Hitomi is an ordinary school-girl with a crush on her track-team leader, Amano. She meets and saves the life of Van, a young prince from that crossed a portal from a different world in order to slay a dragon. Transported to Van's world, Gaea, she finds her fate is intertwined with his, even if her heart still belongs to Amano and later Allen, a gallant knight who bears an uncanny resemblance to Amano.

Lost in Gaea with no apparent way to return home, Hitomi finds that her hobby of tarot card reading is becoming frighteningly accurate, complete with visions of both the past and future that shed light on this new, war torn world.

In the 1994 manga, Hitomi is mostly similar. She's a school-girl with a crush on an older student, Amano. She's into tarot card reading, and has strange dreams about a prince from another world. During an earthquake her soul is brought to that other world, Gaea, and placed in an energist crystal to give her a human form. Through the energist, Hitomi gains powers to control the mech Escaflowne together with Prince Van, and they set out to save Gaea, and the Earth, from destruction.