"So, why have you come here?" Haku's 18-year-old form is leaning on the thick trunk of an ancient tree in the woods near the town. The breeze is soothing and the rays of the sun showering peacefully upon him, but his insides aren't calm. His rage inside him is like a melody that refuses to leave his darkened heart, playing again and again.

The tengu above him is disguised as a white wavy shoulder-length-haired human dressed in a monk's clothes. Sitting on one of the branches of the tree, his almond-shaped gray eyes look into Haku's green orbs as he answers him, "There is news in our world that Yubaba lives."

Haku isn't so surprised. He had long figured out that the witch wouldn't be so easily defeated. "Thank you, Jaariko, for the news. Have you found out where she's hiding?"

Jaariko shakes his head, dismayed. He also wants the witch found and killed. She has enslaved him for hundreds of years, the time too long that he'd once forgotten who he was and where he lived. Much like what happened to his friend Haku. Thankfully, the river god had saved him along with the others who were tricked and condemned into servitude by the greedy witch. "But I'll find her," he swears, "and deliver her to you, Haku-sama." Despite being freed from the power binding him to Yubaba, Nigihayami Kohakunushi prefers to be called "Haku". It has become the name he's used to referring to himself now.

"No." Haku crossed his arms near his chest. "Not just you. We'll find her. Together."

The tengu jumps to the ground and bows down to the river god. "If that is your wish, Haku-sama. Where do you want to start searching?"

The river god smiles a sinister smile. "I may have sensed a presence I didn't expect to find in this world. I'm sure that if we follow her, she'll be leading us to someone very precious to the old witch." He starts walking, Jaariko following him. "We'll wait at the gate."

+0+0+0+0+

"Oi, oi. Don't say you actually forgot everything you've experienced in the spiritual world." The white fox Lin is munching on the warm meat bun Chihiro bought from the convenience store earlier. "By the way, these are delicious."

The girl just watches the creature. Despite eating only a few spoonfuls of porridge hours before, Chihiro isn't hungry. She's been eating too little the past few days, too busy being anxious about what's happening to her family. "No, I don't," she says to Lin-san.

The white fox tells her that she once was spirited away to their land. Her parents turned into pigs, she worked in a bathhouse owned by the powerful witch Yubaba so that she could free herself and her parents. There she became friends with Lin-san, Kamaji, and the soot sprites, among others.

"I think you also got close to Haku," Lin-san mentions in between bites.

"Haku?" Of course, she isn't familiar with the name.

"He's Yubaba's apprentice, a very annoying but strong spirit. They say he does Yubaba's dirty work. Nobody figured out that he actually hated her until he attacked and killed her, leaving the bathhouse in utter disorder." The white fox stops eating. She sighs, then looks at the girl. "That's why we need you, Chihiro. Kamaji thinks that being one of the only friends of Yubaba's son, Boh, there is a chance that he'll listen to you and assume his place as the new owner of the bathhouse. Then the bathhouse will be alright again, saving its workers."

"You want me to do that even though this Boh is the son of the witch you all are afraid of?"

"He's different."

Chihiro hears retching from the master's bedroom. Immediately, she stands up and checks on her parents, leaving Lin-san with her meat bun.

Yuko is propped on one of her elbows and vomiting on the pail located on the side of her bed. When she's done, she notices her child watching her. "Chihiro," she calls her as lovingly as she can.

The girl walks towards her and holds her outstretched hand. "Mom. Are you feeling even just a bit better?" she asks even though she knows the answer.

"I'm fine, my dear child. I just need to rest."

Lie.

For a span of a few days, Yuko has become as thin as a rail. There is a dark shadow inside Chihiro that is telling her that her mother's time is getting closer faster than before.

Yuko closes her eyes and sleeps once more.

Lin-san, who has finished eating, is now in the same room as Chihiro. The girl asks her, voice trembling, "How can you help them?"

"Not me. But Kamaji."

