Chapter Text
Two ladies of legend screamed, voices nearly swallowed up by the powerful roar of the earth and air around them, as they fell through darkness with impossible speed and weightlessness, crashing through the space between worlds with such suddenness that neither bore witness to it, yet landing on new ground like two soft feathers.
Even after their trip was finished, the two of them remained cringing, waiting for the end.
The dark-haired one was the first to dare to open her eyes again, wary of her surroundings, as if they might slip back into another world at any moment.
Slowly, the two girls began to process the difference of surroundings. No longer were they in a dark and dusty library room, but instead they knelt in the middle of an open and barren wasteland, livened only with the occasional leafless tree.
Their wonder and confusion could only last so long, however, for they were not so alone as they believed themselves to be.
Two dark figures approached them in their confusion and distraction, and fell upon the two young ladies, intent on capturing the both and selling them into slavery. Despite their valiant struggle and teamwork, the two young ladies were no match for the strength of the cruel men, and were quickly overpowered.
The two men were interrupted before they could take away the ladies by a passing young warrior with a noble heart, who quickly dispatched the both of them, and attended to the welfare of the young ladies with concern. Despite his pure heart, however, the mysterious and handsome young boy quickly lost interest in the young ladies when it became clear that they possessed nothing to reward him with for his rescue.
Before the young ladies of legend could ask any of the questions their sudden arrival had summoned in them, the young man was already gone, leaving them to puzzle over their confusion on their own.
After some debate, reflecting both on their situation and the young man who abandoned them, the young ladies chose to follow after the man, full of energy and hope of shelter and an explanation of their strange circumstances once they found civilization once more...
"I'm so tired...I think I'm going to pass out right here!" The dark haired girl complained, trudging along the road, head hung low and shoulders hunched inward.
"We've only been walking an hour!" The other hissed, directing an exasperated expression at her.
"Yui!" The dark haired girl's expression brightened somewhat as she stared into the distance and pointed her finger ahead of them. "Look, Matt-donalds!"
"Huh?" Yui frowned, and turned her gaze in the direction indicated. In the distance, the hazy shapes of a small village loomed just barely in sight. Her expression hardened with determination, and she quickly grabbed her friend's arm. "Hurry Miaka! Before sunset!"
The girl, despite her somewhat increased vigor, simply stumbled along at the same pace she had been before. "So...exhausted...must...rest..."
"Th-the sooner we get there, the sooner we eat!"
Miaka's eyes lit up with a new-found energy, and she raced past her blonde friend, calling behind her, "Hurry! What's the hold up, Yui?!"
Sighing, Yui followed after.
By the time they made it to the large archway entrance to the city, Miaka collapsed onto Yui's shoulder, "Can't...breathe.."
"That's because you ran the whole way! I said we should hurry, not sprint it!" Yui growled, shaking her off.
Miaka had already become distracted though, frowning up at the gate. "...Up close though, this isn't Matt-donalds."
"Of course it isn't." Yui huffed in annoyance and frowned over at her friend. "What made you think we'd be anywhere near something like that after how we got here?"
"Well...but the tower looked like a big 'M' from a distance..."
The rough voice of a gate guard interrupted their conversation. "Halt! Who are you?"
"W-we are just...travelers...please, do you know where one might find a suitable inn?" Yui asked, cutting short the response she'd been forming for her friend before the guard spoke.
"Hmph, by the look of ya, I'd say the Beggar's Inn..." the guard replied, "down that road there."
"Thank you..." she replied, bowing slightly and leading Miaka in the direction the soldier had indicated.
"Wow, you sound so...knowledgeable saying it that way!" Miaka said, laughing.
"Everything that we've seen so far...it just feels like one of Morin's fantasy novels. We should probably play along with that idea until we can get back." Yui said, frowning once more.
"We will get back, won't we?"
"Of course!"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Yuki? Yuki!" The man growled.
"Sh-she's not here..." someone said.
"Unbelievable! She'll never make it like this!" The man fumed, making a large X on his chart, "I better not see any of this from the rest of you! I'll have you know, this cram school isn't to be taken lightly! Only the most dedicated of you will make it through to the end! If you're not committed enough to make it here on time and every day, then you're not committed enough to get into high school! Why, even if you managed..."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Although the two young ladies arrived at Beggar's Inn, a run-down and tiny shack of a business, without incident...they encountered yet another problem: just as their fickle savior had demanded payment they didn't possess, so too did this town require currency incompatible with theirs.
The inn-keep was a worn and stern man, but he recognized the plight and the honesty of the two young ladies at his door, and provided an exchange for a shared room for the night instead. Provided the choice between waiting tables for the mismatched and unruly crowd of visitors in the main room and washing the dishes they left behind to relieve the overworked cook, the two quickly chose the quiet and secluded option. Although the man was fair, the inn was busy even by the standards of the cook that shared the small kitchen with them, and the young lady's evening was filled with work and suds, with hardly any time to stop even for food...
"Ohhh...my poor, poor hands..." Miaka whined, rubbing at her dry hands as she stumbled into their given room.
"Hand-friendly dish soap it ain't." Yui agreed, pushing the dresser in front of the door.
"You sure that will keep 'em out?" Miaka asked, envisioning the leering eyes of the other customers with a worried frown.
"Well...unless they're super men...yeah."
"Wow..." Miaka sighed, and then flopped down on the bed. Once her worries were allayed on the matter of the creepy customers, her thoughts to the other things that kept popping up in her mind. "I wonder what Mom and Keisuke are doing now...I bet they're worried sick..."
"Don't worry Miaka...We'll find a way back, I promise. Tomorrow." Yui said, sitting across from her on the bed.
"Who do you think that boy was...?" Miaka whispered.
"That...I...don't know." Yui replied, staring into space, "but...I want to see him again..."
"Why? Do you think he can help us?"
"I..." She blinked, as if waking from a dream, and shook her head, expression so exhausted from work that she might just have been on the edge of sleep a moment before. "I don't know, Miaka...let's...just get some rest."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest to gather the seven constellations of Suzaku together.
And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the stories end, the spell continued within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish.
For indeed, the moment the page is turned, the story will become a reality.