akane into his arms and rode the pillar to its apex. There he concentrated his energies into performing the move that should help bring Akane back. "Hiryuu Gyouten Ha!" yelled Ranma as he called out his attack. The attack was the reverse of the Hiryuu Shouten Ha and it activated the Dragon Tap that would release the waters to save Akane.
He landed in the waters and laid Akane's body into the waters. Akane's body soaked up the waters and she returned to her normal size. Ranma came to Akane�s side looking for any sign of life in her. Her chest was not moving and he feared he was too late.
"Akane, I need you. Please come back to me. I love you! AKANE!!!!!!"

While Ranma was trying to save Akane, Saffron was in the beginning of his rebirth process. 'I will not be taken down by a groundling and he live!' Saffron gathered his remaining power as he willed the transformation process to slow down. The pain of being burned alive was almost unbearable to anyone who was not a Phoenix. His blackened body looked up at Ranma, who had just screamed the girl's name. With a cold, evil gleam in his eye, he readied the attack to destroy the arrogant groundling and finish his rebirth process.

Akane opened her eyes and looked at Ranma. She smiled at him . . . and then that she noticed that Saffron was still up and pointing a blackened hand at Ranma's exposed back. She couldn't even speak to warn him because she was so weak. She tried to get Ranma to look behind him by moving her head towards his back, but she couldn't move her head.

"You will not live long enough to enjoy your shallow victory," screamed the dying Phoenix. He released a massive fireball into Ranma's back, which seeped into him and began to roast him from the inside out.

"Now you will die in the same way I do. I hope you like a burning death from the inside out. It is a fitting end for you, Groundling!" Saffron started laughing maniacally and then the rebirth process took back over turning his body to ash. A second after turning into ash, the ashes of the phoenix reformed into that of an egg.
Ranma was in sheer agony. The flames were eating him from the inside out. He knew he wouldn�t have long before he would be killed and the flames would kill Akane. He couldn't live with the knowledge that she had just come back only to be taken by his death.
The last thing Ranma did before he himself was burned completely, was to toss Akane to Genma saying, "Tell her I loved her to the last." Ranma then burst into flames. They were so hot that not even ashes were left of Ranma's body when the flames finally died down.
Those who were still at the site of the battle mourned the loss of a hero as great as Ranma. Kiima took the baby form of Saffron, swearing that she would raise him to be a proper King of the Phoenix people. Shampoo released Genma of the mind control, having already been freed herself, and then they all returned to Japan. The tone of the return trip would be bad enough, but without the body of Ranma, there would be little closer in saying goodbye.

***

While Nabiki Tendo was doing her normal bookwork she noticed the glow coming from the drawer where she kept the amulet of the Order of the Phoenix. The amulet marked her as a Scholar. It had been given to her when she completed her training.
Now she was to gather all of the information she could-- recording it
for other scholars to learn from and hopefully avoid the same mistakes-- for
the day when the veil that separates the true power of magic from what men
could see was shattered. She got up from her bed and went to the drawer.
Opening the drawer, she lifted the amulet and placed it around her neck, allowing her to talk with the Phoenix.

<Nabiki, let me tell you something you already know. Every Scholar must have a group of Guardians, and Ranma shall be the leader of your Guardians. He will return to you in a few days, after I have shown him the beginnings of what he will come to possess.
After that point, you must instruct him on the ways of the Art you have learned. That is the duty of a Scholar; although you may not directly interfere with the events around you, you may teach others how to do so.
I have waited on telling you this until you were ready and your first Guardian could be prepared for his task. You will have others joining him, but they will be taught by him.>

Nabiki took off the amulet and brought out her first book of knowledge, a book containing the first secrets and laws of magic, and began to review them so that she could teach Ranma upon his return.

***

Ranma was floating in a vast nothingness that he assumed was his death. He wished he could have married Akane, and he wished he had told her just once while he was alive what he really thought of her. He had so many regrets now that his life had ended.
As Ranma floated in the darkness, a ball of fire sprang into life a few feet ahead of him. He could feel the heat of the fire, but it didn't hurt him. As the fire grew larger, Ranma noticed it was taking the shape of a bird. When the fire stopped moving and changing, a bird of pure fire was floating before him. Ranma's first thought was that Saffron had come to torture his soul for the rest of eternity.
"No, Ranma. I am not the one you fought before. Saffron was a Phoenix that had been corrupted by the power of ruling over others for too long. He was at one time my most powerful Guardian, but he strayed from that path when others sought his protection and made him their King and Lord. I am the one that gave Saffron his powers. I am The Phoenix.
I have had a group of people throughout time that have followed my ways and my path. You treed a similar path to that of mine, and since you died by the hand of my Guardian, after defeating him, and then you may become one of my Guardians."
"Wha'cha talkin' about?"
"Centuries ago, on the island of Atlantis, there was a group of people who sought my knowledge and power. I freely gave it to them, as well as a task for those that could handle it. As such, the Path of the Phoenix was born.
Those people, who could gather information and had the power, became my Scholars. My scholars gathered the information of the ages, recorded events and learned everything capable to them. Their only price was that they could interfere with nothing. They could not even use the powers they had to defend themselves. If it was their time to die, they accepted the fact, and recorded their last thoughts into the amulet that each received when they become my scholars. They imparted the knowledge of where their library was so that what they gathered would not be lost.
I could not leave my scholars unprotected, so I created the second path, that of the Guardians. Their job would be to guard the scholars and their knowledge, and defend the innocent. You have already shown the true qualities of being a guardian; and right now I have a scholar without any guardians, and the time is coming where she will need them.
You will be her guardian, should you choose to accept this burden. Mind you, this will be one of the hardest things you have had to do in your life; but as compensation, you will be given powers to control some of the chaos that you bring to those around you, and also be given the chance to live again.
I can wait all of eternity for your answer, but if you should wait too long, then it may be too late for the scholar and you will have to go where you are needed instead of where you would like to go."
"You don't have to wait long. All I want to know is will I�ll be with Akane when I go back?"
"Yes, you could still live with her, as long as your duties were carried out."
"Then my answer is yes. I will do anything to be with the woman I love."
"Very well then. I will begin your training in your new powers before you leave. When you return home, look for the woman who carries this amulet," Phoenix holds up a ruby amulet set in silver flames, "She is my scholar and will train you further. You will also be choosing those who will be assisting you in times of need.
For every scholar I have four guardians. You will be the first, as well as their captain. You will make the decisions as far as how the team uses their powers, and when they use them. Both you and the scholar will be teaching them my ways. Now for your first lesson: Magic."

To be continued. . .

Praise will be thanked and flames will be sent to the fires of Phoenix himself to make him stronger. dark_knight_ranma@yahoo.com Thanks for reading.

I have to give praise and thanks to my pre readers who have been helping me revise this story since I only have a simple text editor. Thank you every so much Larry F, and KevlarS77. Ya�ll have been a life saver.