Fushigi Gakkou

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.