There is no way in hell that this is China.
Kaji had been there before! She visited her father in Jiangsu not even four months before on her school break, she knew better than to think this was China. In fact, she almost laughed. But her body wouldn't give her the sick pleasure of laughter, not when the whole room of faces looked deadly serious.
"That can't be right." She blundered, "this place….looks thousands of years old."
Her eyes were drawn to the elaborate robes the man in front of her wore, even they looked thousands of years old and yet, brand new.
What puzzled Kaji, even more, was the look of contentment of his face. He just smiled politely at her, his hands clasped in front of himself, "You must have traveled a long way. You said you had come from," he paused trying to think of the name, "Tokyo?"
Kaji nodded rather desperately, "Yes! Japan, you know…" her voice got quieter as she made a wild gesture somewhere behind her, and the confusion in his eyes didn't boost her hope any.
"There...is no such land here." He worded it to her gently but it felt like a punch to the gut.
"How? I was just there, in the library. I- well it was late and there was that book and I don't remember how I got here."
"You don't remember coming here? What do you remember?" The so-called- Emperor said, gently as ever.
Kaji furrowed her eyebrows, "I was working the night shift, nobody was around," the pewter haired women flashed across her mind's eye, " and there was this damn book- I don't know how it got there but there was a bright, red light….and then nothing."
The room around her came alive with whispers, "Red? Red light!"
The emperor quieted the room with a lift of his hand and lent forward, silently urging her to continue.
"I just woke up here. In the middle of the woods." She finished, looking up at this so-called emperor. She knew how this looked, it looked like some crazy escaped the loony bin but that is how she felt. She felt crazy for thinking that she may, in fact, be in China. Not like the one she knew, but an older, more ancient one.
The room around Kaji was still buzzing with hushed whispers that soon turned into shouts. The faces around her were alight with joy, smiles on the once accusatory faces surrounding her. She looked up to the man in the exotic ropes in hopes he could explain the sudden change in mood. He had stood from the lavish throne, silks drooping low around his ankles as he stepped down the steps to be eye level with Kaji. The expression he wore was one of contentment as he leveled her with an eerily calm stare.
"There is an ancient prophecy that tells of a time when the Empire is in danger of being ruined by a colossal disturbance," The emperor started raising his hand to hush his advisors, "A girl from another world appears and through the power of our god, Suzaku, eradicate the catastrophe."
Oh boy. Kaji really didn't like where this was going. And this heavy eye contact thing goin' on was not winning him any brownie points.
She decided to jump in, "Listen, I really think you are reading too much into this. All this about gods? And prophecies? There is no such thing." Kaji argued. As much as she wanted to look away, all that hope in his gaze made it hard to not second guess herself.
"You say these things and yet you yourself have seen the red light of Suzaku, have you not?" He countered, holding her gaze.
She couldn't explain the red light, nor the book but this was insane. There was no such thing as gods or ancient prophecies. But the more he spoke, the more she couldn't deny this wasn't some fever dream.
He took her silence as an invitation to speak, "Our God is generous, wouldn't you like his power to be bestowed on you?"
Kaji shook her head, "No, not a chance." She wouldn't let herself be caught up in this lust- for- cosmic-power thing he was trying to sell.
"Don't you have something to wish for?" He tried again, "This power could grant you the way back to your home."
Kaji bit her cheek, that was some guilt trip. The more she studied him, the more desperation shone in his eyes. She could see the fine print.
"The Priestess of Suzaku has the whole nation to serve her, any wish granted, any whim doted upon." His brow creased slightly, "you are what this nation has wished for, you are our savior."
"Will you accept your duty as our Priestess?" He leaned forward, eyes pleading and the rest of the room ceased to exist.
Then, everything stopped.
Everything was still.
The emperor stopped moving, his eyes frozen on her face and Kaji realized that nobody in the room was breathing. She moved to the left, but the emperor's eyes were still frozen in the place she used to be. It was like time had stopped.
Kaji held her breath like the rest of them and watched for any movement. None came.
She moved around the emperor, but he stayed glued to his spot, mouth slightly opened.
She took in the room around her. The breeze no longer rustled the curtains and the advisors all stared at the spot where she stood moments ago. It's like they were wax figures, unmoving.
As she turned again, a shimmer caught her eye. Looking towards the throne, two eyes looked back at her. Those same emerald eyes she saw in the library, the ones that started this whole mess.
It was only half a second until those eyes were inches away from her own. That vermillion bird sat hovering over her, looking as real as anything she had ever seen.
Its stare unmoved by her gasp and recoil, instead it just hovered. Its feathers moved around, a brilliant red as if they were submerged in water and it remained unblinking. Until it spoke, echos in her mind.
"Say no."
Then she was back in the same place she stood minutes ago, in front of the emperor. He blinked and she saw his chest rising and falling with each breath.
"Will you accept your duty as our Priestess?" he asked for a second time, urgency clear in his voice.
This time, Kaji knew her answer. She didn't understand why, but she knew this was real. She felt her fingers curl into fists at her sides, she could feel each breath she took; this was no dream.
"No."
