Hey, thanx for readin' here's chapter three...
Kado stared at the girl dumbstruck. A number of emotions were running through him, but mostly confusion and rage. This girl, who the hell was she? She breaks into his place... rips it up, then has the audacity to sit and wait for him to come back without even batting an eyelash. And to top it off, SHE WAS READING HIS STORY! Nobody read his story, not his friends, not his family, not even his own mother...especially not his own mother. And here she was, a complete stranger reading it without a thought. Why he outta.. then it occurred to him that he had been standing in the doorway, slack-jawed, for almost two full minutes, and she had gone back to reading. He tried to vocalize all the feelings penting up inside him, but the only word he could manage was, "You!" followed by a series of inarticulate half grunts.
The girls eyes flickered from the book to Kado. "Me." She agreed, and went back to reading.
That did it, the words started coming. "You! Who the hell are you?! What are you doing in my apartment?! I oughta call the police! This is trespassing, breaking and entering, invasion of privacy!"
"You forgot stealing," she said, nodding towards the notebook.
"No I didn't!" Kado snarled, snatching the notebook back, and clutching it to his chest like a lost child returned. He snuck a peek to see how far into it she had gotten, and was horrified to see she had read most of it. She must have been in here since just after he left. Oh god, no! He wasn't sure whether to beat her down or hide his head in shame (he was a bit self conscious about his writing).
As soon as the book was snatched away, the girl rose angrily to her feet. She stood slightly shorter than Kado, with raven hair to her mid back. She was pretty by most standards, by the looks of her she probably had some Eastern blood in her, perhaps a grandparent, though her blue eyes and other more western features were the more dominating. "Do you mind, I was reading that!"
"Yeah, illegally. Just do you think you're doing?"
She shrugged. "Just wanted to see what all the fuss is about. And honestly, now I understand. I mean really Kado, what were you thinking? The priestess of Suzaku being a village girl named Suzuno? Really, for starters Suzuno was the priestess of Biaku, and she was from 19th century Japan. Did you listen to ANY of the stories your parents told you?"
Kado felt like he had just been kicked in the stomach by a mule. He had never told anybody about those stories, and surely his parents hadn't either. He stared at the girl for a long time, who stared levelly back at him "How, did you know that?"
For the first time she smiled, and stroked his cheek, her skin was cold. "Oh Kado, I don't think you're ready to here the answer to that just quite yet."
"W-what do you mean?"
"Never mind that. We'll start with introductions. My name is Myell, I come from Konan. And you are Kado, you come from...uh, Tokyo is it?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Now, look at this." From out of nowhere she pulled a very old looking book. She handed it to Kado. Kado looked at the cover, the title was printed in Japanese, 'The Universe of the Four Gods' he read. There was no author. or anything else. Something about that title was all too familiar. "Read it," Myell urged.
Kado opened to the first page, nothing, it was blank. Then he flipped to the next two pages, they, like the first, were blank. He carried on like this for about three pages, and found them all to be blank. Finally he gave up and fanned quickly through the rest of the volume but could find no writing on any of the pages. "I can't read it, its blank."
"Exactly. Kado, 'The Universe of the Four Gods' is much more than just a book, its a gateway through worlds. Your mother was not the first to travel through it, however, when she completed her task, and summoned Suzaku and sealed away Tenko, the book found an end, the writing become ink for the first time and the story was sealed. It became, for all practical purposes, a normal book. However, you Kado, and you alone, have inherited the power to open it again, and that," she pointed to the notebook of Kado's writing that he had unknowingly dropped when he picked up 'The Universe of the Four Gods' "has done it and much more."
Kado blinked, every neutron of his sane, normal human being told him this was ridiculous. However, his parents had told him those stories since he was a kid. He had never believed them, but still he had decided to write a story based on them. Now this girl was telling him they were all true. Impossible, he couldn't believe it. This girl was in cahoots with his parents, they were trying to creep him out. It was something they would do...sorta, okay not at all, but still, this was impossible.
As though reading his mind, Myell spoke. "Oh, it doesn't really matter if you don't believe me right now, because you will in about a second." She chuckled slightly, and for the first time, Kado realized that the book in his hands had started to glow red. It was Kado's last realization in California, 2001.
