Spirited Away: Fate Unraveled

Chapter 3: Nighttime Coming

A young woman stepped out of the shadows, wearing a black kimono with purple embroidery. "Kou-sama, she has re-entered the spirit realm."

An identical girl entered the room through a set of heavy double doors. "Kou-sama, the girl is with our brother. She is on the brink of death. Do we assist?"

Both girls looked toward a large, black throne in the center of the room. "No," murmured the man that sat upon it. "Let the boy handle it. If he does not have sufficient power for this, he is not worthy, in any case."

The sisters glanced at each other, then redirected their gaze back to the throne.

"Kohaku can do it," they said in unison.

-----

"Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi," the boy said. Haku found the irony of the situation almost funny. Here he was, telling his name to the girl who actually gave him back his name and his life. The situation was very similar to how they first met in the spirit world. He cracked a smile and knelt down next to Chihiro. "Call me Haku."

"Ok, Haku, where am I?"

"That is a complicated question. This place you're in is the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead. This isn't a very substantial dimension. You see, it only takes away you mind and consciousness, but not your body. Your body is in Kamikakushi, the spirit world. Currently, I'm carrying you and running as fast as I can to Komajii." Chihiro stared at him. Haku started to feel very self-conscious. Then Chihiro spoke.

"How do I get out of here?"

"It's quite simple," Haku said.

"Tell me."

"You need to reach enlightenment, go to your happy place, and plead for help from the earth spirits."

"Seriously?" Chihiro asked skeptically, a small smile played on her lips.

"But!" Haku said grandly. "The great and mighty me knows a short cut."

"What is it?"

"You must remember and wake up."

"Remember what? How do I wake up?"

"By remembering."

"How do I remember the thing I'm supposed to remember?" said Chihiro, a bit impatient now. She was dying, and this boy was playing word games with her!

"I've looked into your mind, and I've seen that you've manipulated your own memories, as well as had a memory charm put on you. The charm is too hard to break at the moment, but try breaking through your own barrier. That will probably shock you awake and out of this dimension."

"How do you know this stuff? Who are you? Why are you helping me?" asked Chihiro. Haku was silent for a moment.

"My, my. So many questions. I'll tell you later. Let's get your memories, shall we?"

"You barely tell me anything and expect me to blindly follow you," Chihiro rolled her eyes. "Fine, just get me out of here."

"I'll tell you how to break your memory block, and then I'll leave and wait for you on the outside."

"Just fire away, Mr. I'll-tell-you-later."

"Accessing your unconscious will be easy now that you're already in this dimension. Close your eyes, then imagine you're probing around in your brain. You should see all of your memories flying by, but some patches will be blank. There's one patch that will look like it's been punched out, rather than cut out. That would be the memory you forcefully removed by yourself. Concentrate hard on getting your memory back. Once your block is broken the shock of the memories should wake you up."

"I think I've got it."

"Alright. You should brace yourself. The memories you blocked probably aren't good ones. I'm sorry, but it will surely be painful. I wish I could help you through it."

"Oh," said Chihiro. She found Haku so familiar, and couldn't help trusting him. "You've made me nervous... but this is the only way I can wake myself up, right? Are you sure that this method of yours works?"

"Yes, I've done it before myself."

Chihiro took a deep breath. "I'm ready. I'll do it."

"Good," said Haku, his green eyes looking at her as if she was the most amazing thing they ever rested upon. "You're strong enough to bear your burdens. I know it. A lifetime ago, even though you don't remember, you even bore mine. Good luck."

Chihiro looked at Haku confusedly, then nodded. "Thanks."

-----

Haku regained consciousness, he found Komaji and Rin staring at him.

"You got an explanation, boy?" asked Komaji gruffly. Two of his arms were tending to Chihiro's wounds with the aid of Rin, and the rest were on his knees. "You just come bursting in with your eyes glowing, and I figure you're doing some river-spirit whatnot. So I sit you and the girl down, and now you stop glowing."

"Haku, is this Se- er... Chihiro?" Rin looked up from her work, her eyes sad and not daring to hope. Those eyes had stopped hoping a long time ago; just like many of the others at the bathhouse had.

"She is."

Rin gasped. "Then do something! She's almost at the point of no return! Look how much she's still bleeding!"

"There's a limit to how much a river-spirit can do!" Haku said so loudly that Rin was taken aback in shock. Haku quieted. "I'm sorry, I'll do as much as I can, but most of it is up to her now."

Komaji, Rin, and Haku looked down at Chihiro. As the thick darkness of night fell, so did their hopes of Chihiro ever awakening. This was not how they had imagined their reunion.

End Chapter Three

Author's Note: I used some Japanese words in the text that may not be known to a majority of the readers. I forgot to put a translation for something in the prologue, so it's here too.

Sama means Lord/Lady. It is a title for highly respected or ranked people.