Chihiro takes the stray hair on her mother's face and tucks it behind her ear. "Are you sure he can?"

"We can try."

The girl nods and stands up. "We could leave now but I still need to find someone to take care of my parents while I'm not here."

Lin-san smiles. "I've thought of that." She runs through the door and whistles. A moment later, a crow flies inside Chihiro's house. It glides in the air in circles, then, as it descends, shapeshifts into Chihiro's form. "This is one of the workers in the bathhouse. She's willing to help us out."

Chihiro's back is on the wall. She ponders if she'll ever get used to the wonders of the spiritual realm. A talking fox. A transforming crow. What's next? A human-like spider? Well, she has to get used to it. Especially now that she'll be traveling within it. Slowly, she walks towards the creature that now looks exactly like her, noting how perfect even the tiniest detail of its mimicry is. "C-can you talk?"

"Of course," it answers with the same exact sound as her voice.

"And you know how to take care of my parents?"

It nods.

Lin-san floats near her face. "So, we're ready to go now?"

Chihiro finds it hard to take her eyes away from the creature that is her very reflection. Can she trust it? But she has no choice. Her parents are dying anyway. She looks back at the white fox. "Y-yes. Wait for me as I gather my things."

The girl packs lightly -- just a couple of necessities. Then, she emerges from her room and walks behind Lin-san as they exit the house and walk out on the streets. She had kissed both of her parents, promising that she'll do her best to find a cure.

"By the way," the white fox suddenly says as they walk, "my real name is Meilin. Yubaba stole it and called me Lin so that I'll be her servant forever."

"Meilin-san," Chihiro calls her real name for the first time.

Meilin-san stops in her tracks and looks behind her to smile at the girl. "You were called Sen when you were stuck in our world. I'm glad you already know who you are."

The gate to the spiritual world is located in the town where Chihiro and her parents moved to when she was 10. To reach it, Meilin-san and she ride a train and then walk a few more meters.

"We're here."

Chihiro knows the place. It is, according to her father, an abandoned amusement park. They came across it when they were looking for their new home. But she couldn't remember much from that time, only that she was scared when they entered it and when they exited it, found out that someone pranked them, covering their car with leaves, branches, and dirt.

The purple hair tie on her wrist tingling, she enters the tunnel with Lin-san.

There are lone benches inside the station-like building connected to the tunnel, with the setting sun's rays entering it through its stained glass windows. Then, they find the exit, where a beautiful meadow awaits them.

"It's soon to be nighttime. The bathhouse will open soon so we'll use the other path." Meilin-san leads the way.

"But aren't we also here for the workers of the bathhouse? Surely they'll let us pass through so we can get to where we're going. Maybe they'll even shelter us for the night."

The white fox shakes her head. "The place is still controlled by Yubaba's supporters. As far as I know, they have evil plans. We need to go to Kamaji to hear his. First..." Meilin-san is suddenly covered in white fog, then poof! She becomes a young woman with brown eyes and long brown hair, wearing a pink yukata. "There. I really missed being a fox again but I'll move better in this form."

Chihiro is amazed once again. "You can transform too!"

"Yes, I can. I forgot that I could when I was under Yubaba."

Chihiro shrugs her shoulders. "It seems there is a lot of forgetting in this world."

Meilin-san scrunches her nose. "Yeah."

They walk carefully on the river that is now filled with rough rocks, then chooses the path that leads to the forest instead of the bridge. Night is coming fast, taking away the remaining sunlight until it is only the moon and a couple of stars that serve as their light. Chihiro looks at their soft rays between the branches and leaves of the trees, not used to the forest's darkness.

She holds onto Meilin-san's yukata. "Are we there yet?"

