Child of Light Born of Darkness: Prologue

Rini, she still thought of herself as Rini, even though everyone,
including her parents, now called her Black lady, let out a low cry of
shock as she surveyed the results of the home pregnancy test she had
snuck out to buy.  How could she be pregnant?!  She had just been
curious, and Diamond had said that she didn't have to worry about
protection her first time.  But now...a baby?!  She wasn't even ten
years old, despite her appearance and personality, how could she
possibly raise a child?  And now, with the war raging, and the silence
coming, she couldn't afford to be handicapped by a pregnancy.

Alone in her lavish quarters within the Black Fortress, Rini curled up
on her huge pink and black, satin sheeted bed and sobbed.  She'd
always dreamt of having bunches and bunches of little babies, all with
cute little golden crescents on their brow, running around the palace.
But what would her child look like now?  With a mother infused to the
brim with negative energy and a father exposed to that same energy for
so long that he wasn't really even human, chances were that her first
born child would be a monster.  No doubt hideous, it would most likely
have great power, power that Wise Man would use as he used everything,
to bring the silence.  She couldn't bare the thought of her child, no
matter how twisted, being turned to the darkness like she had.  She
wanted a better life for it.

Of course she could always abort the still undeveloped fetus, with
little trauma to herself.  For someone with her power, she wouldn't
even have to seek medical assistance.  She could simply teleport, but
leave the fetus behind.  The thought made Rini sob harder.  What that
the kind of monster had she become, that she could destroy such a
young life for no other reason than that it was inconvenient?  No, she
would keep her child.  Her child.  As she slowly repeated the phrase
in her mind, Rini gradually calmed down.  Her child.  Yes, it was
hers.  Hers.  No one could take it from her.  Certainly not Diamond,
his power was nothing compared to what she now had with access to the
dark crystal, and if Wise Man wanted to test her he would be in for an
unpleasant suprise.  Wise Man, unnatural being that he was, may have
more power than her, it was too close to tell, but she had a few
advantages.  In giving her such complete access to the dark crystal,
Wise Man had, in part, given her control over his life.  He should
never have linked his life-force with the crystal.  She couldn't kill
him with that link, but she could serious damage and weaken him.  Yes,
she would keep her child, and raise it like she had always meant to.
Rini could just imagine all the first moments she would share with her
child.  Girl or boy, it didn't matter.  It's first steps, first word,
first kill, all these she would cherish, even if her child was a
monster.

Decision made, Rini dried her eyes and rushed to the house sized walk-
in closet that housed her numerous pairs of black high heeled shoes
and black velvet dresses.  They certainly wouldn't do.  With a wave of
her hand, dark energy flowed through a rack of dresses and shoes.
When the shadows receded, there were several outfits, all in pink and
black, and a pair of black sneakers.  Much better.  She summoned Luna-
P with a thought and converted the little magical multi-purpose cat
balloon into a cute little kitty backpack.  Quickly she changed into
one of the new outfits, a pair of short black shorts and a pink
tanktop, then stuffed all the extras into Luna-Pack, completely
ignoring the fact that over three times more matter went into the pack
than should have been possible.  Regretfully, she used another dark
energy construct to destroy nearly three feet of her hair.  She let
the odongos down out of her hair, they would only serve to draw
unwanted attention.  There was little that she could do about her hair
color since the pigment was magical in nature, and uneffected by any
type of dye or known spell.

When she was done, Rini surveyed herself in a large three way mirror.
Her bangs easily hid the Black Moon crescent that had replaced the
golden one she had inherited from her mother.  Her hot pink hair
barely passed her shoulders, but Rini was suprised at just how much
her appearance was altered by a simple new hair style.  Donning her
Luna-Pack, Rini slipped through the empty halls of the Black Fortress
into the Time Chamber.  The room was centered on the main energy nexus
of the dark crystal in order to provide enough power for a time jump.
If Rini's plan worked, no one would notice the sudden drain on the
crystal's power.  All she would have to do was return at the same
moment she left and replace the used energy with her own.  It would
leave her mostly drained for weeks, but the price was worth it.

