Spirited Away II: Return to the Spirit Realm

Chapter 13

Yubaba sat at her desk, with her eyebrows furrowed, glaring bitterly at the fire. Suddenly, her precious gems and collectables were invisible to her prying eyes as a grave thought inhabited her mind. Tossing an idyll into the heart of the flames, the witch groaned in hopelessness and muttered, "How ever am I to find that wretched human?!"

Yubaba recalled the initial hours of the day and her initial sense of triumph when Lin came arrived at her office: her skin was unnaturally pale and her hair lost its brilliant shine due to lack of nutrition.

Yubaba crossed her arms over her chest and regarded the worker coldly. "Will you now cooperate and tell me where the human is?"

"I will never betray my friend."

"Your defenses against me are pathetic," sneered the witch. "If you continue to be uncooperative, I can easily pry into your memories, get the information I need; and then severely punish you. All of your 'love' to your friend will be as useless as junk at the end. I am asking you nicely one last time: where is Chihiro?"

Lin was shaking terribly and tears welled up in her dark orbs. "I will never betray my friend!"

A streak of outrage flashed through Yubaba's eyes; an angry scowl creased her brow. "So this is how you are - disobedient to your master!" she yelled. "Aren't you afraid to die?"

Yubaba shuddered at the memory of what happened next: before another second passed, Haku appeared and demanded proper treatment and safety for Lin. Seeing the determination and outrage in his fierce eyes, Yubaba knew it was better to agree peacefully then fight off an angry dragon.

"That pesky dragon! How am I to find the human now? I searched the bathhouse, but she's not here anywhere; I tried to track her with my magic, but something - or, rather, someone - is stopping me," hissed the witch, now pacing the room. "What am I to tell it?!"

"Tell me what, dear?"

Yubaba shrieked and spun around on her heel, a list of protection spells racing through her mind. Her eyes met the burning red orbs of the Dark Spirit. The witch choke down a surprised shriek and bowed stiffly in greeting.

"Ah, no need for such gestures," the Dark Spirit said, flicking a coin on Yubaba's desk. "I thought I'd merely stop by and find out how things are doing with the human."

Yubaba suppressed a shudder and regained her posture. "About the human, sir, I searched every part of the bathhouse and it is nowhere around."

The Dark Spirit looked up coldly. "Nowhere around? Then where is the human?"

"W-well, I think, s-sir -"

"You think! Yubaba, this is an outrage! You know that a human in the Spirit Realm is life-threatening for me. And what do you do?! You let it escape and then say, 'it's not here'!"

"I'm trying to find it, sir!"

"And?!"

"Something is blocking my magic."

The Dark Spirit banged its heavy fist on Yubaba's desk. "This service is unacceptable! I won't touch your son now, but when I win the war and take over this world, I will kill you and your son."

Yubaba forgot about her pride and her arrogance when those fateful words reached her ears. Gasping out of sheer horror, she flung herself at the Dark Spirit's feet. "No, please, sir! My son is an innocent child and he has nothing to do with this business. Please, kill me but leave him alone!"

"If you do everything else perfectly, I will spare your son."

Yubaba stood up on trembling legs. She was an arrogant, obnoxious witch and flinging down at anyone's feet, begging for mercy, was definitely not a common practice. This resulted in an aching body andpride that screamed for bloodshed.