The halls were empty and quiet as the orange glow of the setting sun outside seeped through the tall windows that lined the deserted hallway. The silence was interrupted, however, by the loud bang of a door flying open and crashing into the stone wall behind it. A girl came stumbling out into the hallway, panting and holding her chest as if her heart was about to pop out of her.

In the large shadow the wall was creating, she seemed just like any ordinary girl with hair that reached down past her waist, and the customary uniform for Senmako high; a yellow, short sleeved top, and black miniskirt to go with the black neck tie holding her collar together. But when she wasn’t hidden in the shadows and the light hit her, her true colors were shown. Ten to be exact. Her hair was separated into long streaks, all of different colors. Pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and brown, in that order from right to left, made up the main part of her hair, going from the bangs covering her tightly shut eyes, down to her knees. The last two came in their own little groups. They were shorter but still long enough to touch her waist, and came down in front of her ears, next to her face. The right strand was the purest white that had ever existed, and it sparkled enthusiastically in the light. The left strand was the complete opposite, being pitch black. Nothing could possibly be darker.

The girl opened her silver eyes and panted, leaning against the wall for support. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her beautiful, yet mysterious face. The pain was overwhelming and she didn’t know how much longer she could take it. It really did feel like her heart was about to leap out of her chest.

“I have to get out of here,” she panted in a raspy voice. “I have to get off Senmako...”

The loud clanks of heavy, fast boots echoed off the corridor’s walls. It was soon accompanied with shouting. “Princess Celecia! Princess Celecia!!”

The girl grinned and let out a sigh of relief. “Anvari. Just in time.” Then she collapsed.

“Princess Celecia!” she heard the man’s voice cry out one last time before she completely blacked out.

~*~*~

“We have to get her off Senmako! Not only is it not safe for her here, but she’s suffering physically now too!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Anvari.”

“Your Majesty, I beg your pardon, but why not?!”

The voices were loud and just next to where the princess lay. As she came to, she realized she was laying on something very soft and comfortable. Then she was aware of the silk on her skin and the absence of the familiar poofy sleeves that went with her school uniform. ‘A night gown?’ she guessed, her eyes still closed shut, and body unmoving. ‘Where am I?’

“This is her home!” shouted a rough, low voice. “She’s protected by the strongest soldiers every day!”

‘Father?’

“But it’s not enough, I’m afraid, Your Majesty. She simply can’t survive here. If she stays on Senmako much longer she probably won’t live to be 18,” said a softer voice.

‘That one’s definitely Anvari,’ the princess confirmed with herself. She slowly opened her eyes, and regretted it immediately. Since she was completely awake now a sharp pain shot from her toes up to her heart. She sprang up into a sitting position with a loud gasp, holding her chest where it hurt, inevitably catching the attention of the other people in the room.

“Freedom! What’s wrong?” yelled a plump man in red silk robes with a golden crown on his head.

“It.. hurts.. my heart...” The princess, called Celecia by the man named Anvari and Freedom by the king, gasped.

“What hurts your heart?” the king asked gently, trying to sooth his daughter by rubbing her back.

“They want out... Dad,” she said, looking up at her father pleadingly. “Senmako is... suffocating them.” With a great force she smiled at the brown haired solider behind him. “Anvari’s right. I need to get off this planet.”

“But where will you go? There are no other planets near by that are suitable for life.”

“I have an idea,” Anvari spoke up. All the occupants of the small hospital room looked over at him, except for the princess who was in too much pain. But she was still listening intently as he said, “Earth.”

~*~*~

“Moriko Abshari! I swear to God, if you don’t get your priorities straight you’re going to be late every single day!”

“Sorry, Mom! I really am!” cried a 16 year old girl with dark brown, shoulder length hair, blue eyes, and the cutest, most innocent looking face in all of Nebraska. This morning’s clothes consisted of a purple short-sleeved top over a long sleeved green one, and large denim pants that looked like they might’ve been borrowed from a big brother - if she had one, that is. She hopped over to her mother, who was standing with the front door wide open, as she slipped on her left shoe. “But it’s getting so good! Turns out the maid that worked for the princess was really her childhood friend in disguise and he was going to propose to her and-“

“No buts!” her mother yelled. She glanced at the rather large purple book Moriko was carrying, and proceeded to sigh. “Well, go on. I want to keep your tardy record under 20 this year.”

