Spirited Away: Fate Unraveled

Prologue: Under Strange Circumstances

Chihiro, her mother, and her father were taking a joy ride around her neighborhood. They lumped down the highway and Chihiro's mother said, "I just saw this forest the other day and thought about driving around to look at it. Don't worry! It will be fun!" Chihiro's father, who was on the wheel, grunted and drove through what looked like a forest.

"Mom? Dad? Do you feel that?" Chihiro called from the back of the car.

"Feel what, honey?" Chihiro's mother turned around to look at her. The trees had no leaves, since it was the middle of winter. Chihiro opened the window to let a cold, sharp draft into the stuffy car. Something was familiar about this forest, but with that familiarity came another feeling. It gave Chihiro as sense of foreboding, like they didn't belong there... at least, not yet.

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A dark, hooded figure sat on a throne of obsidian, looking at the family drive down the bumpy road through magical crystal looking-glass. "The plan is not ready yet," murmured a voice as cold and merciless as the mid-winter wind. The voice was also rich and oily, like tar, and just as poisonous. The voice paused, then the figure raised its head, revealing the smirking face of a man. He had pale skin, hair and eyes as black as his throne, and an eerie kind of beauty that resonated evil power. "Send the blood-witches."

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"Chihiro, honey, be a dear and shut the window."

"Mom, is it just me, or is the wind picking up?"

"That's why I'm asking you to close the window, dear."

Then, voices from the forest, high-pitched and raspy, echoed in, out, and around the car, disrupting the flow of time and space. It was a powerful and most definitely evil voice. Glowing, purple runes encased the car in sphere deadly magic, so that even if people were nearby, nobody would be able to hear Chihiro's family scream. Inside the car, Chihiro was cowering in the back seat, watching her mother and father. They were in a frenzied state, clutching at their hair and clothes, their minds scattered and damaged beyond repair.

            The blood-witches, the dimension's most feared magicians, had driven Chihiro's parents mad, their dark magic entwining itself in their very consciousnesses. But, they had orders to spare the girl. They didn't know why; the girl was very ordinary. Clad in jeans and an EXO fan t-shirt, maybe 14 and a half- give or take a few months: a typical teenager. The witches, hovering outside on either side of the car, averted their eyes from the crazed scene inside.

'Yuuko,' said one sister to the other's mind. Her eyes were wide and shining.

The other sister looked up. She nodded, and stretched out her arms toward the car. The sleeves of her silk black and purple kimono billowed about from the power of their spell. 'I know Hyou,' she replied to her sister's telepathic call. 'I'll put them out of their misery.'

The purple rune-sphere rose, hovered in the air for a moment, the catapulted through the air; leaving the forest and over the highway, causing many drivers to gawk up at them. The car smashed into the side of a tree and fell on its side in a crumpled and glassy mess.

In another dimension, a man sat on his obsidian throne and laughed as he gazed down at his shimmering crystal ball. Two beautiful girls in black and purple kimonos flanked him, eyes cast fearfully downward. One of them, the girl named Hyou, rubbed her hands absently, as if trying to wash them of the blood with which they were now stained.

The next day, headlines blared: Japan's Most Mysterious Car Crash.

A young teen and her parents were found in a demolished car on the side of the road at approximately 3 o' clock in the afternoon. A witness said he "saw the car fly from the nearby forest as if tossed by an angry giant". Chihiro, the girl, is now in a comatose state at Sakura Hospital. The parents were dead by the time ambulances reached the scene. Officials are yet to conclude the cause of death and how the car flew from the forest. None can explain this freak accident, whether it was an accident, and how it defied the laws of physics.

A week later, Chihiro woke to find herself orphaned and in a hospital. She now knew magic existed, but chose to forget. For a second time, Chihiro buried a memory in the deepest, darkest hole in her consciousness. She forgot about magic and the purple runes. That memory joined with the memories of Haku, Rin, and the spirit world. She did not forget, however, the cold laugh that echoed through dimensions, flying through the air, and the faces of her dying parents. Chihiro woke up. She went on with her life. And... that is where our story begins.

End Prologue