Note: If any of the names seem confusing see author's note down at the bottom.
Ranma opened his eyes and immediately wondered where he was as this place wasn't the tent that he remembered falling asleep in. Normally Ranma wouldn't worry too much about waking up in a strange place since it happened all the time to him. However, this time Ranma didn't have his reality defying martial arts to defend himself with if something were to attack him. What made Ranma even more worried about this situation was the fact that he couldn't see any of his traveling companions nearby. As agonizingly painful as it was for Ranma to admit, he needed his friends to protect him for now until he learned how to use his magic.
In an attempt to keep his cool Ranma carefully observed where he was to try and get as much information as possible. However, it was difficult for Ranma to learn much about this place because there wasn't much there. To his left was a large western style fireplace that had a lit fire inside which was the sole source of light. The floor appeared to be made out of finished wood and there were two chairs that faced each other to Ranma's right. Besides that all Ranma could see was a never ending expanse of darkness.
Suddenly a voice called out from the darkness, "Do not be alarmed Ranma." Then a dark haired man dressed in strange clothes walked out of the darkness. What struck Ranma the most about this man was the fact that he also had a black upside down crescent moon on his forehead.
There was something about the man's voice that was bothering Ranma's memory and then it came to him. Ranma suddenly said, "It's you. You're the magician who unlocked my magic. What are you doing here and where are we?"
The man shook his head and said, "I am not Saphir. I am an echo of Saphir that Saphir imprinted into your mind Ranma. You see, Saphir knew that he most likely wouldn't have the chance to teach you about your magic so he left you me to teach you. I know everything that Saphir knew up until he finished unlocking your magic. So you don't get confused about me and the real Saphir why don't you just call me Sapphire. As to where this place is, it is a dreamscape that has been created so that I can train you while your body rests."
Ranma thought about what Sapphire had just told him and then he nodded his head. He was extremely grateful to Saphir for leaving Sapphire behind. Always eager to learn new techniques, even if up until now it had been martial arts techniques, Ranma clasped his hands together and said, "Let's get started. So what do I learn first?"
Sapphire gave a small chuckle and then said, "Hold on a second Ranma. Before we can get started I need to talk to you about magic in general." Ranma's expression became a little more somber when he realized that he wouldn't be able to just jump right in and learn about magic. Sapphire placed his hand on Ranma's shoulder and said, "Now Ranma. How can you expect to learn how to properly use your mana if you first don't learn the basics of magic? Think of it this way, you didn't start learning the martial arts by learning how to manipulate chi. It's the same way with magic. Now then, let's go sit down in those chairs over there and then I start your first lesson."
Once they were both sitting down Sapphire started the lesson. "Ranma, there are ultimately only two types of magic that a person can use. Either a person's magic is Order Magic or a person's magic is Chaos Magic. The type of magic a person can wield appears to be set at birth and it is extremely rare for an Order magician to become a Chaos magician or vice versa. Nether type of magic is "good" or "evil" and nether type is better or worse then the other. Order Magic can be thought of as representing the harmonious and stable forces in the universe which allow things to exist. Chaos Magic can be thought of as representing the changing and unpredictable forces in the universe which allow things to grow."
"As you can plainly see, both types of magic complement and complete each other. Also, both types of magic can usually achieve the same results for any task that the mage wishes to achieve. However, Order Magic and Chaos Magic will achieve these results by different means. For example, let's suppose that an order mage and a chaos mage both wanted to swim underwater without bringing any scuba gear. An order mage would cast a spell that would create a barrier around the mage's nose and mouth that would allow oxygen to be filtered through. A chaos mage on the other hand would cast a spell that would alter the mage's lungs allowing him or her to breath underwater. Do you follow me Ranma?"
Ranma blinked his eyes once and immediately said, "Yah, same results different means to do it." He actually was able to follow most of what Sapphire was telling him. Sure, Ranma got a little confused when Sapphire started being philosophical about the two types of magic. However, the nuts and bolts of Sapphire's speech were crystal clear to Ranma. It was a lot like martial arts where there were hard styles and soft styles. Both styles allowed you to defend yourself, but they did it in different ways.