Moriko nodded and saluted her parent. “Yes ma’am!” and with that, she was out the door, waving one last good bye before disappearing around the corner. As she jogged down the sidewalk she added one last thing to her appearance by tying a purple and green ribbon in her hair, trying to pass it off as a head band to keep those parts of her hair, that weren’t apart of the sloppily cut bangs on her forehead, out of her face.

A few minuets later she reached the front of the school. Spotting a few more kids unloading from cars or buses still, she smiled and began to chant, “I’m not going to be late today! I’m not going to be late today!” Sure enough as soon as she stuck one foot into her Geography class, the tardy bell rang.

“You’re lucky Miss Abshari. A millisecond later and I would have had to give you a tardy,” Mr. Mead said. “Well hurry up and sit down so we can get on with the lesson.”

Moriko obediently sat down in her assigned seat next to a large window with the blinds pulled halfway up. Almost immediately, just like every day before, she was tuning out the teacher’s lecture and staring down at the small courtyard below with longing in her eyes. In the center of the court yard was a large tree shading a small bench set for two. The leaves on the tree were browning, getting ready for the fall season. Some of the leaves had already begun to drift from their branches down to the soft green grass below. She was sure the birds that lived in the tree were singing happily, and carefree, though she wasn’t able to confirm it because the glass of the window was practically sound proof.

It was so peaceful outside, and just as Moriko was getting used to the setting, it changed. A boy appeared next to the tree, the leaves falling all around him and the wind teasing his hair and clothes – a large gray t-shirt and large brown working pants – a little. His short hair was dark, being kind of a faded black. But there were two exceptions. Two small stubs of hair came down in front of his ears; one pure white and the other so black nothing could match it. He was tall and skinny, and very beautiful in the current setting with the sun shining through the leaves and brightening his hair, making the white bang shimmer brighter.

Moriko’s eyes widened at the sight and she could feel her face grow hot. Then she watched as the mysterious boy left the court yard and entered the school. ‘Who was that?’ she asked herself, turning to look at her desk. From that point on she tried to focus on Mr. Mead’s lecture, with hardly any success.

Ten minuets later the door to the class room creaked open. The teacher fell silent and everyone looked to see the visitor. Moriko, who had dozed off, also looked up, and was suddenly very awake again.

“Urm.. Sorry to interrupt. Is this room H-16?” asked the boy with black, darker black, and white hair as he slowly entered the room. His voice was higher than most boys and seemed to have a sort of musical tune going along with it... In Moriko’s opinion at least.

“Yes, it says so on the tag outside the door,” Mr. Mead pointed out, studying the stranger closely. “What do you need?”

The boy walked up to the teacher with a little more confidence, knowing he had found the right room. “I’m Freedom Spirit. I just transferred here today.” He laughed a little nervously. “Sorry I’m late. It took a while to find the school.”

Mr. Mead tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. “Funny. I didn’t hear anything about getting a new student today.”

“Well, I have my schedule right here,” began the boy, Freedom, again as he dug through his pocket. He pulled out a neatly folded piece of white paper and handed it to the teacher.

Mr. Mead briefly skimmed over the contents and shrugged. “Yup. Well then.” He handed the paper back to Freedom and turned to the rest of the class. “Well guys, looks like we have a new student. So, be nice to... What was your name again?” he asked the boy.

“Freedom Spirit.”

“Yeah. Be nice to Mr. Spirit, okay?”

“Freedom?” piped a voice in the back of the class. Everyone turned to look at a plump kid with fuzzy brown hair. “What kind of name is that?”

The girl next to him, with long blonde pig tails, giggled. “Yeah. It sounds like a girl’s name.”

“Keaton, Marisa; if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all... Or I’ll send you to the principle’s office,” Mr. Mead warned. Without another word, and before the two trouble makers could say anything else he turned to the new kid. “Okay, you can have the vacant seat in front of Moriko. Moriko wave your hand.”

Moriko, who was still in shock to find out someone so handsome would be coming her class, and now even more shocked to learn he’d be sitting in front of her every day, had only enough strength to raise her hand up from the table with her elbow still supporting it.