Rini punched both the temporal coordinates and destination into the
holographic touch panel that appeared in front of her when she stepped
into the cramped chamber.  The obsidian crystal surrounded her on all
sides, but there was no time to grow claustrophobic, for as soon as
the proper instructions had been entered, a low humming buzz filled
the room, then with a flash of darkness, Rini no longer existed.
****

Rini appeared within a secluded cospe of trees, deep inside of Juuban
Park.  It was also eighteen years into the past.  Rini hadn't really
planned much past this point.  She had no fear of going hungry or
living in anything but the most comfortable of conditions.  Luna-P
could easily produce however much yen she needed, not to mention that
she could just steal whatever she needed, but Rini didn't want to draw
any kind of attention that could possibly leave records of her time
spent in the past.

The following months were trouble free and Rini found that her
pregnancy was far from ordinary.  No other child had ever grown to
full term in three months, at least none that she knew off.  She never
left her small apartment so no one could see her rapidly advancing
pregnancy.  She was sitting in front of the tv watching a cheesy robot
anime and eating a plate of peanutbutter and pickles, when her water
broke.  Rini had prepared for this moment so she didn't panic, much

She made her way into the bathroom and ran a tub full of warm water.
This was going to be tricky.  To make sure that little Serenity or
Endymion, her magic couldn't tell what the gender of her child was so
she had chosen a name for each possible outcome, didn't hit the hard
ceramic bottom of the tub, she padded it with several soft towels.
Rini stripped off the bath robe she had been wearing and climbed into
the water.  Once Rini was seated comfortably, she carefully began to
manipulate strands of dark energy within her womb.  She destroyed the
umbilical cord only a moment before teleporting onto the floor outside
the tub.  She ignored the wrenching pain in her abdomen and hurriedly
pulled her little boy, her little Endymion from beneath the slightly
pinkened water.  Crying tears of joy, Rini cleared the mucus from the
baby's throat and slapped his bottom, forcing him to take his first
breath of air as he let loose with an ear spltting howl of a cry.

Rini clutched the crying baby to her chest and let herself cry.
****

Rini pushed back the midnight black bangs of her son from his face
revealing the black crescent they had hidden.  He was so beautiful, so
perfect.  Oh Kami-sama, how was she going to leave him?!  As much as
it would hurt her to do it, Rini had to return to the future and
complete her mission.  Endymion would be in terrible danger in the
Black Fortress.  Emerald would surely take out her anger on her child
when she learned that Diamond was the father.

She snugged the soft baby blanket around Endymion and made sure for
the fifth time that the small crystal pendant of condensed negative
energy hung around his neck.  It would be her only way to track
Endymion when she returned to the past to reclaim him.  Sobbing once
again, Rini laid her son down on the doorstep of the Mission and
knocked loudly.  Unlike the return trip, where she could choose the
exact time of her arrival within the Time Chamber, Rini would only be
able to jump back in time with an accuracy of a month before or month
after the designated date.

Racked with sobs, Rini ran from down the steps and jumped into a
portal of swirling darkness.
****

Genma knew that he was in serious trouble now.  This was the kind of
trouble that he expected Nodoka to castrate him for getting himself
into.  He didn't want to die!!!

"Where are they?" he demanded of the clerk at the desk.

"I'm sorry sir, but they left no forwarding adress," the old man
answered.

"But, but, I must know where to find them!  They have my son!" Genma
exclaimed.

The old man looked concerned, but kept calm."Do you mean that they
kidnapped your son?"

Of course Genma couldn't tell the man the truth, that he had traded
his son for a bag of peanuts, but he also couldn't tell the man that
Ranma had been kidnapped.  There would be inquiries, and eventually
the truth would come to light, then he would die."No, no, nevermind.
False alarm, heh heh."

Genma nervously left the hotel's office.  He was sinking further and
further into despair.  Sure he had used his infant son for food a few
dozen times, but a ten month old child doesn't really care about
things like that.  He had always managed to steal his boy back from
his benefactors, but this time he had failed.  They were gone.  His
life was forfit.  Maybe if he just ran away and never returned...nah,
Nodoka would find him, and then it would be even worse.

Walking dejectedly down the sidewalk, Genma's attention was drawn by
the cry of a baby.  He allowed himself to hope.  Maybe the couple had
decided they didn't want Ranma afterall.  Suddenly full of energy,
Genma jumped over the iron bar fence and ran over to the steps of a
large, old stone building.  He reached down and grabbed the baby
without actually looking at him.

He ran for ten blocks before stopping on the roof of a small bakery.
Genma's stomach produced a roar almost like a clap of thunder when he
caught a wiff of the wonderful aroma of baking bread, but he
controlled himself and unwrapped the blanket from the now quiet child.


