http://clampfix.fanworks.net/guests/fushigip.txt </head><body><pre>Fushigi Yuugi -The Fabulous Adventure" Prelude to the Journey by: Jennifer L. Mondazzi June 28th, 1997 (((EIGHT DAYS BEFORE MIAKA YUUKI AND YUI HONGO ENTER THE TOKYO NATIONAL LIBRARY))) "Hazumi-chan, Aiko-chan, where are you?" Akiko Yuji, a new substitute teacher hired on by the Konan Elementary School, searched frantically through the Tokyo National Library to find her missing fourth-grade students. Silently, as she moved past the throngs of people, she berated herself on her lack of attention. The loss of the best students in her class was sure to be an excuse for termination, and that would be the "Big Guarantee" for no future employment. She'd have to marry then, and spend her life as a housemaker, never to become the career woman that she longed to be -- like most American women already were. Of course, such conjecture was clearly tripled by her hysteria, but for Ms. Yuji, her hypothetical scenario seemed a very real possibility. Hurrying past the clerks and into the Head Librarian's office, Akiko-san asks for some extra assistance... Meanwhile, in a seemingly deserted corner of the Library, up a long flight of steps, the door to the Important Documents Room opened quietly as a stranger entered. Soon afterwards, a brillant white light emitted forth through the cracks in the doorway, and then slowly faded out, until it was no more... Minutes later, Meiji Chai, a young part-time clerk at the Library, was taking his break and headed off towards the juice machine to get a drink. He fumbled in his pockets for change, and accidentally dropped his 100 yen piece. Bending down to pick it up, he stopped. From somewhere, he heard the muted sounds of a young girl, screaming. Looking up, he noticed that the door to the old archived books room was unlocked and swaying on its hinges gently. As if in a trance, he climbed the steps, and stopped. Blinking out of his euphoria, reacting on instinct, Meiji peeked open the door, and stuck his head in. The room was pitch dark, but the scent of dry dust and molding parchment assailed him immediately. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" Hearing no answer, he opened the door farther, turned on the light, and stepped into the room. Lying in the middle of the floor, wide open, was an ancient, yellowing book. Meiji walked towards it, and knelt down by its side, turning the book over to read its title. "The Four Gods of Sky and Earth?" A sudden loud noise in the quiet room startled him, drawing his attention away. There, in the back corner of the room, something was moving. Curious, and feeling a little brave, Meiji headed towards it, carrying the book with him . Walking the length of the room, however, and down each stacked row of books, he saw no one. Sighing, he shrugged it off. "Stupid mice. Should'a called the exterminators a long time ago." With another thought, he quickly checked his watch for the time and promptly panicked. "Man, I'm late!" Finding an empty spot on a shelf, he put the mysterious book back, making his way to the door. Unconsciously, he turned back once more, his eyes drawn to the shelf where the strange book was resting quietly. He felt a strange, momentary temptation to go back and pick it up, but he reluctantly restrained himself. Turning off the lights, he shut the door behind him, and took off running down the steps. "Hazumi Ummei, Aiko Takowa - answer me! Where are you girls?" Ms. Yuji glanced at the crowded library entrance, and out onto the street, hoping that her student hadn't wandered out of the building. On the verge of tears, the young teacher chewed on her bottom lip, and stopped moving, scanning the room. Suddenly, someone bumped into her, knocking her forward. A young man turned his head back and mumbled a half-felt, "Sorry, m'am. I'm late!" and continued on past her. She ignored him, straightening once more, and concentrated on finding her student. She tried calling out again. "Hazumi-chan! Aiko-chan!" <Where on Earth could they be?> Being late back to work was the worst thing Meiji could have done. His records indicated a constant tardiness, and so, it was with great enthusiasm that his Supervisor, the crabby old Ms. Pei, fired him. Meiji only remembered much later that he forgot to check if the door to the Important Documents Room had locked behind him...but then, he reminded himself, it wasn't his job anymore. Shrugging it off, Meiji decided to go hang out with his friends downtown at the American Kohei Cafe. The popular new hang-out had opened up only last week, and everyone who was anyone tended to congregate outside of the shop, mostly to meet new people and to talk with old friends. It was definately one cool spot. Whistling as he skipped along down the sidewalk, Meiji felt a fresh resurgance of life and energy enter him. Maybe getting fired wasn't such a bad thing. It freed up some time for him to finish his pet-project -- fixing up an old, rusted Vespa motorscooter, which he had bought at a yard sale last year, but had never gotten around to working on. He could spend extra time on his studies and get ahead, maybe even graduated earlier than he had planned. Or maybe he'd take some time out for a real social life. Maybe he would meet a pretty girl at the Cafe, and sit down to talk with her! Meiji quickened his step, excitement coursing through his veins, looking forward to what the future might hold for him... After all, who didn't need a little more adventure in their life? TO BE CONTINUED..... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Author's Notes: NOTE 1: This fanfic will be several parts long. Here's the prelude to the story. It is a crossover between Fushigi Yuugi and several CLAMP stories (including RG Veda, Tokyo Babylon, X, Wish and others). It picks up after episode 28 of Fushigi Yuugi, discounting all of the other episodes which follow it, including the OAVs (in otherwords, it's an alternate ending to the story, with additional new characters). NOTE 2: Time works differently in the world inside the book (as anyone who watches the story will tell you). I've tried to figure out the difference, and I think I came up with it finally! Follow this logic if you dare: Miaka had returned to Tokyo the first time (ep. 6) 2 hrs. after she had left originally (her friends say this in the show). Since school got out around 2pm, I figured that meant that she arrived in Tokyo again at 4pm. Between 4pm and 9pm, she had returned home, ate dinner, explained everything to her brother, made her decision to go back into the book, and quickly packed her things. Around 9:30pm, she headed for the Tokyo National Library, and by about 10pm, she had reentered the book (with her brother having witnessed this, of course). Now, when Miaka arrives back in Konan, Hotohori and Nuriko tell her that 3 months have passed, while only approximately 6 hours had passed in Tokyo. Using that time frame, I have calculated that 24 hours in Tokyo ~ 12 months (1 year) in Konan. Therefore, 8 years will have passed in Konan Country between this incident in the library (the Prelude), and Miaka's entrance into the world of the book (I will not cover this incident, since the anime covers it just fine all on its own). NOTE 3:Fushigi Yuugi is the property of Yuu Watase (original author), Shougakukan, and Da Ran Publishing, 1993. All other characters and events of this story are the property of Jennifer Mondazzi, copyright 1997. </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>