Mr. Mead continued with his lesson as Freedom advanced across the room, with a gentle smile at his new neighbor, and sat down in his desk.

“I-I,” Moriko could only stutter as the boy turned to look at her with curious brown eyes. Though as he did she noticed that there seemed to be something not right about those eyes, like they didn’t belong there. And some how, with this thought in mind, she managed to whisper, “I’m Moriko Abshari. Urm, and don’t listen to Keaton or Marisa. I think you’re name is... nice...”

Freedom smiled happily at her. “Thanks. Nice to meet you Moriko.”

After class, as everyone was packing their notes and books back into their backpacks so they could move on to their next class, Mr. Mead approached Freedom and Moriko with a blank look on his face. “Moriko, why don’t you show our new student around the school? I’ll send e-mails to your next teachers to tell them you’ll be absent from their class today.”

Freedom smiled approvingly. “That’s a good idea.”

“Oh...Okay...” Moriko muttered as she felt her face turn a little pink again. So far, this day was turning out just great for her.

~*~*~

”This is the courtyard. It’s my favorite place in this whole school,” Moriko admitted as she walked out the doors of the school and across the green lawn to the tree in the middle. Freedom followed her, soaking in every word she said.

“It sure is beautiful. I was here earlier today,” Freedom said.

Moriko nodded and muttered under her breath. “I know.”

“What?”

“Er.. Nothing!” the brunette shouted defensively, with a forced smile. Changing the subject she pointed at the bench beneath the tree. “That’s called the Love Seat. It’s kind of like a school tradition for a couple to sit together under the tree when no one is around. There’s also this rumor I heard that if you’re in a fight and you sit under this tree together, your problems will be solved almost immediately. And any new couples that sit in it with in 24 hours of when they start dating are supposed to stay together at least all the way through high school.”

“That’s a nifty rumor,” Freedom laughed as he took a seat in the bench. He then patted the spot next to him and said, “Come on.”

Moriko’s face turned bright red. “N-no I couldn’t! We have to continue with the tour and-“

“Please? Only for a little while. I want to see what it’s like to sit on this bench with someone really cute.” His smile was innocent enough but Moriko wasn’t entirely convinced. None-the-less she hesitantly took a seat next to the new boy on the Love Seat, blushing like mad as she did so.

“Moriko! What do you think you’re doing?” cried a familiar snooty voice from the doors of the school. The couple looked up to see Keaton walk out into the court yard. “Are you cheating on me with that girly-boy?”

“What?” Moriko nearly whispered, cowering a little.

Keaton walked up to the bench and glared down at her. “You know what I mean. I’m a way better match for you than this loser.” He thrust a thumb in Freedom’s general direction. Then he turned to glare down at that same boy. “What do you think you’re doing hitting on my woman?”

“Er.. I... sorry. I didn’t know...”

“What kind of retard are you?” sneered the bully. “Everyone knows that Moriko is mine.”

“Keaton he’s new!” Moriko pleaded. “And anyway, I’m not-”

“New, shmew. He tired to steal my woman and now he’s going to pay!” Keaton rose a fist, and aimed at Freedom’s face. “This’ll teach you to go against me, pretty boy!”

Moriko panicked. She jumped up from her seat and got in between the two boys. Luckily the bully was quick enough to stop the fist before it made contact with her delicate nose.

“What are you doing, baby?”

“I’m not your baby!” Moriko suddenly screamed, catching all of them, even herself, off guard. “I don’t belong to you! You’re not my boyfriend!” Then, before she could stop herself, she yelled, “Freedom is my boyfriend!”

With Keaton frozen in shock, Moriko turned around, grabbed Freedom by the arm, and marched away with confidence she didn’t think existed.

When they were inside the school and a safe distance away from the bully, Moriko let go of the arm locked with hers, and her confident build fell back into a slump. A very, beat red slump. “I-I’m so sorry...” she said in a shaky voice, holding her head to try and hide the red in her cheeks. “I didn’t know what to do and I panicked and-“

“You called me your... ‘boyfriend’,” Freedom stated plainly.

“Y-yeah! I know! I’m sorry! I’ll take it back.”

