by Rei Akari
"Yui!" a small girl with auburn hair shouted in the middle of a very crowded library. Thousands of eyes glared at the girl as she loudly crossed the relatively silent room.
"Miaka," Yui hissed as she narrowed her icy blue eyes at her friend. "Be quiet, people are studying!" Yui brushed her blond hair from her eyes in frustration. "What is so important that you would bother me now?"
"I found a book!" Miaka attempted to whisper, but the extrely high-pitch of her voice caused nearby students to cringe behind their thick books.
"Oh, really?" Yui asked sarcastically, trying to cover the smile that was threatening to break from her face. Since she was elected the class representative, she had to be an example to the rest of the students. "Well, if it is that important, I suggest we go in the hall. There we can talk a little more loudly, ne?"
"Hai!" Miaka chirped as she enthusiatically nodded.
Yui grabbed Miaka's arm and dragged her from the library. "Ok, Miaka, this better be good."
"Look. I found this. It looks really old. I thought it might be magical, sort of like the-" Miaka began to talk loudly in her excitement. "UNIVERSE OF THE FOUR GODS!"
"Shhh..." Yui gave Miaka a stern look. "Let me see your book."
Miaka handed Yui a large book. The pages were worn and tattered. The brown water stained cover had ancient Chinese text. The book was thick, much thicker than the "Universe of the Four Gods". Yui felt a small chill go up her spine as she ran her fingers over the cover of the book.
"Ssu-yuan, yu-chien." Yui whispered the title of the book out loud. Her body began to shake, as if she had suddenly become cold. The air around her was thick.
"What does it mean?" Miaka asked excitedly.
"The Precious Mirror of the Four Elements." Yui replied as if in a trance. "It also says that it was written by Chu Shih-Chieh." She smiled as the name of the author broke her from the trance. "This book can't be magical. Chu Shih-Chieh was the last mathemation from the Sung Dynasty, he supposedly lived from1280-1308. This book must be the one that contains the Old Method Chart of the Seven Multiplying Squares. It's basically an anicent mathbook."
Miaka wrinkled her nose at the taught that the book was an anicent form of homework. She couldn't explain to Yui the disappointment she felt. When she found the book and touched the cover, she had felt the same way she had felt when she touched the Universe of the Four Gods.
"Are you sure?" Miaka whined. "I hate math. Besides, I felt something when I touched it."
"I did too. But maybe it's just because of our memories from the Universe of the Four Gods. Take a look at this," Yui carefully turned the pages. She stopped to the first page. "This is the Old Method Chart of the Seven Multiplying Squares, Wha-?"
Yui watched in amazement as the symbols on the page began to change at the touch of her fingers. The book began to glow a soft blue, and Yui felt as though she was enveloped in ice.
Miaka turned at looked at her friend, who had suddenly stopped her boring math history lesson. Her eyes were wide open, staring at the book in a deep trance.
"Yui!" Miaka reached for the book. Miaka froze. She felt as if she was struck by a firey bolt of lightning. She felt warm, and the more she looked at the page the burning feeling began to grow until she felt as if every cell in her body was aflame.
Suddenly, the hall was filled with a bright blinding light. When it receded, the girls were gone, and only the mysterious book remained.
"My head." Miaka cried as she shielded her eyes. "The light, it's so bright." Squinting she looked around. She seemed to be sitting in the middle of a desert. The large sun above her shone brightly next to a smaller sun. "Two suns? Where am I?"
"Hey! Little girl! You know it's bad for you to walk around in clothes like those!" a tall woman with a childish voice called out to her. "Unless you really want to get a severe sunburn."
"Millie, come on! Vash is leaving!" a shorter woman rushed by, dragging two very large suit cases behind her.
"Oh, I was just talking to the girl who appeared out of nowhere." the tall woman Miaka assumed as Millie replied as she used her large coat to shade Miaka. "Wow, you are so pale. You must not get that much sun. That's too bad. You look like one of my sisters. Wanna come with us? You look lost, and you aren't from around here, maybe I can help you find your way." Millie smiled, "Better make up your mind soon. I'm gonna get in trouble with Meryl either way so you might as well come along."
Miaka looked at the woman, who smiled at her brightly. "Maybe, she can help me find Yui." she thought to herself.
Yui stood and looked around her. The sky was a clear blue, and she was standing in an empty field. "Am I back in the book?" she thought to herself.
She could see that there were buildings in the horizon. The shape of them seemed modern in nature.
As she walked towards the buildings, she could see that most of the buildings were destroyed. The ones that were standing were riddled with bullet holes of varying shapes and sizes.
"Hey! You shouldn't be walking there!" a young man's voice called to the left of her.
Yui turned towards the young man, but stopped midstep.
The young man looked like a younger version of herself. His light blond hair was cut in the same feathered fashion Miaka had once told her made her look like a boy. His skin was very pale, and his eyes were the exact same shade of blue as the sky.
Quatre ran towards the lone girl. She reminded him of one of his sisters. He almost called the name of the sister who was closest to him in age, Haruka, but this girl was much too short. Her shoulder length hair was a darker shade of blond, and her blue eyes had a tint of green to them. But he couldn't shake the connection he felt with the girl.
Yui felt a chill crawl up her spine as she looked into the boy's eyes.
"How did you get into the construction site?" Quatre asked.
"I don't know..." Yui sighed. "where I am."
Quatre could tell that there was something strange going on. That morning he had a strange dream, a dream about a girl with red hair and a girl who looked just like the one who stood before him.
"Why don't we get some lunch?" Quatre asked suddenly. "I have a lot of questions I'd like to ask, and I am sure that you have a lot of questions you would like to ask me."
Yui looked at the boy strangely for a second, but she couldn't help but smile. "Sure."
"Good. " Quatre turned and motioned for Yui to follow him. "I have to know where you got that old-fashioned school uniform."
END OF CHAPTER 1