The Other World

Chapter 20 - Confrontation

Chapter 20 – Confrontation

Chihiro blinked. She could feel the wind on her skin through the thin nightgown and the sharpness of rocks under her bare feet. She was on a rocky outcropping. There was water beyond, and sunlight glinting off its calm surface. It was as if she'd woken up. Akuma stood before her. She tried to ask him where she was, why he was doing this, but to her horror, her mouth would not move. As hard as she tried, she couldn't make a sound. Her limbs would not respond. Her arms were trapped at her sides. She could not run.

Akuma smiled at her, showing his teeth. He had a long, white bundle of silk draped over one arm. "Your wedding gown," he said, indicating the bundle. "Don't be shy. I won't let any of the oni see you." Chihiro felt her hands, as if they belonged to someone else, untying the ribbons around her waist that held the robe in place. The cloth slid from her shoulders and pooled around her ankles, exposing her to the wind. Haku's scale peeked out at her from beneath the folds in the silk, but she could not touch it, and her feet did not obey her.

Her arms raised themselves as Akuma walked toward her, holding up the white bundle by the shoulders. It was a kimono. Chihiro wanted to pull away but she stood there, unresisting, as he slipped the kimono around her. His hands were like ice. He pulled and tied the kimono into place, and then bent down, and picked up the scale. He smiled again.

"We'll have some fun with this, shall we?" he said. He led her over to where a large flat stone rose from the ground and Chihiro could only watch as she lay herself down on it, and closed her eyes, trapping herself in darkness once more.

"Don't fret, my dear," Akuma whispered in her ear. "The next time you wake, it'll be in the arms of your dragon boy."

---

Haku groaned. His long tail and mane dissolved, leaving him on his hands and knees, retching. It was as if the blood in his veins had been set on fire. He crouched there and shook violently.

Breathe, the King's voice sounded inside his mind. Feel it simmer beneath your skin.

The pain was nothing like the bruises of training, but Chihiro was waiting. He took a long, slow breath. The pain washed over him in a wave and darkness swelled at the edges of his vision. He let it overwhelm him, blocking out any other thought except for the sound of his own breath, and did not notice the fox woman watching him with concern. He exhaled raggedly. Breath by breath, he pulled the pain inside where he could understand it. Where it was a part of him. And though the pain did not diminished by an iota, it slowly became bearable, and he was able to raise his head and look around. There was a strange woman sitting next to him, watching him with a look of relief on her face. She had one long cut on her forehead, and her wrists were chafed raw. The floor was dry, and clear of blood. The golden chains were piled in a small heap in the corner.

Lin, he called out softly.

You're alive! Lin shouted.

There's no need to sound so excited. Haku said. The pain was bubbling just beneath the surface, threatening. He focused in on the air leaving his lungs. I'm only barely alive. What happened? Who is that woman?

Her name is Kitsune. Fujisan healed you and told her to wait to see if you would wake up.

Fujisan healed me? Haku asked.

"How are you feeling?" Kitsune said. "Fujisan said you might not wake up. I'm to take you wherever you need to go. You're not supposed to fly in this condition."

Haku took stock mentally. She was right. There was no way he could transform in his current state.

Lin, he thought. Where do I find Chihiro?