Seeing that Ranma understood what he was trying to say, Sapphire decided to move on. "As you may have guessed Ranma, you are a chaos mage. This means that you have to be careful whenever you use your magic and especially carefully when you first start practicing magic. Chaos Mana, being a force of change and unpredictability, will supercharge your emotions. If you don't learn to mentally ground yourself in reality then your magic will drive you to insanity every time you use a significant amount of it. Your mind is in essence within the eye of a typhoon every time you summon your magic. Leave that eye, and you will be swept away until the storm dies down."
"For the next several hours you will be practicing different calming techniques and learning how to summon a tiny portion of your magic. Since you have such a large reserve of mana it is absolutely critical that you learn to stay calm and control your emotions. This also has the side benefit of allowing you to keep your cool when you deal with other people." Sapphire had a small wise guy smile as he finished speaking. The duo then got started on the calming techniques and practiced them until morning.
Neo-Queen Serenity smiled at her young counterpart Sailor Moon and said counterpart's Sailor Senshi. The neo-queen then said, "Thank you Sailor Scouts for helping us end the war between Crystal Tokyo and Nemesis. Now that the creature known as Wiseman is no more, peace shall once more return to the land. Always remember that the light of Truth, Love and Justice always triumphs against the darkness. During those times when all seems lost that light will guide you to victory."
Usagi bowed her head towards her future self and said, "Thank you your majesty. However, we cannot accept all of the credit since it was Prince Demand who defeated Wiseman at the cost of his own life. Also your highness, what about the people of Nemesis and Chibiusa?"
A far away look entered Neo-Queen Serenity's eyes as she said, "You are correct Sailor Moon about Prince Demand's role in ending this war. Tragic though his story may be, it does show that the light can come to those in darkness even when the end is near. The people of Nemesis are not your concern Sailor Moon, but rest assured that the situation between Crystal Tokyo and them will be solve so that a mutually beneficial arrangement is reached. As for Small Lady, see for yourself."
On queue Chibiusa walked into the room and then ran towards Sailor Moon. However, before Chibiusa could reach Sailor Moon she tripped and fell on the floor of the palace. Chibiusa immediately stood up and scratched the back of her head nervously. As she was doing this she said, "Sorry about that. I have some balance problems do to Wiseman's spell being broken. My mother has promised me that everything will get better soon."
Neo-Queen Serenity warmly smiled at Chibiusa and said, "That is correct my dear daughter. Soon you will be as graceful as you once were." The neo-queen then turned to the 20th century Sailor Scouts and said, "Now then I believe that you've been in this time long enough. Your place is in our past as our place is in your future. If you go down the hall and take a left you will meet the Sailor Pluto from your time and she is here to return you to the 20th century. Take care and remember the light."
Once the Sailor Scouts left the room Neo-Queen Serenity turned to her daughter and said, "We're alone now daughter. You may drop the disguise field." Chibiusa nodded her head once and then she was completely covered in a bright silvery light. Her silvery outline then morphed into the form of a teenager. When the light that was surrounding Chibiusa disappeared, a slightly younger, curvier, and more talented version of the Black Lady stood in Chibiusa's spot. This young woman was now wearing a white dress and she had a golden crescent moon on her forehead.
Usa turned to face her mother and said, "Why do I have to pretend to be a little girl mother? Whenever I use that disguise pen I loose my balance and my magic is all messed up. The disguise pen was meant for short term reconnaissance by disguising a person as someone else of similar size and mass. It was never intended for 24/7 usage and it was especially not designed to be used to pretend to be someone significantly smaller then the user."
