Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yugi, even though I'm writing about the setting and basic…umm, ideas of that universe.
Like any sane person, I wish I did, but I don't…so sad… But! The characters I made up for this story do belong to me,
although frankly, I'm not all that sure anyone would want to take them anyway… You get my point!
*********And, On With The Show!*********
Chapter 1: Curiosity Killed the Cat
"Ari!"
A young woman stopped walking and turned around to see a middle-aged woman, her employer, catch up to her. She was smiling.
"Be a dear and wheel this last cart back into the drop-off room? Please?" The older woman clasped her hands together in a pretense of begging.
Ari looked at the watch on her wrist—noting that it was way past closing—and sighed. But she looked back up at the lady and nodded. "Sure thing." She pulled the book cart around a shelf and started toward the back room.
"Good girl." She heard the woman say as she walked away. Ari's face twisted into a grimace. Weak. She laughed silently at herself and shook her head.
Unexpectedly, the library's old lights flickered off and she was left alone in the dark. She let out an audible squeak. "Hey!"
Another of her coworkers poked his head around the corner, saw her, and apologized. "I completely forgot that you were still here. Sorry…" He looked around then leaned in closer. "…But you can finish up without the lights on right? It takes
forever to get them on again." He gave her a wink, turned on his heal, and left without waiting for an answer.
Ari shivered in disgust and continued rolling the cart in the dark. Scary. Why didn't I do something? Like, just say something along the lines of 'Actually, it would be a ton easier to find my way around with out crashing into anything with the lights ON! You creep.' A part of her mind nagged at her. 'But really, what can I do about it? I'm
new…so they get to walk all over me. It's part of the job description.'
She pushed the empty book-cart to the side and pulled open the heavy doors to the back room. Leaning against the handle, she pulled the cart into the room behind her and let the door slam shut. Her head drooped down. I know it's tough…but just hang on, and one day it'll be better. Things will get better. One day I'll be the one scaring the newbies. Grinning evilly at the thought, she slipped the cart in between two others, and leaned against the cool metal, resting. Her hand reached up and impatiently brushed a lock of golden hair out of her sky colored eyes. She rested her head in her hands and let her eyes drift closed.
She started. "Whoa! Time to go home. I've still got homework to do too. Can't fall asleep just yet." She spun around…
…And smacked right into a handrail belonging to the staircase.
"Ow." Ari let out a whimper and took a step back rubbing the spot on her forehead that had come into contact with the offending bar. Her eyes trailed the railing to the top of the metal stairs. A lonely looking door rested at the top. She glared at the door, wondering what was behind it. The silence of the library was deafening.
She slowly walked around to the base of the staircase, her hand on the cool rail and her eyes never leaving the door.
She put her foot on the first step…
And then snapped out of it. What am I doing? Time to go home. Think
homework… think homework.
Ari turned around, careful not to crash into any random pieces of architecture, grabbed her purse and walked out the back door into the cold night air. Think homework, think homework.
Two seconds later she slammed back through the doors. Who do I think I'm kidding? I've got to know what's up there!
She slowly walked up the metal staircase, looking around to make sure there was no one around to get her into any trouble. No one had mentioned that the stairs were off limits…but there was a certain feeling about them…a sense of "don't ask—don't get fired".
Ari reached the top. The door loomed up in front of her. Her hand reached out and made contact with the handle. When nothing dramatic happened, she released the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She opened the door. Not a sound came from the old hinges. She looked into the dark.
Her hand reached around the corner, searching for a light. Her fingers brushed the switch and the ancient lights flickered on, slowly lighting the room one section at a time. The lights revealed rows of old wooden shelves lined with books. Ari stepped onto the carpet that had no right to be called a certain color. (You know the kind.) That's it? What's so great about more books? Slightly disappointed, she wandered between the shadowed rows looking for something, anything that would show all the suspense hadn't been a complete waste of time. She looked around corners and behind shelves looking for treasure chests or hidden doors. Nothing. It was just a plain storage room.
But that in itself is strange. They throw away all the books that aren't wanted. She snorted. I'd know…I take them out to the dumpster…why would they keep all these?
She walked down an aisle, trailing her fingers along the shelves. Strange, there's no dust…Pulling a book off the shelf, she flipped through the yellowed pages. It was just an old medicine book with a few side-notes penned in on the margins. She turned the book sideways and shook it a little to see if any stray FBI files or random hundred dollar bills fell out.
Nothing. Not a damn thing.
Ari sighed with frustration and slammed the book shut. As she place it back on the shelf the floor jumped. Her feet flew out from underneath her and she hit the carpet, hard.
The ground continued to roll and buck as books flew off the shelves and bombarded the girl on the floor. She covered her head with her arms and prayed that the bookcases didn't fall on her. The earthquake ended as rapidly as it began and the bookcases were still upright. Trying to remember how to breathe, Ari peeked out from between her arms at the chaos around her. Her eyes went wide at the mess. Not good.
The shelves around her were completely empty; almost all the books had fallen to the floor. She stood up shakily and with a sigh, grabbed an armful of books planning to place them back on the shelves. But her sleeve snagged on the binding of an old volume. She tried to grab at it unsuccessfully as it dangled from her arm. She moaned and put the armful on the floor and snatched the book. It tore her sleeve as she ripped it free. Nope. Just not a good day.
She looked at the book wondering what had caught hold of her shirt. She turned it over but couldn't find anything that could catch onto random sleeves. Confused, she flipped it open, only to find the book written in Chinese. There seemed to be some kind of translation in the margin of the prologue though. Stumbling through the bad handwriting, Ari read it aloud.
"…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 powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish. For indeed the moment…the page is turned, the story will become reality…"
Well now…that's different.
And of course, being the curious critter that she is… Ari turned the page. Bright light bloomed from the pages, turning the room around her red. The library lights flickered once, twice, then went out, leaving the room lit only by the light of the book. Ari stared down at it in shock, unable to look away. Her eyes widened and she couldn't tear them away. The light got brighter and brighter, until she could see nothing but red. She covered her face with an arm, flinching away from the book.
The light went out like a snuffed candle, and the book fell the floor in the suddenly empty storage room. Slowly, the library lights flickered back on to light the book-covered, non-color carpet.
A single red feather floated softly to the ground.
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Hi! Thanks eversomuch for reading this little story. Actually it's not all that little, I've already written five chapters… if anybody actually reads this…please review and tell me 1. that you are, in fact, reading it. And 2. what I can do to make it better, Because I do want to make it better.
This story has the potential to be very long, alright, not veeeeerrrrrrry long, but a good size. New characters will soon be introduced, so keep a look out for that. Ummmmm, what else?
I really had fun writing this story. Usually I see these "new miko" stories that just substitute the original characters (or character for that matter) and stick to the exact same plot line as the anime of Fushigi Yugi. I kinda find those rather dull, no offense to any authors out there. My point is that I am not doing this fic the same way. This is a different story, set in the same universe and Fushigi Yugi, with different characters and different circumstances. There will be "tie-ins" to the original, but you'll just have to keep reading to find out!
Again, Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!
***wanderlily***