Spirited Away Fan Fiction ❯ The Reign of the Elements ❯ Yubaba ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: Yubaba

 

A/N: Thanks again to my beta Strayphoenix

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited Away or any of its characters. Spirited Away is the property of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. I'm not getting any profit from this story so please don't sue!!

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The elevator stopped and the doors clicked open. The hall was the same, tackily opulent with gold and jewels. Kamaji didn't stop to admire everything like I did, though. Instead, he kept walking straight to Yubaba's huge double doors.

 

They swung open without a hesitation. Didn't that door have an enchantment on it? Why was it opening now without any help? Weird.

 

“Come,” Kamaji called when I didn't follow him inside. Starting, I tripped in after him, scraping my school loafers against the wooden floor.

 

The halls were as winding as when Yubaba dragged me through them eight years ago. It was dark in here, increasingly so. The gold decorations looked dull and old compared to the brilliant vibrance of before. Gone were the flickering candles whose light echoed off the walls and mirrors. Even the once shining wooden floor was opaque.

 

Life was missing from these passages. The walls, the fixtures, everything told the story of someone who had lived here before, someone who loved all things beautiful but who was now long gone.

 

We walked closer and closer to Yubaba's lair, inching forward like a funeral procession. Something rumbled through the walls causing the chandeliers to shake and floor to tremble and groan. My legs shook as my balance swung precariously.

 

“Woah!” I yelled, falling flat on my ass. Kamaji turned to stare at me rubbing my soar appendage. A rolling chuckle bubbled up from his belly as he stretched one hand to help me up. I took it graciously, trying to save my bruised pride.

 

“Suppose you want to know what that was, eh?” he asked turning to keep leading the way to Yubaba's office.

 

“Hai.”

 

“That was Yubaba-sama.”

 

My breath left me in a rush.

 

“How?” If she could do that to just the walls…then what would she be able to do to my pitiful human body?!

 

“She is extremely powerful,” he told me gravely, “never forget that.” We turned another corner and we were in front of Yubaba's office.

 

An enormous scream echoed from inside. Instinctively I retreated away from the doors as Kamaji put an arm on my lower back to prevent me from turning and making a break for it.

 

“Do not be afraid, I will protect you,” he soothed as he reached with another of his enormous arms and pushed open that door.

 

“Yubaba-sama?” he called as we stepped into the room bathed in fading light. My eyes widened as they took in the room completely disregarding Kamaji who closed the door behind me.

 

There was nothing left intact within the room. Glass, wood, metal, dust, everything was mixed together and thrown around the room like a macabre form of confetti. The once luxurious fire place was boarded up as were the windows.

 

“K-Kamaji-san?” I called the get his attention.

 

“Hmm?” He said as he paced around the room, opening doors, looking for Yubaba.

 

“What is that?” The things covering the walls and the floors…it just didn't make sense.

 

“Those are claw marks.” He sighed. The hairs on the back of my neck rose as I brought my arms to wrap around my torso.

 

“Yubaba-sama did that?”

 

“Hai, she did.”

 

“I did what exactly?” A new voice called. We turned to stare at the same pudgy old lady that had dominated my life for months while I was in the land of the spirits.

 

Her expression was transformed, she looked so calm and happy. Not her usual sly and shrewd smirk. Where was Yubaba and who had replaced her with this pathetic copy?!

 

“Sen-chan?” she called, her usually strict bun was replaced with long flowing hair. The white dress she had on billowing around her like a halo. “Is that you, Sen-chan?”

 

“H-hai, it is.” She beamed at me, coming forward quickly and gripping my arms in welcome.

 

“Oh it's so—”

 

Then it was like her eyes caught on fire. Her voice came to a grating halt as her eyes shifted from happy to extreme anger.

 

The fingers on my arms turned to claws, piercing my skin like butter. A scream echoed from my throat right before Kamaji pried Yubaba off of me.

 

Her outfit had changed, replaced with a black tunic and her once smooth hair was ragged and oily. The screeches that ripped from her throat would have gone better with a ravenous bird of prey.

 

“My baby, SEN! My BABY!” Her voice seemed to echo around my head like a mantra. Not even covering my ears would shut out the sound. “You killed my baby, SE-NN! My baby! I'll have your—”

 

Again her voice changed and her eyes dulled to an expression I had come to associate with Yubaba-sama. Her blue dress reappeared on her body and the strict bun pulled her hair into order.

 

“Put me down you half-wit spider!” she commanded.

 

“Of course madam.” He placed her on her feet. She staggered towards me, her eyes trying to flash back to madness. But she was fighting it.

 

“The irony!” she yelled, her voice shifting from madness to sanity. Her steps wavered as she walked right up to me and stared into my eyes.

 

“Um…what irony?” I asked, trying to be encouraging and trying not to show how terrified I really was. She sighed and turned around, almost waltzing around the room.

 

“The irony…SE-NN!” She yelled my name in that crazed voice that was quickly making me cringe.

 

“I don't understand!” I yelled back.

 

Suddenly she turned back to look at me looking completely normal. Yubaba glanced at Kamaji then at me again.

 

“You're here again?” she asked.

 

“I've been here for a while Yubaba-sama!” My eye twitched. It was started to get exasperating now.

 

“No you haven't,” she growled, “you just got here!” Now that was Yubaba, always thinking she was right.

 

“Alright, whatever you say.” My voice sounded hollow even to my ears.

 

“Of course!” She sniffed and looked around the room, “now where's that pesky Haku. Tell him to take you down to the servants quarters so you can get to work!” My heart constricted as she said his name as if he were going to appear through the door at any second.

 

“Yubaba-sama,” Kamaji said interrupting her scrutiny of her room.

 

“What?” she snapped.

 

“He's not here, he left.” Her body froze as she turned to look at Kamaji then at me.

