Aya woke with a feeling of anxiety and a major headache. She groaned and sat up to hold her head. "Ow...what did I do?" She managed to pry her eyes open, but that wasn't much help. It was completely dark wherever she was, and Aya could see nothing. "Great. Just great. I'd be willing to bet that Mieri talked me into doing something stupid. Now if I could only remember what it was..."
A muffled thump brought her back to the present with a start. A barely tangible stirring of whatever she was sitting on convinced Aya that something was alive in here with her. "Oh no," Aya whispered her eyes wide with fright. "I don't need some seriously deranged dog or cat taking my arm off. As much as she loved animals, Aya knew that no healthy, whole animal would be shut up in a room like this. "Good...whatever. Be nice to Aya," she slowly eased into a standing position. So far, there were no further stirrings. Aya took a step back. Then another. She was about to go back even farther, but she bumped into something. Great. I would have to be stuck in an impossibly small room with a crazed animal. How could my life get anyâ
The pile in front of her erupted in a flurry of what appeared to be clothing. Aya let out an extremely high-pitched squeal and started to climb up on whatever it was behind her. In the process of getting up there, her hands enclosed on a small wooden object. She chunked it at the form rising from clothes with all of her might. Considering that Aya was very much into sports, this was no laughing matter. Whatever that thing hit was going to be hurt. And it might decide to voice its annoyance.
"OW!" a voice cried out. "What was that for?!"
Aya blinked. Dogs don't say 'ow'... "Rika? Is that you?" Aya peered cautiously forward into the darkness. Despite the problem of distance, the four girls had often exchanged phone calls and sent one another home videos. And this 'crazed animal' sounded a lot like Rika when she'd been ticked off.
"Well, you'd better pray your name isn't Aya because I'm about to kill her!" the muffled voice exclaimed.
"Hehe..." Aya laughed nervously. "Sorry. I thought you were a rabid dog or something."
Rika's head appeared from beneath the clothing. "Did I sound like a rabid dog?"
"No."
"Did I look like a rabid dog?"
"No, I couldn'tâ"
"Did I feel like a dog of any kind?" Rika glared at her with arms crossed. She was just as Aya remembered her. They were the exact same height, so Aya was nose to nose with her pen pal. Her straight brown hair just touched her shoulders and framed her face perfectly. She had soft brown eyes that were normally laughing. Today, however, they flashed in anger.
"I didn'tâ"
"Then what in the world made you think I was a rabid dog?!"
Aya laughed again. "Mieri and I had just finished watching Cujo on the flight in to Tokyo?"
Rika glared again. "That is not a good enough reason for smacking me with a...a...what was that anyway?!"
Aya shrugged. "I don't know. I just threw it."
"You!" Rika threw up her hands. "You are far worse than Yuko ever was!"
"Speaking of which..." Aya looked around. "Where is Yuko? And Mieri? And where are we?"
Rika shrugged. "And how exactly am I supposed to know?"
"I don't know! You're the computer genius! I figure if our computers went haywire and sucked us in, you'd know!"
One eyebrow went slowly up, "Sucked us in?"
"It could happen!"
A pounding sound on the door startled both girls. "Who is in there?! Come out now!"
Aya looked at Rika frantically. "What now?"
"I'm not an encyclopedia here for your convenience!" Rika hissed. She glanced down at her cloud pajamas then at the clothing on the floor. "Here!" she tossed what looked like an odd kimono at Aya. "Put this on! Maybe they'll think we belong here."
Aya snorted as she quickly pulled her outfit on. "And where are we supposed to be? These clothes are like a million years out of style!"
"We must be at some kind of festival," Rika rationalized. Another pounding on the door, louder this time, warned the girls that they'd better hurry.
"Um...we're coming!" Aya called out. The pounding stopped momentarily.
"Who is in there?" a deep male voice asked. He didn't sound happy.
Rika finally struggled in her clothes andâafter making sure Aya was readyâthrew open the door. Five men dressed in the outfits of guards stood glaring at them. And they were all armed with swords. "Hi," Rika smiled nervously. "We're very sorry. We got lost, you see, andâ"
"What are you two doing in there?!" the head guard asked harshly. "You should be at the harem." He sheathed his sword, and the soldiers behind him did likewise. "Come. We shall escort you personally."
"Thank you," Aya smiled up at him. "Um...where are we exactly? We got lost."
The guard raised a brow. "New, huh? Well, right now you're in the palace laundry. It's in the opposite direction of where you should be. The palace harem is in the eastern wing of the palace."
"Uh-huh," Rika looked around as they walked. "So. Is this a part-time gig for you? What do you do during the week?"
The guard looked askance at her. "Part-time? Being a guard in His Majesty's army is very much a full day's work. Don't let our reputation fool you. Most guards are very hard workers."
"Oh," Rika looked down for a moment. "So you do this all week? All year?"
"Of course! My pay is sent home to my family, and I do get leave every now and then."
"Bummer," Aya sympathized. "Don't those costumes itch in summer?"
"Costumes?!" the guard roared with indignation. "These are the finest uniforms we could ask for! Besides..." he actually blushed and looked away. "They are much warmer in winter, I'm sure, than your apparel."
Aya thought to look down at what she had on. Then it was her turn to blush. Their outfits could hardly be pronounced decent apparel much less warm. The necklines were so low as to become dangerous. The material was very thinâwhich perhaps explained her being so cold?âthough they were quite long; touching the ground in fact. She was dressed in a light blue color, while Rika was in a bright yellow. "I see your point. Well, they are certainly nice to look at. Who made yours?"
"The royal seamstresses, of course!" the guard looked sideways at her. "How long did you say you've been here? And where exactly are you from?"
"Um..." Aya looked to Rika, who had been staring into space.
"Not long," Rika temporized. "And I'm from Tokyo. She's from ."
"Where?" the guard looked confused. "I've never heard of those cities in my life!"
Rika gaped at him. "Where are we?! You must have heard of Tokyo! It's the capital!"
The guard frowned at her. "I know very well what the capital is. We're in Eiyo, capital of the Konan Empire."
"The Konan Empire?!" Rika squeaked. "Where the hell is that?!"
