Chapter one

He walked barefooted through the gardens touching the brightly colored flowers as he walked. The oranges, reds, and pinks all surrounded him. A cool spring breeze ruffled his hair as he walked, and smooth grass slide through his toes.

He picked a bright yellow flower and laid down on the grass. "The days pass so slow without you, my love," he spoke. A breeze came by and picked the brightly colored flower from his fingers as it came, and carried it as it blew. "My love, my life, I have been so sad without you, I wish you hadn't left. These two years have past too slow without your presence near me. I wish we could be together forever, never apart. Then the days wouldn't pass as slow. I love you, too much to let you go, and in these two years, I have loved you even more than anyone could ever love. My love, my life, my light, please come back to me."

~~*~~

A girl walked through the city in the night, alone hurrying to her next class, with heavy books piled in her arms. Her long dirty blond hair was put up in a nice ponytail, and a backpack was slung over her shoulder. Her light glasses rested on the brim of her nose.

A bright yellow flower landed on the huge pile of books in her arms. Hmm, it doesn't look like it's from around here, she thought as she walked; I wonder where it came from? She sat down on a bench and picked it up from her books, suddenly a column enclosed her and she was being brought to Gaea.

~~*~~

A moment later, she had fallen from the sky. It was dark here, she soon realized it must be night, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. In the distance, she heard hooves. Why do I here hooves? Where am I? She wondered. The hooves were coming closer and closer, and then they stopped. Now she could hear someone.

"Hitomi?" Called the voice.

"Who's there?" She asked. The figure came up to her. She could see the dark figure clearly now. He wore a red shirt and beige colored pants. His brown bangs hung to his eyebrows, and he had a sword at his side.

"Who are you?"

"Who are you." He had soon realized she was a young woman, no harm in that, so he took his hand off of his sword.

"Where are you traveling to?" He asked as he lit a torch to see her better in the dark.

"I don't know," she responded.

"You have to be traveling somewhere. You're in the forest. Where are you're companions?"

"Companions?"

"A young woman like yourself shouldn't travel alone."

"Who said anything about traveling?"

"You have to be traveling, or you wouldn't be out here in the forest."

"Stop playing jokes on me. I have no idea what you're talking about!" She screamed.

"Sorry, I just want to know who you are."

"I already told you, I'm Clarissa Menoso. I have a question for you."

"Yes?" He demanded.

"Where am I?" She asked unknowingly.

"You're in Fanelia, just east of the castle."

"Seriously, Fanelia! Wow! I've been trying to get here my whole life. How'd I end up in Gaea?" She asked excitedly.

"Where are you from?" The figure asked.

"The United States of America, Earth, what you call the Mystic M--"

"The Mystic Moon? You're from the Mystic Moon?" He said excitedly, "do you know Hitomi? Hitomi Kanzaki?"

"Oh, I guess you don't follow the news," she frowned, "and I used to know her. She was the best track runner I've ever met, but after the crash, nothing was the same."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Hate to tell you, but Hitomi Kanzaki died three months ago in a huge plane crash, along with many famous athletes that were traveling to a convention."

"She died?" He asked. He felt his soul being sucked out of him. She died.

"I'm really sorry. You must have known her." He hide his tears from her.

"Yeah, I knew her, but I'd rather know the news then keep on living without it."

"I'm really sorry, if it makes you feel any better, my parents died when I was three. They never knew what happened to them. Or else they never told me what happened. They just never came back. I went to an adoption agency. There were a lot of people there, too. More than there was supposed to be. I was there for a while until a family adopted me. There were two other kids in the family who had been adopted. I got along pretty well until I found out about Gaea."

"My parents died when I was young, too, but I got over it. Say, since you're from the Mystic Moon, you have no knowledge of Gaea. Would you like to come back to the castle with me?"

"Sure, I guess, I have no where else to go."

He helped Clarissa up on his horse, and climbed up after her. They rode back to the castle. Riding a horse is nothing like riding in a car, I guess it's something to get used to, Clarissa thought.

"What do you mean when you said, 'Until I found out about Gaea'?"

"It was really strange actually. I'll tell it to you later."

"Who are you?" Clarissa asked when they arrived. She paused; "Sorry you just seem oddly familiar."

"I'm Vaughn of Fanelia." He finally said.