The Other World

Chapter 2 - What Chihiro Has Become

A/N: Posting this one day early because I will be busy tomorrow and will likely forget. Enjoy! :)

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Chapter 2 - What Chihiro Has Become

Haku's heart pounded in his ears. After she'd left the Spirit World, a spell on the purple hair tie Zeniba gave her had allowed Zeniba to find her wherever she went in the Human World. They had watched her begin to settle into her new school. She did not remember her experiences in the Spirit World. She retained the confidence she had gained, but the Gate between the worlds had done its job. In her new home and at her new school, she worked hard and seemed happy enough, though it was clear she hadn't made many friends. Then one day, she disappeared. The spell showed a dark place. For some reason, she'd stopped wearing the hair tie. She may even have thrown it away. It was as if she'd disappeared off the face of the earth. She had been twelve.

And now, somehow, Zeniba had found her.

Haku landed in front of Zeniba's cottage. The old woman was at the door, waiting for him. The light and warmth of the hearth lay beyond, but Haku was afraid. For five years he'd dreamt of her, the Chihiro that he knew. He had told Tenryu that she had no doubt changed, and he knew that she had, consciously. A lot happens between twelve and eighteen. But still he hoped he would know her. He even hoped, irrationally, that she would know him. He had too much hope not to be afraid.

He walked into the living room. Zeniba greeted him warmly. He replied with his own greeting. She continued to talk but in Haku's mind the sounds coming from her mouth had no meaning; his attention was taken up by the magical window hanging in the air above the table. The spell. Zeniba must've scanned the entire town to find her, he thought.

At first, Haku was afraid there had been some mistake. The window was dark. But then a screen lit up in the room beyond the window, illuminating a dozen teenaged humans piled onto a couple of couches and a low table covered with food and glass bottles, as well as half-filled glasses. One girl was standing microphone in hand, her swaying figure silhouetted by the bright screen where words were crawling across the bottom. There was no sound, but Haku could almost smell the alcohol on her breath.

Zeniba came to stand behind him. She gestured and the view shifted so that they could see the faces of the young men and women sitting and standing there, illuminated by the light from the screen. Haku cried out and stumbled back. The faces were blinding white and there were glittering voids were the eyes should be. Were they sick? He looked closer.

The girls had painted their faces and were improbably dressed, some in cloth that was practically transparent in the harsh light of the screen, others in spiked shoes and stomach-baring tops in blinding colors. In the twilight, they looked like mannequins. Chihiro can't possibly be among them, Haku thought. He tried desperately to find a girl that stood out from the others.

The window moved toward the face of one of the female mannequins. She was holding a half-empty glass in one hand and was laughing and shouting with the rest. She had short dark hair, waved to look windblown and gelled to the nines, with a blond streak on one side. Her face filled the magical window as her green-tipped fingers raised her glass to her darkened lips, and Haku recognized her. Behind the exaggerated plastic eyelashes, those big brown eyes were Chihiro's eyes.

Haku held his breath as he stared at the image. What did the human world do to her? Then Zeniba's words from minutes ago finally registered.

"What did you say?" he said.

"It's possible," Zeniba said. "The worlds are still connected in some secret places. I've known for some time now, but I didn't want to get your hopes up, Haku. There was no use telling you if we couldn't find her."