Fantajī Senshi: The Sun of the Samurai

Yume no Naka no Mahō - (Magic in a Dream) - Part 2

In my dreams, my long flowing hair had been cut into whimsical like hair style that I had never seen before, and my once black hair turned burnt orange, like leaves that fall to the ground in autumn. I was standing in the middle of a forest with my bow at the ready and listening for the sounds of my target. I was poised to strike my target, and when a massive troll the size of a skyscraper came into view. The mammoth was pale, with a green undertone, piercing orange eyes, and large yellowish-brown teeth. I knew no fear, I arched my bow. My arrow followed the length of his body until it came to rest at the giant's temple. The beast screamed in agony and pulled the arrow out.

The troll frantically began to look around for the cause of his pain and his eyes rested on me. He uprooted a nearby tree and swung it at me. I dodged the blow and climbed onto his hand. Running up the length of his arm, I began to remount my bow. Getting on the troll's shoulders, I aimed my bow and arrow straight for its eye, the arrow seemed hungry for its target, so I let it go. The arrow soared through the air in seek of its target, and once it acquired its target, the troll reeled back in pain and held its eye. I jumped from the trolls' shoulder onto a nearby tree branch as I watched the troll flail around.

The troll plucked my arrow from its eye and threw it to the ground. I jumped from branch to branch to get to the forest floor as the troll smashed branch after branch that I had just previously been on. I was almost to the ground when the troll finally smashed the tree branch I had just landed on and sent me plummeting to the Earth. I dropped to the Earth with a thud. I backed into a tree, holding my hurt right leg and cradling my left arm. The troll staggered towards me with another tree branch in his hands. I felt defeated and scared. I closed my eyes and braced myself for my certain demise.

Suddenly, through the grunts and groans of the troll, I heard someone yelling my name. I opened my eyes and peered into the darkness. Three shadows were huddled over me, still calling my name. I jumped up and realized that I was still in the cellar on a twin mattress. I peered into the darkness at the three beings and nearly screamed when one reached out to me.

"Calm down, girl. Jeez," a brash, slightly familiar voice whispered. "We're in here for the same reasons I suppose you're here." I blinked a few times, and the face came into focus. I vaguely recognized the face and voice as one of the girls that Madam had thrown into the closet with me back at The Home. "Hey," the girl said, staring at me. "Aren't you the girl that was at Madam's Home?

When I didn't respond, she reached out and tried to touch my face. I recoiled from her touch and frantically began to look around. I recognized the other two shadowy figures as the cry baby from before and Kaeino, the girl that had drug me into the empty room at The Home. "What are ya'll doing here?" I asked.

"Well, after we broke out of the home, we were sleeping in a box in some alley when two guys grabbed us, tied us up and threw us down here." Kaeino said.

"Where is here?" I asked.

"We don't know." they answered in unison.

I walked around the cellar where we were to find a way out. I had never even dreamed of being adopted, let alone leave The Home at any time. I had been thrown into this cellar by my adopted parents, and I wanted out. I felt six eyes on me as I scoured the cellar for an escape. When I couldn't find one, I sat back down on the twin bed and brushed away a lone tear that escaped my eye. The three girls surrounded me, and all of us silently cried when the realization of no escape finally sunk in.

We all turned when we heard the squeal of the cellar door opening. My new adopted father clicked on a light bulb that was hanging from the ceiling and stood in front of us with a slight grin on his face. Something about him gave me an uneasy feeling, and I found myself huddled closely to the other three girls.