While cooking with the children she remembered the first time she got here.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
Of an unfamiliar room.
The ceiling floors and walls were all made from wood, like in a traditional home.
This wasn't her apartment in Ferbus, nor the woods.
Where was she now? Did she die and end up in another body again?
She closed her eyes.
"Ey, ey! I saw you clearly opened your eyes, why are you closing them?" The agitated voice of a boy.
She opened her eyes and looked to the source of the sound at the door.
A young red-haired boy with dark brown eyes and a weird red mark on his forehead stood glaring at her, he seemed to be somewhere around 10 or 12.
"You've been sleeping on my bed for a month now! Because of you, I have to share with Old man Jian and he snores!"
WHAM!
An older boy landed a fist on top of the younger boy's head.
"Cut it out Ji Hong!"
"But I want my bed!"
WHAM!
"Ow!"
The older lad had dark brown hair that was half up in a ponytail, he wore silver earrings and was dressed in a thin brown robe. His face was quite pleasing to the eyes but Song Anna's mind was too empty to even process it.
"What are the two of you doing making so much noise?" A bespectacled lad in mint green around the same age as the older boy joined them and peered into the room.
"Oh, she's awake."
"What're you guys doing over here?! GET LOST!" Before any further words could be exchanged, a red-haired girl yelled from down the hall and began to attack the three.
"Get out! Get out! Get out! Damn perverts!"
Song Anna's eyes widened.
So loud! What was all the fuss about?
When she tried to sit up she realized as the sheets rolled off her body, that the only thing she was wearing at the moment were bandages and her underwear. They were wrapped around her chest. She tried peeling off a piece of it, only for a hand to stop her.
The loud red-haired girl had returned.
"Don't! I just changed those!"
"O-oh!" Startled, Song Anna wore an apologetic expression and eased back into bed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. My name is Ji-Ah, You were found half-dead in the forest. Do you have a name or a family we could contact?"
Recalling her dead parents, fear seized Anna. What if the emperor sent assassins back to kill her? No, don't be silly, as long as he didn't know there was a survivor there was nothing to fear... So many bodies were buried in that forest...
"My name is Qing(green) Anna, I was traveling by myself when I saw something I shouldn't have and got shot."
Still, better safe than sorry.
"Something you shouldn't have?"
"Rich people being hunted by men in black. It was awful..." She donned a frightened and feeble expression. Her skin actually paled. Eyes moistened, hand hoisted to her cheek. It was a convincing act. Back home, the members of Or as well as her sister nicknamed her Grammy for her acting skills.
"Oh seriously, traveling alone by yourself is a terrible idea!" Ji-ah scolded then sighed.
"Eh?" Anna donned a look of innocence and confusion as she tilted her head. "But... that's normal for me!"
"A pretty girl like you roaming around without running into any trouble." The stranger seemed like the type to become irritable when she was worried. For a split second, she was reminded of her older sister.
"It's not like that... up till now, I've always been a fast runner.
Jia looked at her as if she was a lost cause.
"You're lucky you haven't died sooner living like that!"
"Ehehe... I get that a lot." (* u *)\
"Stay here, I have to go talk to Grandfather about what to do with you, he's the one who runs this place."
"Oh, that's okay! I can leave-
"Don't be ridiculous!" Jia barked at her, her brown eyes narrowed into slits. "Don't even think of leaving this bed! Haven't you learned your lesson?! Just how long do you plan on living like that?!"
Anna blinked at her. Jia was definitely the no-nonsense older sister type of character. Song Lina wouldn't get that angry. She couldn't help wondering if her sister made it out of the forest okay. She just smiled.
"Then, I'll do that." (^ u ^)
Jia eyed her sternly on her way out.
"Stay!" She eyed her warily as if she was a disobedient pup.
Once she was gone, Anna looked around the room, it didn't have much. Just a wood desk and chair, a dresser and mirror.
She gazed at her reflection.
The Song Anna of this world originally had black hair and eyes but right now her hair and eyes took on a greenish tinge. Her irises especially became a Xanadu green color, in her first body, her eyes were a hazel green.
How strange, it's as if both her appearances had merged creating this murky color.
Still, at the very least, she looked different from the Song Anna of this world. She closed her eyes and held her chest in relief. She was pretty much a different person already. Though if she got questioned about her identity, who would know?
Song Anna was a child always tucked away inside her home. The only people who should know her face aside from her Father, Mother, and family were her maids.
Outside, through the window, the shadows of small people flickered past.
Children were running around the sounds of their screams and laughter trickled into the room, along with the rays of the sun. Was it morning? They seemed to be playing a game that looked like they were passing around the ball with their feet.
The kicks were fluid and their passes were rhythmic, bouncing back and forth from child to child. It was obvious they had a good foundation in the martial arts department. As expected of this monstrous world, the people were groomed to be dangerous from a young age.
"Okay." Jia returned with a big grin on her face.
"Grandfather has given you the okay to stay here, you can move into our room. Starting as of today there are only three girls here now."
"Three?"
"The second person is Juju."
"Oh...okay."
"You can wear this for the time being." She handed her a pink dress and helped her change into it before leaving the room. Out in the hall, Anna couldn't help noticing a bit of red hair disappearing around the corner.
"Isn't that...?"
"That's Ji Hong, my younger cousin, you'll probably run into Ji Zha later, he's my older brother, he's like an older version of Ji Hong only ten times more annoying!"
Anna listened to Jia's rant with a polite smile.
Anna chopped onions with the same smile. Scraped them off a board and into a frying pan.
"Sister what should we do with this?"
"Hmmm? Ah put it in."
She watched the little hands scrape it into the pot, their little faces concentrated and her heart warmed.