Note : Everything belongs to Hikawa Kyoko-san. You may want to read my analysis on the assumption.

"I had that dream again," Noriko said thoughtfully at lunch time.

"That dream again?"

"Yeah."

"Dream of that strange land?"

"Yeah."

"Where strange birds that you've never seen fly?"

"Yeah. Maybe- maybe I lived there in my previous life..."

Alternative Kanata Kara : This Isn't What It Was Supposed To Be!

Chapter 1 : Other World

By Aqua-chan

"The terrorist accused of bombing several sites in the city has been arrested, but the police believe that there are more bombs left around the city. Citizens are reminded to stay away from suspicious paper bag..." The news reporter announced gravely from the TV in a shop where Noriko and her friends passed by on their way home.

"Do you know about Multiuniverse Theory?" Noriko asked her friends.

"Huh?"

"It says that there are a lot of other universes other than ours..."

"Wha-?"

"Hey, hey, you know Noriko's father is an SF writer."

"Her imagination runs wild just like her dad."

"But please, a dream with transparent flowers and golden birds?"

"Don't forget meeting a really handsome man who tried to kiss her!" At that her friends laughed hard, giggling, "You don't even have a boyfriend, Noriko!"

Noriko felt a vein popping on her head. (If they weren't my friends I wouldn't have let this go!!)

Just then, a baseball came rolling down the road, and some boys hurried down to chase it. Noriko was near the passing ball, so she tried to get it back for the boys and followed it...

...And it hit a paper bag and fell into Noriko's hand.

"...Huh? A paper bag...?"

Suddenly the bag exploded right in front of Noriko, thundering windows to broken pieces. Her body was pulled up to the sky by the huge momentum of the explosion. She saw her friends panicking, but her body was being pulled away from them...

...into the Other World.

At first, Noriko thought it was a dream. Warmth had engulfed her, and she could see some people running around, muttering in a strange tongue.

"Mezame has appeared at last."

"Get it! Right Prime Minister of Zago is swift. We have to get there before he does!"

"Mezame is the key to unlock Tenjoki! Go, and I'll be the ruler of this world!!"

(Wow... what an SF dream...) Noriko thought.

"It came," murmured a young man dressed in rich blue. His long jet black hair flowed like silk against the wind. His green eyes looked into the Forest. Already flying dragons from other countries - Guzena, Rienka and even Trihan - were arriving at the edge of the Forest.

"Master," said one of his private soldiers. "We are all ready to go."

"Aah, yes..." The young man frowned, his green eyes instantly turning into deep cobalt blue. "But that coat oil. Can't you do anything about that smell?"

Noriko slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was golden moss. Then huge tree roots. She got up and looked around the Golden Bed covered with soft moss.

She pinched herself hard.

"Ow... It's not a dream..."

She got up, and cautiously stepped out of the moss.

(I've never seen any place like this...)

"Hiromi-? Come on..."

"Rie-chan-?"

"...Mom?"

"...Dad!! Big brother-!!" Noriko yelled desperately, tears welling up in her eyes.

(This has got to be a dream - I was walking home, then a baseball rolled by and something exploded... Then people were shouting... No, no, this must be a dream...) Noriko pinched her cheek again, but that did not wake her up - it wasn't a dream at all.

Suddenly earth-trembling sound of many footsteps was heard. Noriko was startled, and she looked back in fear of finding a monster or something close to it.

But what she found was a crowd of strong-looking warriors, all clad in black and blue. They marched around Noriko, trapping her inside a ring of men. Noriko felt terrified, and her body started to shake.

Then she heard a deep voice of a man.

"Is this Mezame?"

Slowly, a young man stepped into the ring of men that encircled Noriko, followed closely by a bulky woman who could've passed as a man. But Noriko's attention was focused on the man dressed in weird clothes (or she thought, since she had never seen such clothes even in documentaries). He was a tall, slender man with long black hair loosely flowing down his back. His eyes were of the colour of evening sky right after the sun went down. His green earrings made small musical sound as he walked. He wore a long blue robe woven with rich golden designs. Inside the robe he wore light blue jacket-like shirt and black pants. He walked with an air of arrogance and elegance around him.

...Noriko took all this in and decided that she didn't like him.;;;

(He looks too proud of himself... like a playboy or something...)

The man, however, looked at Noriko once and seemed to be surprised.

"This is a girl. And a small child at that, too."

"But Master, she had landed on the Golden Bed. The golden moss is on her clothes." One of the soldiers said. The young man frowned and came closer to Noriko. She, however, couldn't move a muscle. The man had some powerful atmosphere around him that she felt that she had to obey. He slowly raised his hand and stroke Noriko's hair carefully. Her face turned pale.

"Hmm. Brown hair... and her face looks foreign. Her clothes, too. Tell me, little girl, are you really Mezame...?" Out of habit he leaned closer to Noriko when he said this. And closer. And clo...

"KYAAA!!!"

POW!

Noriko pushed, or almost punched, the man out. He, though slender, was much stronger and held his ground. A look of amazement showed on his face.

"Playboy! Pervert!! What are you trying to do to me?! We've barely met each other! Just who are you anyway and where am I?!"

A deadly silence followed.

"...I don't understand a word you're saying, girl."

He sighed. At the same time there were a bustling of leaves and animal cries from above the trees. The woman behind the man tapped on his shoulder.

"Izark, other soldiers are coming. We have to get out of here now."

The man called Izark sighed again.

"I know, Gaya... I'm the one who ordered the delay of Zago soldiers this much. I guess Agol did a fine job..."

"Master," another soldier shouted. "The escape route is secure now."

"Let's go, Izark." Gaya pressed. Izark looked at Noriko, and sighed for the third time. Then he ordered a big, half-bald soldier...

...to carry Noriko on his shoulder.

"KYAAA!! Let me go! I wanna go home! You're kidnapping me!! Dad~!!"

"Yo, lil' girl, keep it down, will ya?" The half-bald soldier (since he was only bold at the top of his head) grunted.

"Don't drop her, Barago. She is a fragile girl." Gaya warned the soldier. Barago made a snorting sound.

"Lord Rachef," an illuminated dwarfish figure in a darkened room mumbled. "Mezame has been lost. Our mercenary soldiers were too late."

The tall man called Rachef frowned.

"Is it the Right Prime Minister of Zago?"

"My divination cannot predict who actually has Mezame. But the Zago soldiers do not have it. Neither do any soldiers from other countries."

"Yet he has his own private soldiers. And the rumours say they are powerful, Goriya."

The fortuneteller slowly lifted up his head.

"Right Prime Minister of Zago is our number one suspect. But I cannot confront him, Lord Rachef."

Rachef smiled. "That is under my jurisdiction... I am going to meet him, as well as all other politicians around the world, at the Debate three weeks later."

"Then I will gather as much information as I can, Lord Rachef. It is only Mezame and Tenjoki that escape my divination... his own private soldiers do not."

Rachef turned to leave.

"Do everything you can, Goriya. I will seize Mezame... and Tenjoki."

To Be Continued...