Chapter 1

Kyoko stared around, trying to blink the spots out of her vision. One moment, she was sitting with Emiko, and the next she was sitting in a wagon full of straw. An excited smile spread slowly across her face. She was back! Over a year had passed in her world and now, finally, she had returned to the world of the Universe of the Four Gods.

She held back a squeal of excitement as she looked around, then froze. Where was Emiko? They had been together when the book pulled them in, but now she was nowhere to be seen.

'Oh no…judging by the color of the armor that those guards are wearing, I'm in Hong-nan. That mean…Ah! Poor Emi-chan must have landed in Qu-Dong!' The blonde girl could not help but feel sorry for her friend. As a seishi of both Genbu and Seiryuu, Emiko would now be forced to deal with Qu-Dong's heartless general, known as Nakago.

The girl sighed, slipping down from the wagon and onto the crowded streets. People stared briefly and whispered as they passed. She blushed, looking down at her casual jeans and pink, lacy tee-shirt, and knowing that she stuck out like a flashing neon light in the darkness. All of the people were wearing traditional Hong-nan garments, so there was not a single female in pants. A small frown crossed her face briefly. 'I'll have to adjust this.'

Looking around, the blonde slipped stealthily into a deserted alleyway. There was a wooden door hidden in the shadows. With any luck, she would be able to sneak inside and find something to wear. Carefully, Kyo opened the door and snuck inside. The room that she had entered was small, with several lines of clothing hung over a small fire, drying. There were piles of clothing in a woven basket against the far wall. The girl walked over and unfolded one of the shirts with a smile. Apparently one of the residents of the building was a young male aged about fifteen. 'Perfect. This ought to fit just perfectly!'

Kyo emerged a few moments later in a dark blue shirt in the style traditionally worn by men, and a pair of light brown pants. A violet sash was tied around her slender waist. She had also borrowed a pair of socks and soft-soled shoes. With her hair tied back in a bun, the girl looked almost like the average city youth.

"Now…I suppose I ought to find the palace…" Kyo muttered to herself.

That wasn't too big of a problem for her, as she could see the towering complex to the west. As the girl circled the building, she knew that while finding the place wasn't too hard, getting inside would be. She decided to go for the direct approach first. With a pleasant smile on her face, Kyoko walked up to one of the crimson-clad soldiers that guarded the palace gates.

"Excuse me, but do you think that you could please allow me through the gate? I have need to speak to His Highness, and it is very urgent."

The two bearded men laughed loudly. "And what would a child like you have to say that would be of any interest to His Majesty? Be off with you."

The blonde tried to protest, but was turned away forcefully. She chewed her lip in frustration, pacing around the palace walls. If they would not let her through the front gate, then she would find another way inside. At last, a solution came to her. There was a fruit vendor's stall set up beside one of the walls, and the vendor's crate-filled buggy was near enough that she could use those to climb up the walls! Kyo grinned. 'Lucky!'

Scaling the wobbly pile of crates was easy enough, the girl discovered, and she soon found herself climbing along the tiled rooftops of the imperial palace. She was in the outer courtyard now. Emperor Hotohori would more likely be found in the inner sanctum of the palace. The girl continued on her sneaky way, freezing with baited breath every time a guard passed beneath her.

'Almost there…' She thought to herself as she snuck over the wall to the inner courtyard. 'Aha!' Kyoko paused for a moment, admiring the beauty of the building around her. Such architecture no longer existed in her world, and she wanted to take the opportunity to savor it while she could.

Suddenly, several male voices sounded below her. The girl froze, flatting herself against the terra cotta tiles. Her own heartbeat sounded like thunder in her ears. The voiced paused for a moment, and Kyo was about to sigh in relief when the unthinkable happened—her foot slipped. She let out a small cry and shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the impact. Instead of landing on the hard ground like she expected, the girl landed on something soft.

After one heart-stopping moment, the girl opened her eyes to see what she had landed on. Her first impression was that she had landed on a pile of silks, but she suddenly realized that the pile of fabric actually hid a person. "Ah! Gomen nasai!" Kyo said hurriedly, scrambling off of her poor landing-pad and helping them to their feet. "Are you all right? I didn't mean to land on—" Her voice trailed off as her cerulean eyes met a pair of warm brown ones. 'Oh…crap…'

The person who she had landed on was a tall man with long, luxurious brown hair, and an almost feminine appearance, but Kyoko had seen this face enough to know that the person that she was faced with was not a woman. It was the emperor.

Within moments, the girl found herself surrounded by spear blades. The girl dropped to the ground and bowed respectfully, her face flushed with embarrassment. "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. Landing on you was not my intent."

Unfortunately for her, one of the men who were pointing a blade at her was one of the guards that had turned her away at the gate. "You!"

This was starting to go bad. The guards were dragging her to her feet when the girl burst out, "Tai Yi Jun sent me!"