Hi! Sorry it took so long! Grounding and school work and computer problems have all been plotting against me! ::sigh:: And it's still a short one. Well, lucky for you people I was a writer long before I knew about this sight so technically this is the end of my chapter one and I have...six chapters? Yes. That's it. So to make up for it being so short and taking so long I'm adding three at one time. Don't feel like reading that much? Tough. Besides it's not going anywhere. Come back later. Oh! And before I forget thanks to all of you who reviewed for me! It really cheered me up! Oh well enough stalling. Bye!
"Oh, goodie!" Aya clapped her hands. "A puzzle!"
"You..." Mieri shook her head, "...are such a ditz."
Aya just grinned. "That's why you love me so much!"
"True, true. But how are we going to figure out what it says? I don't read a lick of Chinese."
"Oh, and like I do?" Aya perked up. "Hey! You know our pen pals?"
"The ones in the States?"
"Yeah. Rika and Yuko?"
"Yeah! They're studying in the States for awhile, remember?" Aya prompted.
"So?"
"So...they're also taking Chinese as a second language, aren't they?!"
"Oh, yeah!" Mieri brightened. "They could probably help us to translate it!"
"Right!" Aya smiled happily. "I'm such a genius, huh?"
"Whatever. Even the desert will sometimes get rain."
Aya glared at her friend. "You're so pessimistic."
"Come on! Let's go up to our room and e-mail them! We can scan the copies of the book into the computer."
"That'll take so long, though!" Aya complained.
"Would you rather take the time to either find someone who can read Chinese or learn it ourselves?" Mieri asked.
"No..."
"Then shut your trap and come on!"
"Oh, fine! You're so bossy sometimes!"
Mieri laughed. "Well, I'm nothing like you in a pissy mood! Meow!"
Aya blushed. "I can't help it. I have a temper. You do too, you know."
"I know. But it's a whole lot more fun teasing you about it!" Mieri started singing the tune of "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" using slightly different lyrics, "It's the most wonderful time of the month! There is screaming and bitching and lots of name calling for most of the week! It's the most wonderful time of the month!"
"That is not funny!" Aya squealed. "Curse Akira for ever thinking of that horrible attempt at humor!"
"Oh, he was right! You are unbearable when you're in a bad mood!" The girls raced into the house.
"Where to now?" Aya asked.
"Up the stairs if I recall correctly," Mieri started up.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Aya hurried after her.
"Wait!" Mieri's voice called from one of the rooms. "You passed it!"
Aya backtracked to find Mieri in the middle of a huge room. There were two beds, one on each side of the room. On a desk in the corner was a laptop computer. Mieri was already online and talking to their friends. "Cool. So are they online?"
"That's not even the right question, girl; and you know it. The correct question would be 'Are they not online!'"
Aya laughed. "I think you're right. So I take it they're on?"
"Of course. They're really excited about it. Or at least Rika is. She says she'll show her translation to her teacher to check to see if it's correct."
Aya rolled her eyes. "She's such a dork. What does Yuko say?"
Mieri typed in something and waited a moment. "Ha! She says that we're all losers and need to get social lives."
"Lovely!" Aya laughed. "Tell her that living in the States must have scrambled her brains. We have plenty of 'social' in our lives!"
Mieri faithfully typed. "Rika says to shut-up and start scanning."
"Typical," Aya sighed. "Well, let me see..." Aya grappled with the scanner next to the computer. "How does this thing work anyways?"
"Obviously not a computer genius..." Mieri quickly straightened her out and started the pages to scanning.
"Who needs brains with looks like these?" Aya tossed her long hair over her shoulder.
Mieri shook her head sadly. "I feel very sorry for you. But even more so for your parents and myself. We have to put up with you."
Aya stuck out her tongue. "Is that thing done yet?"
"Mieri stared at the screen for a moment. "Yeah. Rika says she's translating it now. Her host parents have a translator installed on her computer, so it shouldn't take more than a few minutes."
"Good!" Aya sighed melodramatically. "I don't think I could stand the tension!"
"You are such a drama queen," Mieri laughed.
"Whatever. Is she done yet?"
"No, not yet. Oh, and Yuko wants to ask you if you still have that necklace she gave you," Mieri reached under her shirt and produced a slim silver chain. In Japanese kanji hung the word 'friends'. Yuko had seen them in a souvenir shop in the States. She had thought of Rika, Mieri, and Aya immediately and had purchased one for each of the four of them.
"Tell her to quit bugging me!" Aya complained as she pointed to her necklace. "Yes, I have it on! Ask her if she does."
Mieri typed for a few seconds before telling Aya, "Yeah. They both have theirs. Yuko says that if we don't wear it every day, she's gonna come home and beat us up."
Aya squealed in mock horror. "Oh, no!" She paused for a minute and laughed. "Actually, I guess I should be rather scared! She just might do it!"
Mieri laughed with her. She glanced at the computer. "Hey! Rika says her translator's done. Well, the first page is done anyway."
"Well, read it! Read it!" Aya crowded in close to follow along as Mieri read.
"Fine! Fine!" Mieri snapped. "Chill out!" Then she proceeded to read the words that appeared on her screen. "'This is the story of a girl who made her dreams come true after she came to possess the seven stars of Suzaku, and many powers were bestowed upon her. The story itself is a spell. The one who reads it through will be given powers and granted a wish like the girl in the story. Because the story begins and becomes real from the moment the first page is turned.'"
"That's weird..." Aya began. Before she could go any farther, a bright red light surrounded her and Mieri. They disappeared from the room, and indeed the very world leaving only an old Chinese book as a clue to their whereabouts.
Across the world in the States, Yuko and Rika also read the first page of the strange story. "What do you think, Yuko?" Rika asked with a laugh. But Yuko was unable to answer. They too were surrounded by a peculiar red light. With a cry, both girls vanished without a trace, leaving behind their comfortable world for a newer and stranger world.