Neo-Queen Serenity let out a small sigh and gently placed her hands on Usa's shoulders. Then in a very kind and understanding tone she said, "I know that the disguise pen wasn't meant for this Usa. If I could I would use the Ginzushou to transform you back to your proper physical age. However, whatever Wiseman or Death Phantom if that was its real name did to force you to become a chaos mage is messing with my healing spells. This isn't an ideal situation, but it is imperative that you use the disguise pen whenever and wherever someone can see you. The public knows about Black Lady's existence and it will help them move on with their lives if they see that you are back to your old self."
Usa nodded her head and said, "I understand mother. It's just that I might only be ten years old chronologically, but my mind it that of a teenager. Do you realize just how hard it is for me to act like the precocious brat that I was before this whole mess started?"
This caused Neo-Queen Serenity to chuckle and the neo-queen then said, "Oh I think it isn't nearly as hard as you seem to think it is daughter." Neo-Queen Serenity's face then became more serious as she said, "Now then. Since your body is that of a young woman, I believe its time that you and I had a little chat." As Neo-Queen Serenity proceeded to give Usa 'The Talk' the princess of Crystal Tokyo wished that she could find a hole to hide in.
Once Setsuna had insured that her Sailor Scouts were back were they belonged in the 20th century she turned around to face her 30th century double. Setsuna then turned to Sailor Pluto and said, "This changes a lot of things."
Sailor Pluto nodded her head and said, "That it does younger me. I still haven't been able to figure out how the Black Moon Clan was able to travel into the past. The only known method of traveling into the past is via the Time Gates. But as we know, the Black Moon Clan never used the Time Gates at all to travel into the past."
Setsuna then replied, "Could the Black Moon Clan have constructed set of Time Gates?"
Almost immediately Sailor Pluto countered, "That would be impossible. First off constructing the Time Gates would require two masters of Order Magic and two masters of Chaos Magic to cast the spell used to create the Time Gates. In my time the only place where high level order mages can be found is on Earth and the only place where high level chaos mages can be found is on Nemesis. Also, according to the records we were able to recover from the Silver Millennium's temporal research center on Mercury there can only be one set of Time Gates per star system."
Then Setsuna shook her head and said, "Regardless of what the Silver Millennium's research states should or should not be possible. The fact of the matter is that the Black Moon Clan was able to travel into the past causing my timeline to branch off from your timeline. What makes this so disconcerting is the fact that instead of 'going our separate ways' our two timelines have remained linked."
Sailor Pluto nodded her head as well before sighing. "This," the 30th century analogue said, "Has never happened before in the history of the Time Gates. Somehow our two timelines have been permanently synchronized with each other so that for every second that passes here in the 30th century the same amount of time passes in the 20th century. What makes me even more worried is the fact that we have no idea what effects this synchronization will have on the timelines should a catastrophe happen in one timeline. Will the catastrophe be isolated to just that timeline or will the other timeline be affected as well?"
Both time guardians fell silent as they thought about that possibility. Neither of them had any information on what having their timelines linked together truly meant as such a thing had been declared an impossibility by the temporal researchers of the Silver Millennium. Finally Setsuna started to speak again. "Let's play it safe for now. Our timelines might have diverged, but many of the major events that happening in your 20th century should still occur in my time in a similar manner. At least, they should for the next couple of years until the butterfly effect fully kicks in."
Sailor Pluto's eyes lit up and she said, "I see where you're going with this. With me advising you, you can steer the Scouts away from any bond headed mistakes that could cause a major disaster in your time. That way we can cut the risk of finding out what a major disaster will do to the two timelines by half. In the meantime, I can get the best scientists that I can from Crystal Tokyo and possibly from Nemesis if I'm lucky to research what the effects that the timeline linkage will have."
"However, I think that we should do more then just having me provide you with information. Perhaps we should have someone from Crystal Tokyo travel to your time to help out the Sailor Scouts when your new adversaries arrive. It wouldn't hurt to provide a little extra insurance until we fully understand the situation. Since the Scouts in your time are already familiar with Small Lady she could be sent. If Neo-Queen Serenity approves of this idea we could say that she's being sent to the past to further train in her abilities as a Scout."