“No,” said Freedom with a large warm smile, and little blush of his own. “It’s okay.”

Moriko stopped in her shock and looked up at Freedom who soon stopped a few steps in front of her. “What?” She asked.

“I’ll be your.. ‘boyfriend’.” As he said the words, the sun came out from behind a cloud and fell through the window, lighting his face and making him seem majestic.

All Moriko could do was nod shyly. “Yeah... Okay...”

They didn’t talk about it for the rest of the tour and didn’t see much of each other after that. The rest of the day was pretty normal for Moriko Abshari. The only exception was the giddy, happy feeling that seemed to follow her where ever she went.

~*~*~

That night Moriko sat on the small window sill next to her bed, deep in thought. “Freedom seemed like a nice guy,” she said allowed, though no one could hear her but herself. “I want to know more about him,” she admitted with a childish grin at how odd that sounded to say out loud. And finally, before curling into a ball and going silent, “I can’t wait to see him again.”

Then, out of no where, the dark night sky lit up in a multi-colored beam of light that shot up to the heavens. Moriko’s eyes grew wide at the sight. “What’s that?” she whispered to herself, mesmerized by the 10 different colors that it was made of.

Curiosity over took her and she snuck out of the house in her blue pajamas with white paw prints on them, and her mom’s large, raggedy white slippers. She followed the light all the way to Heppington Lake. As usual at this time of night the entrance was deserted. Moriko wasn’t really surprised that no one else had noticed the light in the sky because she lived in such a small neighborhood where the houses were a good distance apart, and it was so late at night.

When she stuck on foot on to the dock that would take her out to the lake where all the boats were parked the rainbow light vanished back down to Earth, almost like it had been a super hero beacon and Moriko was the super hero. This only got the teenager more curious, and she eagerly ran down the dock, eventually coming to the end where she saw 2 figures standing across from each other. The tension in the air was heavy, so, not wanting to be spotted, Moriko silently hopped into one of the boats near by and hid behind the steering wheel, peaking up out of it to spy on the two people.

One of them was completely covered in darkness. All she could see was something that looked like a very long ponytail riding in the wind, and in their hand was a long spear that was diagonally striped in the 10 colors that had previously lit up the sky. The other though was closer to her and Moriko identified the person immediately. “Freedom?” she gasped in amazement.

“I think it would be wise if you gave that weapon to me, Sir,” Freedom said in a formal tone, obviously trying to make his voice sound deeper and more masculine. He extended an arm out to the other person to claim the spear.

“Oh please!” the other person, who Moriko assumed from their voice, was also a boy, exclaimed. “Don’t play dumb with me, Freedom! I know who you are and I know that you know who I am. So if you want this spear, take off that goofy disguise and come fight me for it!”

“Ryder, I can’t!” Suddenly Freedom’s voice had gotten a lot higher. Even higher than it had been during the day. It sounded almost... feminine. “What if some one sees me? Besides, I can’t fight you, you’re my best friend.”

“No one’s around! And even if there was, are you willing to put your identity over the spear? How irresponsible. I already found out who you are, so what’s the point of pretending any more? And who said we were friends. I’m pretty sure the reason you’re on this pathetic planet at all in the first place was to protect you from me, wasn’t it?”

“Ryder...”

“Cut the crap and come fight me, Princess!”

Moriko’s body froze up. ‘PRINCESS?!’

Freedom had apparently given up on trying to reason with the boy and charged at him with a fist pulling ‘him’ along, eyes set on the spear. Ryder stood perfectly still until Freedom was 5 inches in front of him, and then he stepped to the side, grabbed the outstretched fist, and held it behind its owner’s back.. He lifted the spear and held it to Freedom’s neck. “You know what I want, Princess. Give it to me and I won’t kill you.”

‘Oh no, what do I do?!’ Moriko’s head screamed frantically. ‘I can’t just leave him.. her... er... Freedom there! I have to do something!’

“Let Freedom go!” she yelled, jumping out of the boat and onto the dock, running to the pair with her arms flailing around in the air wildly.

“Moriko?” Freedom was in shock, and it showed.

“Who’s that?” came Ryder’s curious voice from the shadow where he still stood. Freedom took his moment of distraction to elbow him in the stomach and escape his grasp. Moriko stopped running 2 feet from them, not wanting to get caught up in the physical battle so much.

