Hitomi is an ordinary schoolgirl with a crush on Amano, the leader of her track team. She encounters Van, a young prince who has crossed through a portal from another world to slay a dragon. After saving Van's life, Hitomi is transported to his world, Gaea, where she discovers that her destiny is entwined with his. Despite her heart still leaning towards Amano and later Allen, a brave knight who strikingly resembles Amano, she finds herself inextricably linked to Van’s fate.
Stranded in Gaea with no clear way back home, Hitomi realizes that her hobby of reading tarot cards has become eerily accurate. Her readings provide vivid visions of both past and future events, shedding light on the war-torn world she now inhabits. In the 1994 manga, Hitomi's character remains largely consistent. She is a schoolgirl infatuated with an older student named Amano, and she enjoys reading tarot cards. She experiences strange dreams about a prince from another realm. During an earthquake, her soul is drawn to this other world, Gaea, and placed within an energist crystal to give her a human form. Through the energist, Hitomi gains the power to control the mech Escaflowne alongside Prince Van, and together they embark on a quest to save both Gaea and Earth from impending destruction.