Kado stared at the girl dumbstruck. A number of emotions were running through him, but mostly confusion and rage. This girl, who the hell was she? She breaks into his place... rips it up, then has the audacity to sit and wait for him to come back without even batting an eyelash. And to top it off, SHE WAS READING HIS STORY! Nobody read his story, not his friends, not his family, not even his own mother...especially not his own mother. And here she was, a complete stranger reading it without a thought. Why he outta.. then it occurred to him that he had been standing in the doorway, slack-jawed, for almost two full minutes, and she had gone back to reading. He tried to vocalize all the feelings penting up inside him, but the only word he could manage was, "You!" followed by a series of inarticulate half grunts.
The girls eyes flickered from the book to Kado. "Me." She agreed, and went back to reading.
That did it, the words started coming. "You! Who the hell are you?! What are you doing in my apartment?! I oughta call the police! This is trespassing, breaking and entering, invasion of privacy!"
"You forgot stealing," she said, nodding towards the notebook.
"No I didn't!" Kado snarled, snatching the notebook back, and clutching it to his chest like a lost child returned. He snuck a peek to see how far into it she had gotten, and was horrified to see she had read most of it. She must have been in here since just after he left. Oh god, no! He wasn't sure whether to beat her down or hide his head in shame (he was a bit self conscious about his writing).
As soon as the book was snatched away, the girl rose angrily to her feet. She stood slightly shorter than Kado, with raven hair to her mid back. She was pretty by most standards, by the looks of her she probably had some Eastern blood in her, perhaps a grandparent, though her blue eyes and other more western features were the more dominating. "Do you mind, I was reading that!"
"Yeah, illegally. Just do you think you're doing?"
She shrugged. "Just wanted to see what all the fuss is about. And honestly, now I understand. I mean really Kado, what were you thinking? The priestess of Suzaku being a village girl named Suzuno? Really, for starters Suzuno was the priestess of Biaku, and she was from 19th century Japan. Did you listen to ANY of the stories your parents told you?"
Kado felt like he had just been kicked in the stomach by a mule. He had never told anybody about those stories, and surely his parents hadn't either. He stared at the girl for a long time, who stared levelly back at him "How, did you know that?"
For the first time she smiled, and stroked his cheek, her skin was cold. "Oh Kado, I don't think you're ready to here the answer to that just quite yet."
"W-what do you mean?"
"Never mind that. We'll start with introductions. My name is Myell, I come from Konan. And you are Kado, you come from...uh, Tokyo is it?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Now, look at this." From out of nowhere she pulled a very old looking book. She handed it to Kado. Kado looked at the cover, the title was printed in Japanese, 'The Universe of the Four Gods' he read. There was no author. or anything else. Something about that title was all too familiar. "Read it," Myell urged.
Kado opened to the first page, nothing, it was blank. Then he flipped to the next two pages, they, like the first, were blank. He carried on like this for about three pages, and found them all to be blank. Finally he gave up and fanned quickly through the rest of the volume but could find no writing on any of the pages. "I can't read it, its blank."
"Exactly. Kado, 'The Universe of the Four Gods' is much more than just a book, its a gateway through worlds. Your mother was not the first to travel through it, however, when she completed her task, and summoned Suzaku and sealed away Tenko, the book found an end, the writing become ink for the first time and the story was sealed. It became, for all practical purposes, a normal book. However, you Kado, and you alone, have inherited the power to open it again, and that," she pointed to the notebook of Kado's writing that he had unknowingly dropped when he picked up 'The Universe of the Four Gods' "has done it and much more."
Kado blinked, every neutron of his sane, normal human being told him this was ridiculous. However, his parents had told him those stories since he was a kid. He had never believed them, but still he had decided to write a story based on them. Now this girl was telling him they were all true. Impossible, he couldn't believe it. This girl was in cahoots with his parents, they were trying to creep him out. It was something they would do...sorta, okay not at all, but still, this was impossible.
As though reading his mind, Myell spoke. "Oh, it doesn't really matter if you don't believe me right now, because you will in about a second." She chuckled slightly, and for the first time, Kado realized that the book in his hands had started to glow red. It was Kado's last realization in California, 2001.