Freedom lunged at Ryder, knocking him over so that he was on his back. The spear fell from his hand and rolled across the deck towards Moriko. She was able to grab it before it fell off into the lake, and held it close, protecting it with her life. She had no idea how it was so important, but apparently it was, and she figured it best that this ‘Ryder’ guy didn’t get a hold of it again.

“Moriko!” Freedom yelled. “Run away from here with the spear and don’t look back!”

“But-“

“It’s okay.” A reassuring smile spread across the young face. “I’ll be fine.”

Moriko hesitated, but nodded and turned to run back to her house. But she was stopped by Ryder’s fierce voice yell, “Not so fast!” In one quick moment Moriko watched a pale hand reach up from the shadows and grab hold of the pure black part of Freedom’s hair, and then yank down forcefully. And Moriko watched as the new ‘boy’ in her class turned into a girl right in front of her eyes.

The short black hair flooded down her back and the faded black dye was replaced with the 8 colors that were the natural colors of her hair. The white and black strands in front of her ears grew too, getting thinner as they did. Brown contacts shattered to reveal shining silver eyes. Her chest popped out from any binds previously holding them in, finally confirming her true gender.

Not missing a beat, Ryder yelled, “Come to me Demon! Give me your power!”

The black strand of hair on Freedom’s head shot from the length it had just settled at, and pierced through Ryder as though it were a blade. He yelled in agony, as blood poured from his new wound and shimmered in the moon light. But he also cried out in joy, for Moriko could finally see his face and see that he was smiling. She wasn’t prepared to take in any other part of his changing features though.

Two large, black, leathery wings sprouted out from his shoulder blades and reached up to the sky. They were spiked all along the edges, making them look more dangerous than they already did. His ears changed to that of a black goat’s, stretching out behind his head. Two large ram horns twisted out from the middle of his head and wrapped around his new ears. The long black hair previously held by a pony tail flowed freely as it got thicker and broke the rubber band holding it together. His nails were longer, very very sharp, and black. A scaly black tail came out from behind him as an extension to his spine and wrapped around his legs, being careful that the bladed tip didn’t touch him. Finally, his eyes turned to slits, pupils like that of a cat, and what looked like might’ve been light blue at one point were now dark red. Moriko was in horrified shock, and not able to move.

“Now, girly,” growled the new Ryder as he walked over to the petrified teen. He smiled showing off several rows of very sharp teeth. One clawed hand, covered in his own blood, reached out toward her. “Hand over the spear. I don’t have a lot of time, as you can see.” He nodded at the gaping hole in his chest, bleeding freely.

Half way there he stopped, obviously against his will as he grunted and frowned when it happened. Moriko and Ryder both looked down to see Freedom holding tightly onto one of Ryder’s ankles.

“Don’t... touch... my girlfriend...” she warned, though some of her energy seemed to have been drained since Ryder had acquired his new powers.

Even though Moriko knew perfectly well what gender Freedom was now, she still found herself blushing a little at the statement.

The rainbow haired girl yanked down with all her might so Ryder fell on his back, crushing his wings behind him. As the demon tried to untangle himself, his attacker crawled away from him and latched herself around Moriko’s ankle. In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

~*~*~

Moriko opened one eye, then the other. A familiar ceiling was above her with a familiar ceiling fan hanging down from it and turning slowly. Familiar sheets, familiar wallpaper, familiar window, familiar bed. Moriko sat up, taking everything in. Yup, this was her room alright. However, something was not right. There was an unfamiliar lump next to her in the bed. She looked down to identify said lump.

A head poked out from under the covers. It was peaceful and was breathing easily. Rainbow hair was sprawled out behind it, falling down the side of the bed and over her body and the pillow.

“Freedom?”

The sun leaked in through the window and made the princess’s face glow. Moriko cracked a shaky smile. “She really is beautiful.”

She was careful not to wake her guest as she got out of bed. It was still really early so school wouldn’t start for another couple of hours. She got dressed into a faded pink tank top, denim jacket, and smaller jeans than the day before, again wrapping her hair up in the same purple and green ribbon, not really caring if it matched or not. She even made herself a decent breakfast for the first time in ages. Her morning routine seemed to go at a much slower pace than usually required.

