Spirited Away: Fate Unraveled

Chapter 4: The World of the Dead

"Okay..." Chihiro mumbled as Haku disappeared in a flash of green light, "All I have to do is break a mystical mental barrier and I'm on my way!"

It was hard to be optimistic in her situation, but Chihiro still tried to keep enthusiastic. Then, she closed her eyes, and was shocked at what she found. All sensory details from the dimension she was standing in the moment before just disappeared. She now floated in the middle of a mess of colors that seemed to whoosh and spiral around her. Chihiro saw that the swirls of color were moving images, and that she could control the speed of the movement with her thoughts. Commanding everything to slow, she gazed at image after image, looking for the rips or fragmented memories that Haku had told her about.

One by one, the images rushed by, until Chihiro spotted a chunk missing, as if a couple of images were bitten out. She zeroed in on them, and concentrated on retrieving whatever was supposed to be in those blank spaces. After several minutes of concentration, Chihiro's face was a red as a beet, and she was no closer to getting her memories back.

"AH!" shouted Chihiro. "I CAN'T DO IT!"

She crumpled in on herself, curling into the fetal position. "Haku, I don't want to die. I don't want to die," she whispered, rocking back and forth. "Someone, anyone, please help me!"

Chihiro closed her eyes, wishing. For anything.

She opened her eyes.

A whole land that radiated peace and warmth lay before her. Flowers glistened with morning dew, birds chirped happily in the air, and in the trees that swayed slightly with the wind. In front of Chihiro, there was a bleached white pavilion with a small table set with tea for two (japanese style). On one side of the table, a pretty girl in a long, shiny, light purple yukata stood, and gestured for her to come. She looked like a traditional Japanese princess. The girl looked about 13, maybe 13 and a half. She had her long black hair in a beaded purple headdress, and her face looked kind and understanding. Chihiro was apprehensive about approaching someone in a world that just popped up in front of her, but ceded that she didn't really have any other options.

The girl looked giddy when she spotted Chihiro. "Chii-chan, you don't need to look so scared! Come on! I've got lots of cakes and sweet stuff here!" Chihiro was wholly taken aback, and her uneasiness disappeared to be replaced by slight irritation.

"Who are you calling Chii-chan?!"

"You, of course! Let's be friends!" Despite her regal attire, this girl was quite open and immature in some aspects, and extremely friendly. "Hurry up or the tea will get cold! We also have a time limit."

Chihiro wondered what the little girl meant by 'time limit', but she sat down and helped herself to a cake. It tasted other-worldly (which was not strange since she was in fact in another world).

"I'm sorry to keep you from your friends, but I really wanted to meet you," the child said. "Oh, right! I haven't introduced myself yet! I'm Sakura-hime of Yume Castle. Just call me Sakura."

"Um... Sakura-hime... am I... are we dead?"

"Don't call me 'hime'," Sakura said in a whiney voice. "I thought you would call me Sakura-chan, Chii-chan. And no. 'We' aren't dead. 'I' am dead, and you are ALMOST dead." The cheerful princess became suddenly serious. "Our time is short. My sisters have sealed most of your memories and I have broken that spell. Your memories will start returning gradually once you return to the world of the living. You have also broken the personal mental barrier. Since it was your own, it broke effortlessly. The memories that you were trying to get at were the ones with the bloodwitch curse. You actually almost broke it, so I'm very impressed. The memories you have blocked on your own will come back whether you want them to or not. You are in worlds entwined with magic and can't deny it any longer. Do you know the saying: 'No pain no gain'?"

Chihiro nodded.

"The pain of your memories will shock you awake. Also, the things you will encounter on your journey will indeed make you stronger. I will send you to your friends now, and I hope that when we meet again, you will forgive me for the burden I've passed to you."

"What?" Chihiro mumbled with a cake half inside her mouth.

"Good luck," Sakura whispered, lifting a finger and pointing it at Chihiro.

"What journey?" Chihiro asked, as darkness enveloped her. She hadn't followed much of the conversation; Sakura-chan spoke too fast and she didn't have much time to process her words. "What do you mean by painful memories? Am I cursed? Forgive what? And-" Chihiro was cut off, and put in a deep sleep, flitting in and out of dreams and nightmares: A dream of a bathhouse, and a nightmare of a car crash.

-----

It was nearly midnight. Haku, Rin, and Komaji were still sitting around Chihiro. She hadn't changed, except for the fact that she was steadily growing colder and paler every second. The worst part was, there was nothing they could do.

Haku had already healed all of Chihiro's bodily injuries. Each of her wounds, he put every ounce of healing power, until scarcely even scars were left. But, there remained a problem. Chihiro was now deep in her consciousness, trying to perform a memory-retrieval spell that, being a human, she should have not experience with. The stress of breaking a spell was the only thing that could shock Chihiro awake.

"Sitting here won't help Chihiro," Rin mumbled, breaking the silence. "We have to tell Yubaba about Chihiro's arrival. Come on, Haku."

"I'm not giving up on her, even if you are, Rin," Haku snapped coldly.
Rin looked hurt and on the verge of tears. She got up, and walked to the door, slamming it shut.

Haku stood up with a guilty expression on his face. Komajii grunted and mumbled, "Follow her, Haku. She's as stressed as you are. The last time Chihiro-sama was here, they became as close as sisters. What you just said hurt her more than you think."

"I know... it's just- you're right. I'll follow her," replied Haku, striding towards the door.

End Chapter Four

JAPANESE CULTURE FLASH

"-chan" is a way to address people you're familiar with. It's not as formal is "-san" and "-sama" is VERY formal. At least, this is what I gather from years of watching anime.