Let the Book be Opened Once More!
Disclaimer: Uhhh….this one's confusing. The original characters and basic idea of the world and stuff belongs to Yuu Watase, but I kinda made up the characters in a funky way. So let's leave it at that. *Sweatdrop* oh, but new characters are mine.
Notes: A few things. There may be some spoilers for the whole series, for one. And also, as it'll be explained later, this is 100 years later, book time. (Question: Why do the new seishi have the original ones' names? Answer: Because the seishi are named after the constellations, and for consistency they would all be named the same) Things get REALLY weird in this fic…and the Suzaku seishi are the bad guys. ^_^ The real world pieces of this fic are set in America, in a town very much like YOURS… *creepy music* But seriously, there's no specific time lapse in the real world because I hate math and don't wanna give myself a headache.
ANY QUESTIONS??? No? OK!! Well then…
LET THE BOOK BE OPENED!! (read: let's start the story)
Chapter 2
Maggie ran her hands under the lukewarm water, turned off the faucet, and rubbed her hands dry with a hand towel. "Fake…fake, fake, fake…I'm such an idiot. It's only a fictional series. Stupid me. I believed that something so amazing could actually happen…" She angrily slammed the bathroom door shut and walked back to her room, still cursing her own stupidity and gullibility.
"Okay, Laurel…let's start researching." She opened her door…and Laurel wasn't there.
But the book was.
She kneeled down and looked at the page, which had only had one line previously. Now, a few more had been added. She swallowed hard and read,
"Thus…the legend began again." She sighed. "Oh, Laurel…" She suddenly had a strange sensation and jumped up. She grabbed her bookbag, which was in her closet, collecting dust. She stuffed an extra set of clothes, flashlight, a few changes of underwear, hairbrush, and ran to the bathroom to grab her shampoo. She also grabbed the first two Fushigi Yuugi graphic novels. Stuffing them into her bookbag and grabbing a few bags of chips from the stash under her bed, she returned to the book.
Better safe than sorry.
She read more of the book as words appeared on the pages, and suddenly her whole body felt warm. She clutched her bookbag to her chest as a bright light enveloped her.
~*~
"Miss? Are you alright? Hey, miss! Can you hear me? Maybe I should find a doctor…" Maggie groaned, feeling someone poke her side.
"Ohhhh…..ow," she muttered, opening her eyes. There was a boy standing over her. He jerked his head back in surprise, but then breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, good…you're alive!"
"Yeah, I hurt too much to be dead," Maggie mumbled, sitting up with a groan. "Who are you?"
"My name is Ryn…Ryn Shouku," the boy answered. Maggie smiled; he looked about the same age as herself…and he was pretty cute, too.
"Nice to meet you, Ryn! My name's Maggie."
"Maggie…what a strange name," Ryn muttered. Maggie stood up and laughed, brushing the dirt off of her black jeans. She looked around and took in her surroundings. The town surrounding her was big and busy. Was this Konan? Was she inside the book?
"So…what's this place?" Maggie asked nervously. She begged silently for him to say Konan, and not another place that this town could be.
"This is the capitol city of Kutou," Ryn told her. Maggie cursed silently. Then she got an idea…maybe Laurel was here, too. In Kutou.
"Have you seen another girl that looks kinda like me? She's wearing weird clothes, with dark brown hair in a braid and brown eyes. She's kinda short, and…" Ryn shook his head, an indication that he hadn't seen her. "Are you sure? Cause she's my best friend and I don't want anything to happen to her."
"I'm sorry, I haven't seen anyone with that description.
A group of soldiers was walking by. Upon spotting Maggie, they stopped. Each of them had an identical frown on their face.
"She's wearing strange clothes," one whispered.
"Yes, the emperor said to look for girls in strange clothing," another agreed. Maggie cursed her terrible luck, spun around, and ran as fast as was allowed with a heavy bag. Ryn chased after her. The soldiers chased after both of them.
Unfortunately, the soldiers were faster than Maggie and Ryn, and they soon caught the two teenagers. They were taken to the palace and escorted into the throne room.
"You don't have to be so rude," Maggie spat at one of them. "And watch where you put your hands, damn it!" Once he let go of her, she slapped him across the face. He raised his hand to hit her back, yelling,
"Damn girl! You should know to respect-"
"That's enough!" Ryn shouted. "You don't have to be so rough with her!"
"The boy's right," a loud, but somewhat adolescent-sounding voice said. "You are dismissed." The guards shuffled out of the room and Maggie turned around, bracing herself to be disgusted by the man's appearance. After all, she had seen what he looked like in the series…
Her jaw dropped nearly to the floor. He was…he was gorgeous! He turned his green-gray eyes on Maggie and smiled. Maggie found herself, probably for the first time ever, speechless. He reminded her of Hotohori…but he was real!
"Welcome," he said to both of them. "I believe there's someone who wishes to meet with you, though…" he paused uncertainly, not knowing her name.
"M-M…uh, it's…my name is…" She cursed. "Great time to forget your own fucking name…"
"MAGGIE?!?!"
"Yeah, that's it! …Who said that?" A girl stood a few feet away from the emperor. Maggie gasped in surprise. "LAUREL!! You're here!" She ran to greet her friend.
"Thank God! This place is so boring when you're here alone!" Laurel rejoiced. "I got here yesterday, and-"
"Yesterday? It was like 10 minutes since you disappeared at home!"
"Well it's good to know we won't have to worry about our report for a while…" Laurel suddenly seemed downcast.
"'Rel? What's wrong?"
"Nothing…don't worry about it, Mags. I'm just glad you're here."
"I'm not surprised. After all, this is Kutou. One of us coulda been…or…well, ya know."
"Mags, a hundred years have passed in this world."
"A hundred years?!?!" Maggie shouted.
"Yeah. And…they want me to be the priestess of Seiryuu."
Sorry for the short chapter. I really can't go any further until I know a couple things. I need new names and people for all of the Suzaku and Seiryuu seishi. _ I'm no good at thinking up names. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love it if you shared 'em with me! It'd help me get the rest of the story done. All of the seishi will be in this place, at one time or another.
Anyways, since I can't really go anywhere else with this, I don't have a preview for chapter 3. If you've got any name ideas to help me out, it'd be really really nice if you left 'em in a review…or leave a review even if you don't have any ideas! I'd love you forever!! Not enough? How about a Nuriko special to whoever leaves a review??
Okie doke, I'm going to go work on Fushigi Yuugi: Everlasting Story. (Shameless plug, no da…)