For the first few days of the NWC's long trek back to Nerima Ranma was extremely quiet all day long. Everyone pretty much assumed that Ranma was sulking over the loss of his chi and unanimously decided to let him sulk. What nobody in the group knew was that Ranma had been spending those hours hiking practicing his calming techniques and learning to draw on his mana supply. During the nights when his body was asleep Ranma would continue his lessons with Sapphire.
According to Sapphire one of the tricks to learning to do magic was to have a focus to help direct the person's magic. Sapphire also said that the eclipse sigil on Ranma's forehead could be used as a focus. Thus everyone in the NWC started to wonder what Ranma was doing one morning outside of Xi'an when he picked up a rock, pressed two fingers on his sigil, and concentrated. Everyone watched in shock as a small purplish-black light suddenly enveloped the rock in Ranma's hand.
When the light disappeared the rock was gone as well. In its place was a small bird-like robotic object that seemed to be made of metal. Oh the proportions on the thing were horribly messed up and uneven, but it was obviously supposed to mimic a bird. The robot bird wobbly hopped out of Ranma's hand, tried to flutter its wings to fly, and then smashed into the ground. Everyone then watched as the strange robot's body turned to dust and blew away.
Akane was the first person to speak after seeing that pitiful performance. "Uh Ranma, what was that thing?" In the back of her mind she was thinking that just when she thought she had seen it all, something even weirder had to come along.
Ranma said in a slightly defensive tone, "That thing was my first attempt at making a droid." Seeing the blank looks on everyone's faces Ranma sighed and said, "Look, Saphir implanted this echo of himself into my head that's been tutoring me on how to use my magic in my dreams. For the past couple of days I've been doing several mental exercises so that I can use my magic safely. Since droids, at least the type I was trying to make, are relatively simple I'm suppose to make them to start off learning how to actually use my magic."
Mousse adjusted his glasses and said, "Oh is that it. We all thought you were just throwing yourself a pity party." This sarcastic comment immediately earned the duck boy a bonbori upside the head courtesy of Shampoo. Akane, Ryoga, and Genma quickly pulled out scorecards to rate Shampoo on her moron bashing. Shampoo was a little upset that Akane only gave her a 6, but the Amazon champion didn't contest the decision since Akane was a professional in the sport.
The gang quickly packed up their camp after that and continued to long walk back to Japan. Before Ranma finished packing he collected two medium size bags of pebbles and placed them on his backpack within easy reach. Anyone watching the group would have seen Ranma constantly grabbing rocks out of his bags and transforming them into strange misshapen robotic birds. By the time lunch rolled around Ranma had emptied both bags and had to spend part of the break scrounging up rocks to continue his training.
Ranma continued to make his little droid 'birds' after lunch like he did during the morning. Only this time, Ranma seemed to figure out what he had been doing wrong with his earlier attempts. When it came time to stop for supper Ranma proudly showed off the droid that he had finished making. Akane and Shampoo were intrigued by how life-like the tiny droid acted. Ryoga and Mousse didn't say anything, but they were both impressed to see such a cool looking magical robot.
However, Genma was not impressed at the little droid at all. In a very condescending tone his said, "Oh the shame of it all, my son has become a magical toy maker. What did I do to deserve this?" Surprising it was the little droid that rebuked Genma for his poor behavior. The little droid flew into the air and then it fired a bolt of lighting from its single camera lens like eye. It then flew onto Ranma's shoulder and appeared to prune its metal feathers.
Ryoga turned to Mousse and said, "Memo to us, don't insult the mechanical Tweety Bird." Mousse immediately nodded his head as if Ryoga had said something profound while the girls rolled their eyes at the duo's antics. Ranma meanwhile was just shaking his head at his friends' antics and grateful that he now had the ability to defend himself once again. Sure the Tweety Droid wasn't as great as his martial arts had been or the high level spells he would eventually be able to do, but it was good enough for now.