When all was done, she went back to her room with a plate of eggs and toast, and sat at her desk. With time left to spare and not wanting to wake Freedom up yet, she grabbed the book laying there and began to do what she did best – read.

An hour before school, silver eyes cracked open to the bright sun. Freedom moaned and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Moriko’s head shot up from her book, which she slammed down on her desk in an instant, turning to face her beautiful guest. “Um, Free- er- Y-Your highness?” Freedom looked over at the brunette with a sleep still apparent on her face. Moriko quickly grabbed the plate of food she had brought up and thrust it toward the princess. In a rushed voice she said, “Here! I made you some breakfast!”

A thankful smile spread across Freedom’s face as she took the plate. “Thank you... And I would prefer it if you didn’t call me that – Your Highness, I mean. Here, I’m no princess. I’m just Freedom. Regular Freedom Spirit, school boy, 17 years old.” She took a bite from her toast.

“I don’t understand,” Moriko murmured. “Why are you dressing up as a guy?”

Freedom swallowed. “Well, the idea was so no one from Senmako could recognize me at all. Originally I was just going to cut and dye my hair and wear contacts, but my father decided to take it to another extreme and have me pose as the opposite sex too.” She picked up a fork from the desk Moriko sat at and began eating the eggs.

“Senmako? I don’t think I’ve heard of that city... or country...,” Moriko pointed out.

Freedom chuckled. “Oh course you haven’t. It’s a completely different planet.”

Moriko was, needless-to-say, taken aback by this. She didn’t say anything about it though. Her eyes then began to wander from Freedom to the spear propped up against her wall. She noticed, that now it only had 9 colors on it. Black had disappeared.

“I’m the princess of Senmako,” Freedom went on to explain. “And as such, when I was born I had 10 empty slots inside my body that were occupied by 10 other souls that were not my own. They currently reside in my hair, if you’ll believe me. Each soul has it’s own color, and each color has it’s own intelligent species that it represents. These 10 souls are the symbols of our nation.”

“What do you mean by intelligent?”

“On Senmako, humans aren’t the only intelligent beings. There are also demons, mermaids, fairies, vampires, phoenixes, centaurs, dragons, unicorns, elves, and there’s 1 angel...” Freedom took a bit of her toast and chewed it before going on. “Anyway, I eventually came to a point in my life where my body was starting to have difficulty housing 11 different souls.”

Moriko nodded. “Yeah, I can see how that’d be a problem.”

Freedom nodded too, and then continued. “I had two options, get rid of the souls right then and there, or leave Senmako and go to a planet with hardly any magical energy. To get rid of them, I would have to transfer them to someone else’s body. It’s much easier to house 2 souls than 11, so any one I picked would be okay and would stay in good health. But all the people previously chosen to take on the spirits before hand weren’t ready, so I had to take option 2 and leave my home. Here, the souls won’t react to every single leaf with just a speck of magic in it.”

Moriko blinked, trying hard to let all the new information sink in. Finally she asked, “Why are you telling me all this?”

Freedom looked up at her and smiled. “Because we’re going to be married.”

This had the same effect on Moriko that it would on pretty much anyone else on Earth. “U-uh... What are you talking about?! You said you would by my boyfriend, but that’s really possible anymore since you’re not a boy...”

“Yeah. Boyfriend. Isn’t that the Earth word for fiancé?” Freedom asked curiously.

“No! Fiancé is the Earth word for fiancé! A boyfriend is just someone you like and want to be around.”

“So they’re the same, right?”

“Harldey!”

Freedom grinned. “Well I’m sure it’ll be okay. I could get used to being your ‘boyfriend’.”

“But you’re not a BOY!”

“Either way, it looks like we’re stuck together now.” Freedom reached out a hand to pat Moriko on the head to calm her down. “I can’t wait to show you my home world!”

Moriko sighed in defeat. “How did I get myself into this?” With further reflection the past conversation she began to find her self laughing at the craziness of it all. Freedom giggled, as laughing was contagious.

From that day on, Moriko Abshari’s life would never be the same.

TO BE CONTINUED...