Anna and Ranko

A Meeting of Fate

"Ma'am! Do you have any food!?"

Anna was now in complete overwork mode now. The small orphanage had already been extremely overcrowded to begin with. What with a dozen soldiers of the Asgarnarian Military staying over, all of them demanding copious amounts of food, Anna was fearful that they would empty the food storage before the end of the week.

Her limited salary at her jobs didn't offer nearly enough money to supply this kind of eating force.

The soldiers were loud, rowdy, and messy.. laughing around in the dining room and drinking beer while the only sober man in the room.. their captain.. a bald tan skinned man with a beard, watched silently.

"N-now.." said another nun.. an old gray haired lady who was related to St. Lily, known as Ms. Bristles to the orphans. "How are you enjoying your stay?". She was supposed to be the money handler for the entire orphanage.. but her greed surpassed her compassion for children by a fair amount, so all the money donated to the orphanage would be hoarded for her personal gain while Anna was forced to buy everything..

It could be seen why Ms. Bristles was nervous.. if the captain of this regiment found out about the money incident, she could be hauled off and executed.

Anna would then feel guilty. Not because Ms. Bristles getting executed was her fault in any way, but because she would actually feel happy that Ms. Bristles was gone..

Out of everyone in the Orphanage, Bristles was the cruelest to Anna. Whenever Anna made dinner wrong in the slightest way, she would drag her down to the basement of the Orphanage, screaming.. and whip her with a belt, before locking Anna downstairs for the night..

Which was why Anna was brimming with fear.. her hands trembling like a tree in a hurricane as she tried to make every plate of food absolutely perfect..

As she laid down the plates for dinner... none of the orphans called her names or insulted her this time.. they were drilled to act polite when guests were over.. not that they didn't insult or call Anna names after the guests left..

Anna just couldn't wait until Bristles dismissed her.. that way she could go up to her room to read her only source of entertainment..

It was her greatest secret.. but she had a relic from the old 21st century. Any publications or objects and texts from before the 30th century were expressly forbidden in Asgarnar. The last time a little old man had been discovered with a Huckleberry Finn novel... he had been executed.. another little boy had been executed for possessing a playable disc of an animation called Sword Art Online just the week before.. any media before the 30th century had always been considered poison to the mind.. and those with poisoned minds had to be eliminated before the poison spread..

Anna's relic.. was a well preserved hard cover copy of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone.. It was the only thing she had to read.. but she didn't care, as she felt she could relate very well to Harry. Left on the doorstep of people who didn't want him.. treated like he was dirt from the moment he was born.. his own relatives forgetting his birthday..

As it so happened.. Anna's 14th birthday had been yesterday.. and the only one who had remembered, Pebbles.. laid in her lap and purred for an hour as her birthday present to her master.

Anna didn't mind.. she was glad somebody remembered.. and Pebbles was cute when she purred.

In any case.. Anna would be patient for now.. and try not to mess up.. and once it was all over.. she could go back to a world of magic where she wasn't being dragged into a basement.

And so Anna watched.. nervously, as the soldiers took their bites.

"Mmmm.." the captain nodded. "It's very good.. for a small orphanage, your food is exceptional.. the seasoning's perfect.. I must say."