Death and destruction all around.  Fire and smoke filling the air.  The once tall and proud buildings of the great metropolis called New York lie in ruins around her feet.  And she can barely stand.  The wound in her chest is fatal.  She knows this, but she also knows that she cannot die yet.  No.  She looks down at the child in her arms.  The spell she placed on him keeps him in a peaceful slumber.  If not for the wings coming from his back one would think he was human.  But not this child.  He is not human, nor is he inhuman.  He is a new race with a potential equal to that of the one who caused this destruction.  And she knows this.  She looks at object lying on the child, a metal crest slightly larger than an adult male’s hand.  The bird on it tells what it is.  The Phoenix Gate.  The object with the power to go back in time.  The woman lifts it and whispers the incantation.  They disappear in a ball of flame.  Disappear from a world gone mad.

 

 

            New York, 1983

 

            The one sometimes known as Titania, Queen of Avalon, sat out under the sun enjoying herself.  She laughed at her enjoyment.  Centuries ago she would have never thought she could find enjoyment living as a human.  But she had found it.  And the source of a good deal of that enjoyment was currently getting out of the nearby pool and rushing up to her.  She smiled as she scolded little Anastasia for running on the wet concrete.  That’s when she felt it.  A surge in magical energies very nearby.  “Momma?”

            The voice pulled Titania out of her daze.  She hadn’t realized her face had become dark and rather scary looking.  As it was Anastasia had taken a step back and was looking rather frightened.  Titania smiled.  “Go inside and get cleaned up for dinner.”  Anastasia hesitated but nodded before walking to the house.

            Once her daughter was out of sight Titania’s serious expression returned.  She got up and began moving towards the magic she felt.  It was fading fast but still rather prevalent.  She found it in no time.  But what she found was a shock to her.  Lying with her back against a tree was…herself.  Cradled in her lap was a child that looked like a human with wings and the Phoenix Gate.  The body stirred and looked up at her.  “Good…I don’t have much time…”  She held aloft her hand.  “Take it…and know…what…I know…”

            Titania nodded and grasped the outstretched hand.  A flood of memories poured through the link created by the dying woman and her living counterpart.  After it was done a noticeably paler Titania stood.  “He did all of that?”

            The other Titania nodded.  “The child…” She looked down as the sleeping babe.  “He…so much…potential…no magic…but…life force…ki…like an…an endless sea…He can…stop the…coming destruction…”

            Titania nodded and lifted the child up.  “You must return.”  The other Titania nodded.  “I will not fail.”  The other Titania smiled and disappeared in the flames of the Phoenix Gate.  The Queen of Avalon looked down as the child.  “So you’re going to save the world, huh?”  The child stirred and looked up at her.  He smiled at her as all babes do.  And she smiled the smile of one who knew the joys of rearing a child.  But, (“I cannot raise this child.”)  She looked back at the mansion she resided in.  (“If he is to stop the coming catastrophe he must be trained in the Arts of combat and war.”)  Her thoughts wondered for near a moment before a solution came to her.  And with a light flash she and the babe were gone.

 

 

            Elsewhere seconds later

 

            In the same light flash that she had disappeared in Titania reappeared.  But she had reappeared with a void.  A featureless void where there was only mist.  “Toushin!  Toushin!”  She called out into the void.  Seconds later a figure appeared in the void.  Out of the mist and into her view stepped a tall Asian man with a katana strapped to his side.

            “What do you need Titania Queen of Avalon?”  The man asked.

            “This boy,” She motioned to the child.  “He must be trained in the Arts, your arts.”

            “Why is that?”  The god of war asked.

            “He is important to the continued existence of this world.”

            The god’s eyebrow arched at this.  He waited.  When it was clear he would receive no more information he sighed and shook his head.  “I have no time to take on a student.”

            Titania smiled.  “I thought so.  However, I do not want this boy to know of his heritage.  Nor do I want his raised among the gods.  If he is to protect the Earth then he must live upon it with the humans.”

            Toushin pondered her words for a moment.  “That I can understand.  But why do you not wish him to know about his,” The god stopped and looked at the boy for a moment.  His eyes went wide as he realized what the boy was.  “He is neither human or gargoyle!”  He exclaimed.  Titania nodded.  It took Toushin a moment calm down.  After he had his mind began racing.  After a full five minutes he snapped his fingers.  “I’ve got it!”  He turned to Titania.  “There is a school of martial arts that is about to die out.  We’ll give the child to the last member of that school.”

            “An heir to continue the school?”  Titania wondered aloud.

            “Yes.  The man will surely consent.”

            Titania pondered Toushin’s proposal for a moment.  She then turned and nodded to the god.  “Very well.  However, the man we give the boy to must understand that I will return for the boy upon his seventeenth birthday.”  Toushin nodded and moved back into the mist with Titania a few steps behind him.

 

 

            Tokyo, Japan 1983

 

            The grave marker was small.  A small marker for a small grave.  Standing before it were two people, a man and a woman.  The man stood tall and proud, he would not weep.  The woman, on the other hand, was on her knees bitter tears running down her cheeks.  Her child, her angel had died upon birth.  She read the marker once more.  (“Saotome Ranma…”) Her child.  They had named him.  Even though he would never know his name, they had named him.  Saotome Nodoka wept.  She wept not only for Ranma but also for herself.  The doctors had told her she would never conceive again.  A barren womb and a barren heart.

            Behind her Genma bit back the tears.  His son was dead, his wife was barren and in a terrible condition, and his school would die with him.  He was not heartless.  He simply dealt with his sadness by focusing on other things.