Hitomi is a typical high school girl, with typical problems, who reads tarot cards for her friends and nurses a crush on the track star Amano. As she runs on the school track, Hitomi has a vision of a young man battling a dragon. Her life changes forever when this becomes a reality. Hitomi and Van, the young warrior, are carried off to the mysterious world of Gaea, with its odd mixture of advanced technology and medieval culture. Hitomi watches as Van is crowned King of Fanelia, and then another of her visions comes true - Fanelia is destroyed by an army of monstrous robot-suits called 'Guymelefs'. Van and Hitomi escape in Escaflowne, a legendary super-Guymelef. In the kingdom of Asturia, they meet Allen Schezar, a gallant knight who resembles Amano. They also encounter the villainous Dilandau, who destroyed Fanelia at the orders of the evil emperor of the Zaibach Empire. Although Asturia is allied with Zaibach, Dilandau attacks the small kingdom, forcing everyone to flee.