Prologue: My Friend Meimei
Nighttime had fallen over Domino. In a small, one-story house, a ten-year-old girl with long black hair wearing pink pajamas was sleeping soundly in her bed, clutching a teddy bear in her arms. One would have thought that almost nothing could wake her up from her slumber.
However, at that moment, the little girl was awakened by the sound of a small squeak. Slowly, she opened her eyes and watched as her window lifted up effortlessly-all by itself.
She sat up in her bed and listened as she heard the sound of feet come down onto her floor by her window. The window then shut itself again with another squeak.
For a few moments, there was silence. Then, a disembodied male voice spoke from the direction of the window: "Hello, Kira."
Instead of being frightened, however, the little girl grinned. "Meimei!" she cried out in delight.
The sound of footsteps approached the little girl's bed, and the imprint of someone sitting down appeared on the side of it. "I'm sorry I haven't been here in a while, my dear," the voice said, "but I brought you a little something to make up for it. Close your eyes and hold out your hands."
Giggling, Kira put her bear down and held out her hands, squeezing her eyes shut. She felt something smooth and round drop into her hand.
She opened her eyes and saw to her delight that in her hands was a beautiful, perfectly round blue stone which shone brightly in the moonlight. "It's so pretty!" she cooed.
"It's called a star sapphire, and I got it just for you," the voice said. "Now it's a secret between the two of us, so keep it in a good hiding place."
"Yes, Meimei," Kira nodded. She turned towards her nightstand, opened up its drawer, and pulled out a pretty white box. When she opened it up, she revealed the box was filled with a wide variety of gems and jewelry, from pearl necklaces to stones of jade to diamond brooches. "I'll put it with the rest of your gifts," she said, placing the star sapphire inside. She closed the box and murmured, "This might be the last one that I get from you."
"Why's that, Kira?" the voice asked as she placed the box back into the drawer.
"Well, yesterday mommy told me that we're going to be moving pretty soon."
The voice gasped. "Moving?" it repeated.
Kira nodded. "She says that our world has had its king restored to the throne, so we're going to go back there so that we won't hafta hide our powers anymore. I'll be able to use my magic whenever I want! Isn't that great, Meimei?"
The voice didn't speak for a moment. Finally it replied, "Yes, it's wonderful," but it only said it half-heartedly.
"Oh, Meimei," Kira said, "I'll miss you too; you've always been so nice and brought the most wonderful gifts."
"Thank you, Kira," Meimei replied. "Do you know when you're going to be leaving?"
"Sometime next week, mommy said."
"How about if I come and visit you one last time before then?"
Kira clapped her hands together excitedly. "Oh, I'd love that, Meimei! I'll be so excited to see you!" She paused. "Well, hear you, I mean."
Meimei's voice laughed. "I'll be excited too, hon. Well, I'd better get going. Bye, Kira."
"Bye bye, Meimei," Kira waved. She lied back down on her bed and fell back into a deep sleep.
The imprint on the side of Kira's bed vanished. The sound of footsteps was once again heard, this time going towards the window. The window opened by itself again, remained like that for a few moments, and then slowly squeaked shut.
Outside of Kira's window, a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He had spiky red hair, dark blue eyes, and was dressed entirely in black. He glared through the window at the sleeping girl angrily. "Moving?" he hissed out angrily. "Aargh…well, in that case, I guess now is the time when I'll have to take her away, or else I'll never be able to gain access to that other world!"