Kasumi was just getting ready to start cooking dinner and she let out a sigh. Ever since Plum had arrived almost seven weeks ago things had been too quite in Nerima. On the one hand it was nice to not have to repair the dojo do to any damage that might occur because of a crazy adventure. On the other hand, life was really dull without the constant craziness spicing things up.
Suddenly Kasumi heard the front door open and her heart leapt. She immediately turned to face the door and prayed to see Akane and the Saotome men walk in. After all, father and Nabiki were both home and Aunty Nodoka wasn't planning on visiting till Sunday. Grandfather Happosai was currently in America visiting an old friend of his, a Mr. Hugh Hefner if her memory was correct, and wouldn't be back till the end of the month. All of Ranma and Akane's friends had already visited today to see if the duo had finally returned home yet.
Just like Kasumi had hoped, Akane came walking though the door with Ranma and Uncle Saotome trailing behind her. Akane immediately spotted Kasumi and ran over to hug her big sister. Kasumi gratefully returned the hug and said, "It's good to have you home again Akane." The eldest Tendo sister then turned to the Saotome men and said, "It's also good to have you two back as well Ranma, Uncle Genma. Life is just too quiet and boring without you two here." Soun and Nabiki then walked into the room and everyone exchanged pleasantries.
The conversation immediately changed when Kasumi asked where Ranma had found such a cute robotic toy. Nabiki and Soun quickly noticed the small robotic looking bird perched on Ranma's shoulder. Ranma immediately said, "Ah its name is Tweety and I didn't find it. I created it."
Nabiki immediately snorted and said, "Please Saotome, you expect us to believe that? You barely manage to hold a B average in class and that's when you apply yourself to your schoolwork. That thing looks more advanced then anything that the people in Tokyo University can create. In fact," Yen signs suddenly appeared in her eyes, "I bet they would pay a lot of money study that thing."
Before anyone could warn the mercenary girl Tweety's eye glowed and a bolt of lighting launched out. Nabiki then learned what it felt like to be tasered. Genma immediately said, "Now that, she had coming to her." Akane nodded her head in agreement with 'Uncle' Genma. One thing that everyone had quickly learned about Tweety was to not get on its bad side. Ranma's first successful droid was more then willing to use is static eye attack whenever it or Ranma was threatened.
Knowing that things could quickly get out of hand Ranma immediately said, "Sorry about that Nabiki. Tweety is very sensitive and it doesn't like people talking badly about it. It zapped Pops several dozen times on the way here. And yes Nabiki, I did create Tweety." Ranma noticed a plastic knife that was on the floor and stretched his hand over it. He then closed his eyes and a bolt of black lighting formed in his downward pointing palm and struck the knife. Everyone who hadn't witnessed Ranma using his magic before became bug-eyed as that knife suddenly transformed into a medium sized robotic dog.
Ranma kneeled down and scratched the dog droid behind its ear. He then patted the droid on the head and told to go cause a ruckus at the Kuno Mansion. Since those two insane idiots were going to be causing problems for him in the next few days, Kuno certainly would tomorrow at school Ranma figured he'd get in a preemptive retaliatory strike. With robo-pooch on its way Ranma looked up and the surprised looks on the Tendos' faces.
Kasumi gave a cheerful smile and said, "What an interesting trick Ranma. Did you learn it while you were in China?"
Ranma's face became somber and he said, "Yeah Kasumi. It's a trick I learned in China." He then shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm going to go put my stuff in my room and call Mom. It's been almost two months since I talked to her and I think she should know that we're here safe and sound." Without saying anything further Ranma walked out of the room.
Soun was going to grab Ranma's shoulder and keep the young man down in the kitchen with his fiancée. However, Soun quickly changed his mind and figured that the two must have grown a lot closer being that long trip together. Tweety rotating its head 180 degrees and charging up its' eye had nothing to do with Soun's change of mind. Really, it didn't. Soun then turned to Akane and said, "So daughter, did you enjoy your training trip with your fiancé?"
