A Second Memory

I was running down a long hallway in black clothes, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it for too long. As I ran, spears suddenly flung out of the wall. I twisted and contorted in all manners to avoid being impaled by the sharp tips. I did not know how I knew, but the spears were laced with a mild poison. Even the slightest scratch would put me out of commission for some time.

I weaved and bobbed to avoid the spears until I broke through to a weapon-free section of the hallway. Two doors stood tall at the end of it. I didn’t slow down as I came in close and held my palms forward.

The doors were pushed open with a heavy blow. As soon as they were opened, two daggers flew at my face. I had a sense of nostalgia as I fell to my knees and slid my way into the room. The blades harmlessly flew back into the awful hallway.

I looked forward from where the daggers had come while a slow clap echoed through the room. In front sat three people. In the center was my mother, the leader of our clan. She was an unusually tall and imposing woman to who I bore no resemblance.

To her right was my younger sister, my mother’s favorite, and to her left was an armored man who wore a smiling oni mask. He had been the one to throw the daggers at me. The man moved his mask to the side to reveal his grey hair and beard. He had a smile that stretched ear to ear, much like the mask he had removed.

“You’ve done well, Kiko; I think it is finally time,” my mother said with the lower half of her face obscured by a hand fan. I moved into a kneeling position as she spoke to me.

“I could go too, mother!” my younger sister protested as she crossed her arms. My mother chose to ignore her younger daughter and keep speaking to me.

“You should already be aware of the recent upheaval. The current emperor has become comatose, and his son, about your age, has taken up the position to lead this empire.”

“Yes, mother,” I affirmed.

“Good. What you are not aware of is that a member of our clan inflicted the emperor's current state. We can confirm that he will indeed perish within the month. As for the young head, he is requesting new guards from our group. You will be tasked with guarding the head for the next few years; Nobuyuki will be accompanying you.”

The smiling Oni jumped and turned to my mother. He opened his mouth to speak, but a sharp glance from her closed it immediately after.

“Yes, mother,” I said obediently.

“The young emperor will take time to grow. We will ensure that his teachers mold him correctly, but you will be responsible for taking his life if that fails. Do you understand, Kiko?” My mother asked.

“Yes, mother,” I said once again.

It was then that my eyes opened. I was staring at the dark grey wood which made up the roof of my little cottage in the world between worlds. I groaned and sat up.

That had been another dream which seemed to be a memory. Yet, could I take it as fact? I think the mother in my second dream had not been the one in my first. It would have been best to write down the events of the first, but as I lacked paper, the second was going to get the same treatment.

From what I recalled, the mother in my first dream had perished. The smiling Oni seemed to be a consistent thread between them. Was that enough to make the obvious assumption? That the tall woman who I called mother was not my real mother?

True enough, I hadn’t felt any motherly love from her in the dream, but with my memories confused, who could say what was real and what was fiction. The moment seemed to play to me like a moving picture, but none of the feelings that would have been associated was left. Though I was at risk of death in the hallway, I felt none of the thrill or fear that would generally be associated.

I rubbed my hair vigorously. My head ached just by trying to think about it. Why had I even forgotten things in the first place? I tightly clenched my fists. A strong desire to hit something, anything, welled up within me. Eagerly I grabbed some smaller daggers and went out into the grey woods.

The light had faded with the ‘invisible sun.’ I could not be sure that the description was accurate, but it was the best way to explain the dark sky. There were no stars or moons in the area, so I quickly lit a torch and made my way into the woods.

The orange light seemed to seep into the grey scene making the whole space a duller shade of the fire's color. I didn’t travel long; my only desire was to find a tree on which I could safely put the torch on without risking it falling or lighting the wood on fire.

Once the torch was fastened between two branches, I got to work throwing my tiny daggers at the tree. They made soft ‘thunk’ sounds as they hit and dug in the tree. When I ran out, I collected my blades and returned to throw them again. I quickly went through several techniques of throwing styles. Holding the edges in several spots and making it so they spun or flew straight.

The movement came naturally, most likely due to the apparent training I had if the dream was to be taken as fact.

I threw the blades over and over until my breath was heavy. It gave me a strangely satisfying feeling. When I had thrown my last blade, I sat down and relaxed. All there was left to do was collect my weapons and return to my cottage. I would have gotten up quickly, but a croaking sound suddenly caught my ear.

I turned to view the source. It had clearly been from an animal, but I had not expected what I saw.

A frog sat in the woods several paces away from where I did. It had a green color with black eyes, which in itself was not unusual. What did seem strange was that the animal's skin glowed as brightly as the torch on the tree. A contrasting green seemed to light up the grey world in challenge to the orange.

I stared at the creature, but neither of us moved. It seemed harmless enough and was a little cute, so I reached out a hand to it.

“Come here,” I said.

The frog did not move but continued to stare at me. I was hoping to get it to come in close and capture it. Given its color and lighting features, I imagined it would be unwise to touch it directly, but if I wrapped something around it, I expected I would be fine.

Ideally, if it was poisonous, I could line the tips of my daggers, which might come in handy. Perhaps I could keep it as a pet if it was not toxic. If I had to guess, the creature came from another world as I had. I suppose that is why I did not find the glowing nature strange. Compared to Pythagoras and Casey, this frog was relatively tame.

I was unsure if frogs could make a skeptical look, but this particular creature's eyes seemed to make a careful squint as it looked up and down at me. After a moment of holding out my hand, it turned away from me and hopped off. The glow seemed to shut off immediately as I let out a disappointed sigh.

I collected my blades and headed back to my cottage.