As we passed through a green meadow, Asuka stretched her arms out,"Finally, no more forests in this route!"
"Are you that much fed up with woods?" Hotaru asked.
"Yeah, of course!"
I giggled at her words.

As we moved forward, a small village came in sight.

"Hey look, a village," Hotaru pointed. We went closer. The village was small and pretty quiet. In fact, too quiet.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Silence.
"Excuse me?"
"Wait...wait up!" We heard a voice.
"Huh?"

A little girl came out of the village. She was following a ball that was rolling towards us. I picked it up and handed it back to the girl.

She took the ball and smiled at us.

"Thank you, Miss!" she said.
"You're welcome."
"My name is Junko. And you?"
"I am Natsu. And these are my friends Asuka and Hotaru...By any chance do you know why we can see no one in this village?"

A sad expression crossed her face.

"That's because I live here all alone."

What?! A little girl living in a village all by herself?

"But how can that be possible? Doesn't any adult live here? Where has everyone gone?" Many questions popped in my head one after another and I asked her each one of them.

"Long ago, the dark witch had attacked this village because she thought that we had a hidden treasure here. I still remember that day very clearly...my parents were killed in front of me and all the adults and other children died that day..."

I clasped my hands on my face in horror. So did my friends. Kiyomi...how could you do this?

"Luckily, I hid in the basement of my house so no one found me..." She let out a sad sob.

I hugged her. She held me tightly and cried heavily. A tear formed in the corner of my eye.

"Can you help me with one thing?" Junko asked.

"Yes, what is it?" I looked up.
"I have lost my doll since that day. It was the last gift that my parents gave me...could you help me find it?"
"Of course we will," I smiled.

We started looking for the doll. I went inside every house to search for it. Asuka and Hotaru looked at every corner outside but could not find it. Finally, all four of us gathered outside one of the houses, unable to find the missing doll.

"Natsu!" Asuka suddenly cried out. "That stupid scroll! Let's ask if it knows where we can find the doll!"
"Good idea."

I took out the scroll.

"Where can we find Junko's doll?"

At first I thought that the scroll won't reply but then, a writing appeared on it:

"Go straight ahead
And don't look behind...
Search under the big green life
That's where you will find..."

The big green life?
What is that now? Some sort of beast?

"Junko, do you know any creature that is big and green?" Hotaru asked the little girl. "No, I don't," she answered.

We headed off in search of the said creature. We looked here and there but couldn't find anything. As we became tired, we rested under a tree.

"What is something that is big, green and has life?!" Asuka cried out.
"Hmm...green...and has life?" I looked above me at the sunlight peeking from the gaps of the tree.
A tree...?
A tree!

"A tree!" I cried out. "What?" My friends stared at me.
"Junko is there any large tree nearby?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's on the outskirts of the village. But I never looked there."
"Great, let's go search there," I said.

We went to the large tree and what do we see there? The doll!

"My doll!" The girl went up and picked up the doll. She hugged it dearly. She turned to us and smiled.

"Thank you very much! Now I can finally rest in peace..." Her body started glowing.
"Huh? What is happening to you, Junko?"
"I am sorry to say this...but I'm nothing more than a spirit, a ghost..."

We gasped. A spirit? Ghost?

"But you said that you survived that attack!" I called out to her.
She shook her head. "That day, I hid in the basement...as I came out, the dark witch found me. She ordered her minions to kill me...I, too, died on that day, Natsu." She let out a sad smile.

"Junko..."

"Thank you for helping me find my doll...I will always remember you all, Natsu...Hotaru...Asuka... Thank you!" Junko disappeared.

"Junko..."

I don't remember how long I cried. But it sure was for a long time. My friends hugged me but I could feel their bodies shaking too, crying.

Kiyomi...how could you do this to them...? You are going to pay for this! Anger was reflected in my eyes.

"Natsu..."
I heard the Queen Fairy's voice.
"Natsu...Unomiya-san...Please, you mustn't be angry..."
"But...how can I control this...feeling?"
"If you don't then..."

Before I could hear the rest, I passed out.