 

Her outfit shifted again and in her place was a woman covered from head to toe in black, young, and thin. Yubaba's blue eyes stared out at me from behind the shroud, thin rivulets of tears falling from her eyes.

 

“Get out of here Sen-chan,” her voice resounded, “Or I will kill you with my bare hands”

 

“Yubaba-sama…”

 

My heart shattered as she looked down at her wrinkleless hands.

 

“Tell me, is there any way to stop this disease?” A smile spread across her face as she turned to look at me, not answering.

 

“Yubaba-sama?” I tried again.

 

“Kamaji-san,” she ignored me turning to look at the spider. “How is your Lin-chan?”

 

His Lin-chan? What? My eyes widened to orbs as the old geezer blushed profusely. He mumbled something and then looked away.

 

“They're in love?” I asked incredulous, my thoughts shifting from Yubaba to Kamaji. Yubaba turned to look at me with young youthful eyes. It was so hard to connect her with the old witch I knew; she was just a different person.

 

“Of course, they have been for centuries but they never had the courage to say anything…” she trailed off and stepped towards Kamaji, “I'm sorry, old friend, I'm sorry that is too late to save your love.”

 

He nodded stiffly and Yubaba turned around to look at me with huge eyes.

 

“I am most sorry to you as well.”

 

“Why?” I asked.

 

“For things you will never know about.” She smiled at me.

 

Her body froze, her head jerking back. A wordless scream curdled from her throat. She convulsed while still standing causing her entire body to go into one seamless spasm.

 

“Yubaba-sama!” I cried running to try and get to her.

 

“No!” Kamaji stopped me, grasping me around my middle. No amount of twitching and battling was going to get him to let me go and so we stood there watching Yubaba continue to convulse.

 

Finally, the twitches stopped and she fell to the floor in a heap. Still Kamaji wouldn't let me down. He held me up even when I cried for freedom.

 

“She's dead.” He intoned. My body froze as I watched, eyes wide, as her body seemed to lose air like a popped balloon. Her skin, muscles, and organs dried, crackled and fell off, leaving a clean smooth skeleton.

 

It couldn't be helped.

 

A scream poured out of my throat for every person that was destined to die like this, for everyone that was suffering, and for the young Yubaba that had died before my eyes. The scream trickled off until it became a soft whimpering that came from my very soul.

 

Somewhere, distantly, it came to me that Kamaji was moving. He must have led me out of the room and out of Yubaba's lair at super sonic speed or I fell unconscious because a few seconds later, I was in front of the elevator.

 

“Sen-chan?” he asked as he put me on my feet. My fingers caught every tears that slipped out of my eyes as my breathing eased.

 

“I'm fine.” The tone in my voice said different.

 

“Of course.” Kamaji didn't fall for it as he stepped into the elevator and pulled the lever down.

 

We descended in silence going through floors upon floors of empty rooms and deserted spaces. Even when the screams of the dying permeated the air we kept descending. My body was numb and frigid, it hurt to even think about moving.

 

The elevator slowed, signaling its stop on the destined floor. It shuddered to a stop and the doors opened easily, showing us the servants' quarters that I had come to love. A ghost of a smile came over me as memories of a time long past came back. A different lifetime.

 

Now, the only thing missing were the servants running around trying to perform their duties. The halls were empty and foreboding in the dark night.

 

“Kamaji-san, where is everyone?”

 

“Working or sleeping by their work stations,” he answered as we got closer to the women's quarters at the end of the hall.

 

“So no one is here?”

 

“No, unfortunately, you'll be alone.” He slid open the door to the now empty sleeping area. There was only one mat at the far corner by the balcony. On it there was what looked like a change of clothes.

 

“Where will you be?” I asked turning to stop him from leaving.

 

“In the boiler.”

 

“But—” Kamaji chuckled and stood patiently by the door.

 

“You will be fine, now I suggest you get some sleep, it'll be a long day tomorrow.” He smiled as he started to slide the door close.

 

“Oyasuminasai, Sen-chan.” Kamaji said finally shutting the door.

 

“Yeah, oyasuminasai Kamaji-san.” I sighed turning to step over to the mat.

 

There where two changes of clothes, not just one like I said. The first looked like my uniform from before but the second, that one I had never seen. There was a pair of hakama that looked like something a Shinto priestess would wear, some type of undergarment and a kimono top. An outfit straight out of the Feudal era. The shoes were closed slipper looking things. Really, I couldn't describe them.

 

I wondered why I needed all these clothes. But I was way too drained to give it any more thought.

 

I changed into my old uniform leaving off the outer kimono and just staying in the undergarments. My school uniform, the one that had been on me since the beginning of this crazy adventure was in need of some serious washing. My friends wouldn't mind washing it, I hoped so I folded them and left them on the side of the mat.

 

My eyes slid to the side and out the balcony to the dark night and the bright moon. Would Haku be staring at the sky and be thinking of me? Was he even alive? Did he start a whole other life without me? Was I even part of his memories? The tired ache grew even worse at the thoughts. It was time to go to sleep, no more thinking about painful things like Haku or Yubaba or Lin…no, put that from my mind.

 

My muscles breathed in relief as every single tendon settled into the soft mattress. The exhaustion was instant and all encompassing; it didn't even let me think about how lonely it was to be in this room by myself. The entire world sunk into the darkness as sleep won over my weathered brain.

 

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Oyasuminasai - good night

 

Wonder what Yubaba meant by `the irony' and why she was asked forgiveness from Chihiro? Hmmm…and the plot thickens!

 

The chapter was a little painful to write but I wasn't so depressed because I know what's gonna happen next!! Bet you want to know too, ne? Well, I'll probably have the next chapter up soon. Until then!

 

~~Go-chan