Akane got an annoyed tick on her forehead and then she said in a very sweet tone, "Daddy, if you remember Ranma and I didn't go on a training trip. I WAS KIDNAPPED!" She then grabbed her father by his shirt and pulled him to his knees. Then the berating really began for Soun Tendo Akane really let him have it. "Did you suddenly develop memory problems while we were gone Daddy? Well let me refresh your memory. Since I was kidnapped I have been nearly drowned, thrown into a prison by a bunch of bird people, and nearly died because I was magically dehydrated!"
By this point Soun's micro backbone had enough abuse and suddenly left for a vacation in Tahiti. Without his backbone Soun's survival instincts took over. Unfortunately for Soun, the first reaction his instincts told him to do was to grove and to beg The Master for forgiveness. Naturally Akane's temper reached thermonuclear proportions at being called Happosai and for the first time ever there was a Soun shaped hole in the Tendo roof.
"-And that's how things happened at Jusenkyo Mom. I hope you're not upset at me giving up my chi abilities, but it was the only way at the time that I could see to save Akane's life." Ranma had spent the half hour going over everything that had occurred and he had clearly spelt out what he had lost and why. Since his mother was going to find out eventually Ranma figured he'd tell her himself instead of just letting her hear a garbled and mostly untrue account of what had happened from someone else. That was one lesson from the Ranko Tendo situation that Ranma had learned very well.
Nodoka had listened in silence allowing Ranma to tell his tale and didn't know what to say. She was horrified that Ranma had lost his chi abilities since she knew how much time and effort her son had put in to gain those abilities. What hurt the most to Nodoka about the lost of Ranma's chi abilities was the fact that it made the 10 year training trip pointless. It frustrated her that all those lonely nights she had spent waiting for Ranma and Genma to come home were for nothing.
However, Nodoka was deeply touched that Ranma had been willing to give up his abilities to save Akane's life. It showed more then anything that Ranma was a man among men beyond any doubt. One didn't find men willing to make that kind of sacrifice every day now. Nodoka knew that Ranma must be getting nervous because of her silence so she said, "I'm proud of you son. Your actions and your sacrifice show that you are one the best men that the Saotome Clan has ever had the honor of calling a member. Goodnight son, I'm sure that you will eventually become as proficient in the magical arts as you were in the martial arts. Don't forget you continue to practice your martial arts as well. It would be a shame if you lost your skill in that art and it may just come in handy one day in the future."
After Nodoka accepted Ranma's goodnight she hung up the phone and sighed. She was proud of Ranma and what he had done, but there was one thing about his story that bothered her. According to Ranma it had been a mage named Saphir who unlocked his magic. Nodoka could add two and two together so she knew that the Saphir who had contacted Ranma had to be the same Saphir who she had encountered over 16 years ago.
Immediately after Saphir's visit almost 17 years ago Nodoka had believe that she had dreamed the whole incident up. After all, time travel couldn't possibly be real. It had only been after Nodoka had found out that she was pregnant and she compared the conception date to her fertility journal that she realized it wasn't just a fantasy. Not only had the day the doctor gave her been when she was supposed to be infertile, but Genma had been out of town for that week.
Once Nodoka had that revelation she always feared that she might one day loose Ranma. The fact that Ranma's real father had apparently been watching over him all this time made Nodoka even more nervous. Saphir had said that he needed to protect Ranma from a war that was occurring in the future. What if when that war ended Saphir whisked Ranma back with him into the future? Needless to say Nodoka did not rest easy that night.
Author's notes: to clear up the names a bit, Chibiusa is Chibiusa whenever she is in her child form. Usa is Chibiusa's name whenever she is in her teenager form. Whenever I have the same character form two different time period talking together the version from the earlier time period will be referred to by his or her given name and the future version will be referred to by their title.