Prologue: Little Girl Lost
In the middle of a flower-filled forest in the Dimension of the Gods, there was a small village consisting mostly of brown wooden huts with straw roofs. Outside, the residents were meandering around, chatting or playing games. The strange thing was that there were absolutely no men around. All of the people were women or little girls wearing flowing white gowns, sleeveless jackets, vests, or haoris of various colors over them, white sashes around their waists, and white slippers. Their hair, which for some was strangely the same color as what they wore over the gown, was in very elaborate styles, held up with beautiful barrettes and jeweled combs.
One little girl with teal hair wearing a teal haori ran up to an older woman who also had teal hair and wore a teal haori sitting on the steps of a hut, tying picked flowers from a basket into bracelets. "Mommy?" the little girl asked, tugging on her mom's white gown. "May I pretty please go out and explore the forest a little bit?"
Her mother put the flowers she held in her hand down and folded her arms. "What are the rules, young lady?"
The girl sighed. "No straying too far from the village, always watch out for poison ivy or wild animals, and if a guy comes along, no singing to him and seducing him."
Her mom smiled. "Good girl. Okay, you can go."
"Thanks, mom," the girl said. She dashed out of the village.
A little bit far off into the woods, the teal-haired girl found a small clearing which was absolutely covered in various, wildly-colored flowers. Grinning with delight, the girl jumped up and let herself flop down into the field. She took a giant whiff and let an absolutely sweet, delicate aroma reach her nostrils. She rolled over onto her back and gazed up at the sky, where a few small clouds were floating by.
"This is nice," she said, putting her hands behind her head, closing her eyes and letting the aroma of flowers swirl all around her. She heaved out a huge sigh of delight.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of someone stepping onto a twig. The girl opened her eyes and sat up. "Hello?" she called out.
There was no response. The girl got up and cautiously made her way towards where the noise came from. "Is somebody there?" she said.
Still nothing.
Finally the little girl shrugged and turned around. "It must have just been an animal or something," she said.
Suddenly, she felt a hand clamp itself around her mouth. The girl let out a muffled scream and tried to pull it off, but the person's grip was too strong for her. The person's other arm wrapped itself around her waist and lifted her up.
"Now stop squirming, little siren," a man's voice hissed into her ear. "I'm not going to hurt you…as long as you do exactly what I tell you to."
The man turned around and carried the girl out into the woods, where a small portal had been set up. Within its white circle of light was the wavy image of what appeared to be a park at night. "See that?" the man said. "That's a totally different world beyond that portal. And we're going to go into that world, and you're going to use that pretty voice of yours on some of the guys in it, and you're going to get them to do my bidding. Got that?"
The man and the squirming little girl stepped through the wavy image in the portal. As soon as they were through, it vanished into thin air.