The resembalance was amazing.  His hair was practically the same
length and color, and his little cherub-like features only differed
slightly from Ranma's.  The kami were surely smiling on him this day.
He noticed a strange black mark on his forehead, but that could be
easily explained away.  Even the slight difference in appearance could
be passed off to Nodoka as her son growing older.  All he had to do
was stay away from home a few months longer than he had planned.

Genma held the child up in the air, just to make sure that he had all
the proper appendages.  Indeed he did.  He also had a small gold chain
around his neck holding a small chunk of black glass.  Hmmm, maybe the
day hadn't been a waste afterall.
****

"Damnit Oyaji, when I get my hands on you..." Ranma left the threat
hanging since his father wasn't present to hear it.  Somehow the
bastard had found his stash of yen he'd saved from working at the
Nekohaten on weekends.  He needed that money to finance his training
trip this summer.

Ranma continued digging through his father's belongings, but didn't
find so much as a yen coin.  Finally, near the point of hunting the
man down, Ranma spied his Genma's old backpack in the closet in their
room.  He shrugged.  It was worth a try.  He carried the old canvas
bag over to his futon and emptied its contents onto the floor.  It was
mostly a pile of tattered gis that the man had grown too fat for over
the years, but near the bottom, Ranma came across a small wooden box.
It wasn't locked, so Ranma had no trouble getting it open.  Inside,
there were a few unused post cards, a nub of a pencil and a little
black, tear drop shaped crystal.

Damn, no money.  It looked like there would be one seriously injured
panda in a few short minutes.  Curiously, Ranma picked up the small
crystal.  He felt almost drawn to it.  Holding it in his hand, it felt
much heavier than it should have been with its small size.  He stood
up and was about to pocket the oddity, but before he could even close
his hand on it, the crystal melted into a small, shimmering black
puddle in the palm of his hand.

Ranma stared at his hand in shock.  What in hell was it?  He was
furthered troubled when the puddle instantly evaporated into a small
black cloud that floated above his palm.  This was getting really
freaky.  Before Ranma could destroy it with a burst of hastily
gathered chi, the cloud dispersed.  Oh well, just another thing to add
to the weird list.

Still having not found his money, Ranma descended the stairs in search
of his fahter."Hey Oyaji," he called out once he reached the
bottom,"where are you at?"

Ranma didn't wait for an answer.  He had a pretty good idea where to
find the man.  He passed Kasumi in the hall, but paid her no immediate
attention besides a simple greeting.  His attention was too focused on
the unpleasant things he could do to his father in order to get the
stolen yen back to notice Kasumi gasp and say,"Oh my."

Sure enough, Genma and Soun were in the parlor playing a game of
shogi."Oyaji, where's my money?" Ranma demanded harshly.
****

Genma looked up at his son, a lie already formulating in his mind, but
when he actually saw Ranma's face, and the black crescent on his
forehead, all color drained from his own face and he began stammering
in shock.  That thing had faded away only a few weeks after he had
found Ranma's replacement, Ranma!  Why was it back?!  Oh Kami-sama,
Nodoka was going to be pissed!
****

Across Tokyo, in a small ice cream shop, Usagi Tsuniko and her friends
were gorging themselves on ice cream when Rini, Usagi's energetic
daughter from the future, clutched her head in pain and screamed.
Needless to say, she had a half dozen girls very upset and worried
when she stopped screaming.  She was crying now.  She sometimes
remembered fragments of her life as Black Lady when she had been
brainwashed by Wise Man, but never had she experienced one with such
clarity.

"Little Endymion, I'm so sorry.  I forgot all about you," she
whispered.

Unfortunately she whispered too loud.  Everyone at the table heard
her."You mean Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked around a spoonful of ice cream.
She was assuming that Rini was talking about her father.  There
weren't that many other Endymion's in the future.

Rini looked around at the other girls.  She shook her head and
said,"No, Endymion, my son."

Both Usagi and Minako chose this time to faint.  All the other girls
yelled,"What?!" in unison.
****

Author's Notes:Yeah yeah, I know I have way too many fics going, but
when I get an idea I have to put it in words or it bothers me and
interferes with writing my other fics.  Anyway, tell me what you think
of this.  Chances are that I'm gonna continue this, along with most of
my other fics, since I've been getting a lot of encouraging e-mails
about all the fics I released last week.  I had no idea that people
would like them as much as they did.  It's kinda overwhelming, but I
do have some ideas for them, so I'm gonna give them a chance.

dark_phoneix@hotmail.com