"Huh? We're just beginning our journey. Kamaji is--"

"Meilin-san, look out!" Chihiro sees a large wolf about to lunge at her friend. Its eyes are a bright yellow, sparkling in the dark, and its fangs sharp and long. But it stops midway through its jump and falls dead, lying on the floor. Behind it, the one who struck it with a sword is a man with short white hair. He saved them. She looks into the man's piercing gray eyes and something inside her stirs -- an indescribable feeling that gnaws her heart and makes her lose her breath. "D-do I... Do I know you?" she asks.

He smiles and suddenly the forest is not a dark and scary place anymore. "I don't think so. I'm Haru and this is my brother Aki." He points at the man beside him. They have the same hair and eye color but they look so different from each other. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, we're fine." It is Meilin-san who answers, placing herself in front of Chihiro in an attempt to shield her from the strangers.

Why? They don't seem harmful.

"Thank you very much," her friend says and guides her away.

Feeling that it would be rude to just walk away from them after they've saved her and her friend, Chihiro glances at the two men and bows.

The short-haired boy whose name is Haru opens his mouth in an attempt to say something but decides to close it. Then, he puts his sword back into its sheath, following the two girls. He suddenly suggests, "Would you like to travel with us?" Wavy white shoulder-length haired Aki-san follows them too.

Not stopping Meilin-san answers back, "No. We don't travel with strangers."

It is a good thing that Meilin-san is holding her hand because Chihiro has just tripped on a rock and lost her balance.

"Then let us introduce ourselves properly. You already know our names. We're from a small village called Chie and are traveling in search of the Rock of Isui. We've been searching the forest for days but still haven't seen it."

"The Rock of Isui? The one that provides pure water for eternity? Why do you search for such a sacred thing?"

It is Aki-san who answers. "Because, my lady, the waters of our small village had dried up and won't produce nor hold water anymore. We were cursed by the witch of the bathhouse, Yubaba."

Water. That again. Could it be possible that this Yubaba is the one causing their town's disease? But she's dead already.

"Why?" Meilin-san isn't finished with her questioning.

"We supported the river god Haku during his vengeance." It is Haru-san who speaks. "What about you? Who are you and where are the two of you heading? It is too late in the night to be picking berries or hunting."

"I am Rinko and this is my little sister Senko. We are on a journey to look for the Iyashidango to heal our sick parents."

Iyashi-- What is Meilin-san saying? She even gave the strangers false names.

Chihiro's eyes have long adjusted to the dark and sees that the two men are dressed in worn and torn plain yukata. They are also covered in dirt, wounds, and bruises.

They are still following them. "It is dangerous for two beautiful women to travel alone. Please, do join us on our journey, enchanting ladies. Even only until we find where our paths differ," Aki-san insists.

"We don't even know if our paths from here are the same," answers Meilin-san.

Haru-san speeds his pace to catch up with Chihiro and Meilin-san. "You are heading east out of the forest, aren't you? There is a train station near there. Otherwise, you wouldn't be taking this route. It's the shortest to get there. We can accompany you there, and then our conscience would be clear because we helped two young ladies in the forest instead of not caring whether they'd be eaten by beasts."

Chihiro remembers the big wolf that almost killed them. Surely there'll be more of them in the forest. She looks around them and sees three or four sets of yellow eyes glaring at them and following them. They seem to be waiting for a chance to make them their supper. Her other hand clutches Meilin-san's clothes and then whispers, "Maybe it's alright to let them come with us. They saved our lives after all."

"But, Chihiro, we don't know them. They could be Yubaba's spies."

"Then we part ways outside of the forest. By now, we need them. Haru-san is right, without protection, we'll just be beast snacks. You can transform and run fast as a fox but me... I can barely walk through these fallen branches and stones on the ground. And, after all, you're a stranger to me too but I'm traveling with you. I don't mind traveling with another two strangers if they are willing to protect us."

"You believe them?"

"I believed you." They both hear a snarling beast from somewhere very near. "It's a risk we have to take."

Meilin-san sighs, then she stops walking. All of them halt their step. "Alright. You may come with us. But only in the forest. Once we reach the station, we'll be on our separate ways."