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Zero no Tsukaima

Back to Halkeginia

Chapter 1. Transfer

Fate struck mercilessly and unexpectedly, in the middle of the ocean road between Korea and Japan. JAL flight 381 was at a height of almost 10,000 meters when it happened ...

Everything went on board as usual. Some of the passengers slept, others had drinks or snacks brought to them.

In row 38 there seemed to be a small family - a young Japanese, a woman and a baby basket with a baby in it. All the while, furtive glances had struck the young woman, thouse were probably due to her appearance. She was small and daintily built, with flat breasts that were barely visible under her dress. She had a very cute face, somewhat rounded, with big eyes and an energetic protruding chin. What struck her most was her long hair, which shone in an unlikely pink. The astonished looks must have been mainly on this hair color - how could someone color her beautifull hair in this strawberry color?

The baby basket was between the two, and the two adults were talking in a low voice. If someone had listened, they would have understood nothing of the exchange of words, but would immediately have been reminded of an ancient French.

... when it quickly got dark around the plane. The cabin lights flickered, there was a crackle in the cabinspeakers, and a voice - probably that of the pilot - said in Japanese: "No need to worry, ladies and gentlemen. We are currently flying through the umbra of an Eclypse, which was known to have been announced for this time and hour for the central Pacific. Enjoy this natural spectacle - due to our speed it will not last long. Thank you for your attention."

The announcement was then repeated again in English.

The young Japanese and his wife looked at each other. They seemed worried. The young man asked: "Did you know about this Eclypse, Louise?"

"No, Saito. English was spoken to us in Korea, which I don't understand very well. And I'm still having trouble with the characters. "

The young Japanese shrugged. "And I was so busy negotiating that I hardly noticed anything from the outside world. And in the evening - you know how tired I was. I could only give you the good night kiss and was immediately gone. "

"Dear Brimir, I just hope that we don't fly towards the sun ..."

Unfortunately, that was exactly the case. The sun rose in the east, beyond Japan, and at the same time pushed the moon over the sun. The umbra started its journey across the Pacific, and JAL flight 381 moved right into it.

There was an unsubstantial shimmer, and the plane was gone as if it had never existed.

                                                                                          ~~

The windows suddenly grew bright. The umbra of the Eclypse was gone, as if it had never existed. Louise, who was sitting at the window, was briefly blinded and closed her eyes. "No ...!" She whispered.

Saito got up to look out the window. He too was blinded and narrowed his eyes. The brightness was merciless.

It was not different in the cockpit of the plane, the abundance of light dazzled the pilots, even though the sun was suddenly behind them. The position of the sun was also much steeper than the time of day. There was blazing brightness around the plane. But something else frightened the men even more ... An alarm started beeping and the copilot looked at the displays. "GPS is gone, TACCAN too. We have no more navigation!"