Lines Of Destiny - Prologue

A Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2 Crossover (Revised version)

By Louis-Philippe Giroux dragon@fanfic.net


Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi and Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko
Takahashi. Please don't sue me.

The latest versions of the previous chapters are always the ones on my
WWW page http://www.fanfic.net/~dragon

- - -

Everything was silent. Conversation in that particular chamber of the
Saturn Grand Palace had ceased moments before and the air was thick with
tension.

A muscular young man was leaning against a wall, a dark, heavy cloak
hiding all of his body save his head. His face bore the looks of one
that had seen and done much, only to have the unfortunate luck of living
to tell about it.  Around most of his right eye were drawn several
small, tattoo-like red triangles. His left cheek bore a large, sky-blue
7-shaped mark. His hair was dark red, the color of blood, and hung in a
foot-long ponytail behind him. A purple headband kept most of the hair
out of his face. Resting beside him was a sledgehammer that, while not
all that intimidating in size, made up in sheer malevolent presence.

The other individual sharing the room was a dark, green-haired woman
with brown skin wearing an outfit that almost seemed the complete
opposite of the young man's attire. She was wearing a white bodysuit
fitted with a short black skirt and a large maroon bow on her chest.
Knee-length black boots completed the ensemble.  Resting in her left
hand was a metal staff that vaguely resembled a key. In her right hand,
she held a large leather book with a purple cover and metal bindings.
The front appeared to be covered with scribbles. The woman was staring a
it with a guarded expression.

"That's my proposal.  Is it agreeable?" asked the young man, glancing at
his companion. His face betrayed no expression, but it did not fool the
woman.

"Kanma, do you have any idea what you just asked me?" asked the woman
with a note of disbelief entering her voice.

"Of course I do," blandly replied Kanma. "If I wasn't, we certainly
wouldn't be having this wonderful conversation., Pluto."

Sailor Pluto's crimson eyes narrowed. "Why should I believe it?  Why
should I do this for you?  It's not as if you've given anyone, much less
me, much reason to be amenable to such a request." She gently put the
heavy book on a nearby table.

Kanma's face twisted into a frown. "Why?" he nearly snarled.  "Because
I'm tired, Pluto.  I don't want to lose what I've learned, but I can't
take the way everyone's been treating me lately.  If this keeps up, I'm
gonna kill someone soon, and it's not going to be someone who deserves
it!"  He calmed down a bit.  "Besides, what do you have to lose in the
bargain?"

The Guardian of Time stared at Kanma with a piercing gaze. "What do I
stand to lose? I do not think you want me to answer that question,
Stormbringer," she finished with a hint of mockery in her tone.

Kanma snorted.  "Please. If you want to insult me, try to be more
original."

Pluto closed her eyes and kept silent for a few moments.  "This is
neither the time or place for this; I will grant you that. What I truly
wish to know is why you choose this moment to talk to me about this."

Kanma's face lost all expression and he abruptly turned away from Pluto.
"The End is coming. You know that better than anyone living, unless I
miss my guess." He paused and turned sideways. "And you know how rarely
I miss my guest, don't you?" he finished with a smirk.

Pluto's face was blank. "The End? Why would you think that?" she asked
with almost no inflection.

"Come now," the dark-cloaked man said condescendingly.  "I may not have
access to the Gate of Time, but I am no fool.  My sister has become
Sailor Saturn and the situation on Terra grows worse everyday. If that
wasn't bad enough, Atomos, Shiva and Meteor Master have been warning me
from the Spirit Plane. Those idiots on Terra have awakened Metallia and
a few other greater demons. They will be unstoppable." He paused, taking
a deep breath.  "All things end, Pluto. You taught me that. I don't need
to be a prophet to know the Silver Millenium is coming to its End. There
shall not be a Golden Millenium."

Pluto's eyes widened during the man's reply. "They have warned you?" she
whispered in surprise, and perhaps a bit of fear. Her expression
suddenly became wary. "Why have you done nothing, then?  I would have
expected you to try and put an end to it, violently if necessary.  You
have never been one to sit idle." She paused. "And do you believe that
Queen Serenity

Kanma stayed silent for a minute. "If the course I had chosen had proven
to be the wrong one, you would have warned me, as you have done so many
times in the past," Kanma said wearily. "As for the elder Serenity, she
will oppose those demons, of that I have absolutely no doubt, but she is
only one person and I do not believe that even the Silver Crystal can
destroy all these creatures.  Some, surely, but not all.  And when she
falls, the princess will not know how to wield the Crystal properly.
Luna will fall and with it, the web of magic that keeps the most of the
system alive."

"You sincerely believe she has no chance?" asked the Guardian softly.

