Chapter One
~*~
A brown-haired girl with her hair up in two buns on the
sides of her head shut the door.
Looking around her new bedroom, she sighed. Her family-consisting of her, her mother, and her older
brother-had just moved to Tokyo yesterday.
Walking to the window, the girl looked out of her apartment at the
lights of the city. Suddenly, the girl
felt a stirring inside of her; a call to be listened to. Closing her eyes, the girl felt the shifting
red demanding to tell her something.
Closing the window, the girl made sure the bedroom door was locked
before sitting on the bed. Her legs crossed
and hands resting on her knees, the girl bowed her head. Her body made a triangle, one of the most
powerful magical symbols.
"Suzaku,"
she whispered, "Suzaku, you have called to me. What do you wish to tell me?" The girl felt the red flow through her into the room. She felt a brush of wind on her cheeks
thought she knew she closed the window.
Lifting her head and opening her eyes, the girl gazed at a large, red
bird that resembled a phoenix. The
bird, Suzaku, was really a god from the Universe of Four Gods. The girl was his miko; a red light inside of
her would always tie her to Suzaku.
"Miaka,
my miko," the voice resounded inside her head. "Seiryuu has set his sights on this
world. You must defend it from his evil
grasp." The girl, Miaka,
gasped. Seiryuu was another of the gods
in the Universe of the Four Gods, the archenemy of Suzaku. His shape was a giant dragon. Though as far as Miaka knew, Seiryuu didn't
have a miko in this world. And without
a miko to do his bidding, even a powerful god like Seiryuu would have trouble
taking over this world.
"But
Seiryuu doesn't have a miko does he?" Miaka asked.
"Not
yet miko," Suzaku replied, "But he will get one, make no
mistake. By force or by free will, Seiryuu
will find a mortal to act through. You
must stop Seiryuu's miko and his seishi."
"How?"
Miaka asked, "I can not fight Seiryuu's forces."
"The
Suzaku Shichi Seishi are here. They
will be able to fight back the evil that threatens you. You must find them and
awaken their power. But be careful,
Seiryuu will want to eliminate you as soon as possible so that you cannot
awaken the seishi. Seiryuu has his own
Shichi Seishi he will try to awaken.
You must awaken my warriors before Seiryuu's miko can."
"I'll
try Suzaku. Seiryuu will never take
over as long as I live!" Miaka
proclaimed. If it was possible, Suzaku
smiled.
"Of
course you will miko. That is why I
choose you-your spirit always shines through.
Take this and good luck."
In a whirl of feathers and wings, Suzaku took flight in the tiny bedroom
and vanished. A glowing, red feather
floated down from where Suzaku disappeared.
As it descended, the feather got smaller and smaller until it was as big
as Miaka's thumb and came to rest in-between her collarbones. Then, a gold light surrounded Miaka's neck
and when it subsided a gold chain held the feather as a pendant. Closing her eyes, Miaka sensed Suzaku was
finished and unclasped her hands from her knees and stretched them in the
air. Shaking the sleep from her legs,
Miaka got up and unlocked the door.
Turning off the lights, Miaka crawled into bed. After all, she had school tomorrow.
~*~
Not very far away, a girl with short blond hair tossed in
her sleep. In her dreams a huge dragon
was attacking her. Creating a shield
with her will, the girl held the dragon at bay. Though she didn't know what the dragon was or what it wanted, she
knew if it broke the shield something terrible would happen.
The girl
felt her resolve slipping as the dragon kept hurtling itself against the
barrier. Tired, the girl fell to her
knees. The dragon, sensing a weakness,
crashed intro the barrier with all its might and shattered it like a piece of
glass. Then, it lunged at the girl and
entered her heart. The girl screamed
silently once, her blue eyes wide, and then the pain was gone. The girl blinked, she didn't feel any
different. But deep inside her heart an
evil force sat, its host totally unaware.
And in the night the girl's
thrashing stopped. When she awoke, she
would not even remember the dream.