Tahlia and Lyla, best friends from the bosom, were living a typical teenage life. Tenth grade was about to end and they were planning a fulfilled summer of starting jobs and trying to enter the grown up world, if only somewhat. The pair were shopping at their local mall, one with birthday money she saved up, the other with what she hoped would be the last of her allowance.

It was obvious that Lyla was the more mature of the two, both in appearance and personality. The girl of only sixteen saw the world for what it was, while her counterpart looked on with her innocent eyes, no matter what she saw. Lyla was even more cool and collected, well until you hit one of her hotspots; Tahlia was partial boy crazy and hyperactive at times.

Even their appearances countered one another's. Tahlia had a head full of long thick auburn curls, Lyla just chopped her chestnut flavored hair to a short style that worked well with her straight hair and some products. Tahlia's cliché baby blues countered Lyla's brown doe eyes. Tahlia's curves even opposed Lyla's slender frame. The only similarity in their appearances was their paleness, though Lyla even had a touch color more to her.

The pair was in one of the larger department stores, lousing around the changing room with the clothes they had picked out. Lyla looked to Tahlia who had an unfocused look on her face. "Tahlia, earth to Tay, hellooo" she began to wave her hand frantically in Tahlia's face.

Tahlia blinked some and turned towards her friend. "Knock it off Elylabeth!" using her full name knowing how much she hated it so. Lyla's smile disappeared only to be replaced by a faux surprised face.

Knowing her friend all too well, Tahlia ducked away from reach not a moment before Lyla reached out for her. Swallowing a curse she yelled to her friend who managed to escape around a display rack. "Oh now you're gonna pay!" Lyla rushed towards her taunting friend.

Tahlia ran even further out of reach and yelled back to her friend "In that outfit, good luck sister" Lyla was wearing a long pale skirt that was about the worst attempted sportswear aside from high heels. No sooner were the words out of her mouth did Lyla stumble and grab hold of a display shelf to catch her balance. Both girls glanced around the store with sheepish grins and saw more than one face looking at them like they were crazy. But when the pair's eyes met they couldn't help but to start cracking up.

Tahlia noticed she was zoning out once more when her friend stepped out of the changing room, wearing a coordinating outfit she thought appropriate for their job interviews. "Hey Thalia, what is wrong with you today? We're shopping for chrissakes, you usually love this rare occurrence" Lyla chided.

"Sorry" Tahlia offered, trying to shake away the thoughts swarming through her head. "Oh that outfit is perfect, me likey" Lyla stood in front of her turning from side to side, obviously thinking the same thing. Only Lyla could manage to change up something meant for a working class woman and not only make it work, but work for her alone. She was wearing something that reminded Tahlia of a suit, with a vest instead of the usual coat and a pin skirt instead of the annoying suit pants. "Well while you admire yourself in the mirror I might as well try some of these on" Tahlia held up a handful of her selections as she made her way to the changing room.

Tahlia took more time finding the right outfit, she loved things that were different and stood out, but could never coordinate them right or hated how they worked with her body. Thanks to help from Lyla she stood in front of a full length mirror with what she thought the perfect outfit for herself as well. A flowey and pale pink blouse that was flattering yet not revealing, matched with a pair of black pants with the smallest pink pin stripes, added bonus was that the pants were actually comfortable.

"Hey Lyla, let's check out the bookstore quick, before we head out" Tahlia managed to talk to her friend while they made their purchases. Before Lyla could respond she was cut off by Tahlia's excited voice "Oh Lyla, wait, sunglasses!" she handed her purchases off to Lyla's already filled arms and began trying on different types of shades she thought would work for her.

Lyla watched her friend dance in front of the mirror, going back and forth between black and blue, her two favorite colors. Tahlia act like a kid? Never. Okay almost always. She thought to herself while Tahlia turned back to her showing her a silly pair. "Hey Lyla, try these on" Tahlia said as she shoved a pair onto her less than enthused friend's face. Oh why thank you very much, Lyla mused, unable to even stop her with all the bags she held.

They left the mall and made way to the bookstore down a ways. Sure it was more convenient to go to the place in the mall, but alas better atmosphere and selection made the 'pop shop' seem a much better choice to the pair. They slowly drifted towards the anime section, trying to keep an eye on the time because the shop didn't stay open much later than the mall. Both noticing new releases in favorite manga series they quickly began to 'skim' through the books, but once more Tahlia couldn't concentrate. She thought of the events of the weekend past and her visit with her father. Giving herself a headache she tried to bring herself to the now, to Lyla, and she just happened to remember her face when she had demanded Tahlia take off the shades she had forced on her friend. She had her eyebrows raised in a dramatic, almost scary way, the look Tahlia said more than once would make her famous. But at this moment Lyla didn't hold that look, she was focusing on Tahlia's face "Everything ok?"

Tahlia shook her concern off with a shrug, not knowing how to tell her friend, not ready for what might happen when she did. When she ran into Lyla's outstretched arm she realized she had been zoning out once more, had to be a record even for her. Lyla wiped her concerned face away, "Hey Tay can you translate this?" she asked. Tahlia turned to see what book she had in her hand, but instead she pointed up at an ambiguous door.

"Lyla, you know I can't read real Japanese, I know what the same amount of words as you do- " she started but then grinned, "It says 'Authorized personal only. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.' "

She turned to her friend, who's jaw was dropped in surprise. "I was messing… how did you?" Tahlia laughed some, wishing she had a camera to take a picture of her friend's expression.

"Because it's scribbled up above there" she pointed above the text to the words she had been reading outloud. Her friend managed a 'oh' and slowly the shock wore off her face. "So wanna see if it's open?" the instigator asked, her smile turning into a sly grin. Before Lyla could respond she reached for the handle and when it twisted beneath her touch she took it as a sign and stepped inside.Who could resist such a temptation anyway? No one, that's who. She noticed that Lyla had followed her in when a soft click signaled that the door was closed once more, their faces the expression of excited terror. Tahlia mumbled about the crappy lighting as she stepped further into what she thought was a glorified closet of sorts, letting her bags fall to the ground with her so called precious purchases.

Lyla on the other hand was careful when placing her own bags gently to the ground. "Is this?..." she managed, her face in awe as she glanced around at the many books stacked neatly in and around the bookshelves.

"Yep. As far as I can tell this is where they hide all the goods." Tahlia spoke as she began to closer examine the books. "It looks like old reference books and things that would go to a collector or be on display somewhere. Sneaky Pops" she referenced the store owner by the nickname the girls had given him many years back. Her fingers trailed across the book covers with rough textures. They all had one thing in common, foreign words and letters were contained on the covers spines. All but the one that had caught her eye, her hand stopped on a book with clear English staring back at her. 'The Universe of the Four Gods' she read the title as she pulled it away from the shelf, she had to see what was so special about this book, it didn't seem to fit with the rest. "The universe of the four gods, English translation by blah blah blah, wait let me get to the story…

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 story's end, the spell contained within this book shall bestow upon you the mowers of the heroine and grant your wishes. For indeed the moment the page is turned, the story will become reality."

"Wait let me see" Lyla reached over for the book while Tahlia turned the page. This is when twisted fate made her first noticeable appearance. The ground beneath them shook and the two girls thought the same thing, earthquake. Reaching for one another they closed their eyes tightly while a red and blue light emitted from the book and consumed them.