"There is a chance she might win," Kanma admitted. "Nothing is
impossible - that's another lesson you taught me, but you know just as
well as I do what will happen if that particular probability comes to
pass."

Pluto sighed. She realized that he knew, that much was for certain, but
she had other concerns. "Why haven't you offered your help, then? You
power is feared throughout the system. Meteor Master alone could wreak
untold havoc on enemy forces."

"And they would kill me a few moments afterwards. I know the weakness of
a chromatic summoning better than anyone alive, Pluto. Any help I
provided would ultimately be futile." He snorted. "That supposes that
they would listen to me in the first place, which is hardly probable,
thanks to my reputation."

Pluto stared silently at the chromatic mage for a few minutes before
sighing deeply. "What of this foolish idea of yours? What makes you
think it has any chance of succeeding?"

"I soul-bound myself to the Grimoire," replied Kanma simply.

Pluto's eyes widened and automatically tracked the purple book on the
table. "You WHAT?" she shouted in surprise. "Do you have any idea what
you've done?!?"

Kanma looked her in the eyes, unflinching. "What I've done is make sure
that someday I will be reborn. I made sure that whenever and wherever I
AM reborn, the Grimoire will return to me." His voice became louder.
"The Grimoire contains several lifetimes worth of priceless knowledge. I
will NOT let it be consigned to oblivion!"

Pluto shook her head. "What you have done is put your very soul on the
line for a few spells. I never thought you would go this far, Kanma."

The young man shrugged. "We all have our obsessions and weaknesses."

Pluto closed her eyes and sighed softly. "So let me get this straight.
You want me to keep the Grimoire safe until whatever time you are
reborn, and in exchange, you promise loyalty to the line of Serenity?"

"Or whatever dynasty you will support by then," Kanma said, nodding his
head. "The Grimoire is spelled as to be nigh-invulnerable, but for all
its spells of protection, it can still be destroyed. It may be centuries
or even millennia until I am reborn, therefor I would feel much better
if you took care of it during that time."

Pluto fixed Kanma with her more searching gaze and once again, Kanma
withstood it without flinching. "How would I know you are reborn? You
may be soul-bound to the Grimoire, but that will not help me find you."

Kanma nodded. He had expected the question. Reaching under his cloak, he
withdrew a dark blue spherical gem the size of a thumbnail. Walking over
the the purple book on the table, he gently pressed the gem into the
cover of the book, where it seemed to sink halfway through before
stopping.  He turned to face the Guardian of time. "This little gem will
warn you when I again walk the world.  All you have to do is give me the
Grimoire then and the rest will take care of itself."

"That is it?" Pluto asked dubiously. "How do I know you would simply not
take the book and ignore your promise?"

"I took preventative measures," Kanma said. "First of all, I've sealed
the Grimoire.  It wouldn't do for my reincarnation to find it and
unwittingly release entities like Titan, Meteor Master or Atomos without
proper precautions.  All that would do is provide me with a quick and
messy death.  What I will do is that I will give you another gem,
similar to the one I just fused to the Grimoire. Simply keep it with you
until I am reborn. Then, before giving the Grimoire to me, hold the gem
and with it, touch the one on the Grimoire. It will make an 'imprint',
if you will, of your then-current alignment. Once the Grimoire has this
in memory, so to speak, it will scan my next incarnation for her
spiritual alignment with your cause. If she shows potential to your
cause, some of the spells will be unsealed.  Of course, the more
harmless spells will be first. If my reincarnation does not approve of
your alignment, the Grimoire will remain sealed."

Pluto nodded slowly.  "All right, I can see the potential, but who would
teach you magic? There is no guarantee that magic will be common if you
ever reincarnate and I am not skilled enough in chromatic magic to even
teach a beginner."

Kanma nodded. "I've seen to that unfortunately possible eventuality. The
Grimoire will teach me. It will take a while, but it will be done. Truth
be told, that's not my biggest concern. What I'm worried about is what
will happen when I reach adulthood if I don't have the Grimoire. I may
not have any spells, but my own magic will reawaken and I may cause
myself or others harm, even unwittingly. I'll need the Grimoire for
control."

Pluto nodded.  It was an unfortunate fact of life that many potential
mages often ended up killing themselves accidentally when they were
children, before an experienced mage had a chance to take them under
their wing. She thought a bit more. It was tempting, very tempting.
Kanma was a powerful mage and would prove a great help, but he also had
a bad habit of pulling rabbits out of his hat at the last second.

The silence in the room was deafening in the room for a few minutes.

"So, do we have a deal?" asked Kanma with a solemn expression.

Outside the room, time went on.

Ens Prologue