[fic] Off to See the Wizard, 2/2 (HaruToki4)
Title: Off to See the Wizard, Part 2
Fandom: Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 4
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own rights to Haruka or to Wizard of Oz. Probably best to be familiar with the movie.
Notes: It's been a few months since the first part was posted. If you'd like to read this story in its entirety part one is here. Hugs for thisissong for her help and advice. Translations at the end.
Nasatya stared out the window of his study, waiting. Finally a whoosh of air signaled the return of his subordinate, and he turned swiftly to look at the shrouded figure. “Eka. What have you discovered?”
The Tsuchigumo bowed low. “Another has joined her group. She still wears the boots once belonging to Wizard Asvin.”
“So she won’t accept my warning. How foolish.” Nasatya moved to stand in front of Eka. “Then it’s time. Go and stop her. I don’t care what happens to the rest of them, but you must bring her to me alive.”
“Understood.” Without another word Eka disappeared to complete his assignment.
Nasatya’s gaze hardened as he looked down where Asvin’s braid lay on his desk. Blue eyes narrowed coldly. “I will make her pay for what she did to you, Ash.”
~ ~ ~
The group of five emerged from the forest to the sight of a meadow bright with wildflowers.
“Oh look,” Chihiro gasped, pointing to the shining green towers in the distance. “There’s Emerald City! We’re almost there at last!” she said excitedly. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”
“It certainly is,” Kazahaya answered with a smile.
“He really must be a wonderful wizard, to live in a city like that,” she added with certainty.
“Well, then, what are we waiting for?” Michiomi asked good-naturedly.
“Nothing, let’s hurry!” Kazahaya said.
“Oh, yes, let’s run,” Chihiro urged.
“There will be no running,” Nagi said flatly.
Chihiro pouted and tugged on his arm. “Nagi, aren’t you excited? You’ll be able to ask the wizard for a heart!”
Nagi merely looked at her. “I’m not running across this meadow. And you wouldn’t even be able to run in those ridiculous boots.”
“Oh, all right...” Disappointed, Chihiro kept hold of his tin hand as she began walking through the brightly-colored wildflowers. “If we weren’t in a hurry, I think I’d like to stop and pick some of these flowers,” she commented to no one in particular. “They’re lovely.”
“I think so too,” Kazahaya agreed. Beside him Michiomi softly echoed the sentiment.
“I’m in no hurry,” Nagi mumbled, though his tone clearly conveyed that his reason had nothing to do with a desire to pick flowers.
Chihiro suddenly stopped, head tilted to the side. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what? Nagi’s grumbling?” Kazahaya asked.
“No, no.” She shook her head. “I thought I could faintly hear a song.”
The group stopped, everyone listening closely.
“...Maybe you’re just hearing things,” Nagi suggested when nothing could be heard.
“No, I’m sure I heard it!” Chihiro persisted, shaking Nagi's arm for teasing her. “It was a soothing song, like a lullaby.”
“I’m afraid I don’t hear it,” Michiomi said apologetically.
“How strange...” Chihiro took a single step then stopped as the melody floated toward her again. “There, can you hear it?”
“I can.” Kazahaya looked around for the source. “I can’t tell where it’s coming from.”
Miko, be careful! Tooya said sharply, hurrying to stand in front of her with his mysterious scythe in his hands. This music brings sleep. Sleep brings danger.
Despite his warning Chihiro yawned widely. “But I feel so sleepy all of a sudden,” she protested. “Can’t we just stop to rest a little? My feet feel so heavy.”
“Are you sure it’s not just those boots?” Kazahaya asked. “They’re awfully large for someone small like you.”
“You want to rest?” Nagi said in disbelief, ignoring the scarecrow. “Weren’t you just saying you wanted to run?”
Michiomi covered his mouth with a large paw, smothering a yawn of his own. “I think a rest... sounds nice.”
“But!” Kazahaya looked at Tooya. “There’s something out there, right? What’s Tooya saying, Chihiro?”
Something comes, Miko. We must not rest. Violet eyes scanned the meadow, searching for the source of the lullaby.
“He says, something’s coming...” Chihiro stumbled to her knees, pulling Nagi down with her. “So tired...”
“Hey, what’re you-!?” Nagi looked down at where she was already sprawled on the ground amongst the flowers. “Chihiro, get up. It’s dangerous to be sleeping now, isn’t it? Let’s get to Emerald City.” He knelt down and shook her shoulder, but her eyes remained closed. “Can’t we do something?!” he asked, sounding slightly panicked.
“Same thing over here,” Kazahaya said mournfully as he tried to shake Michiomi awake. “Is it something only people and animals are susceptible to?”
We must keep moving, Tooya insisted. He knelt down on the other side of Chihiro, intending on picking her up.
“I think I understand what you want us to do, Tooya,” Nagi said, “but that’s impossible. Between the three of us, we can’t carry both Chihiro and Michiomi.”
Tooya frowned, eyes still searching for the source of the song. This is a Tsuchigumo’s doing. This is Eka’s song. He stood and took a deep breath, notes of his own song leaving his lips.
“What’s this?” Kazahaya looked from Tooya to Nagi, confused. “You hear him too, right?”
“Of course I can hear him,” Nagi scoffed. He continued attempting to rouse Chihiro.
Carefully countering Eka’s lullaby, Tooya wove lively threads of sunlight and wildflowers, of the journey behind them and the shining goal that was Emerald City. His watchful gaze alternated between Chihiro and the meadow. Finally he noticed her stirring, and he brought encouraging notes into the melody. Miko awakens.
“Hm?” Chihiro slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She blinked at Nagi, who watched her with a worried expression, then focused her attention on Tooya, who continued to sing. “Tooya?”
“I think he’s countering the sleeping spell,” Nagi quietly answered her question. Behind her, he could see Kazahaya helping Michiomi to his feet. “Let’s get out of here while we’re all still awake.”
“Okay...” Chihiro bowed her head. “I’m sorry, I must have caused trouble for you all.” She kept hold of Nagi’s hand as they all made their way to where the yellow brick road emerged from the heavily growing wildflowers and tall grasses. Tooya continued to sing until they reached the outer gates of Emerald City.
He is gone. Miko is safe now. Tooya seemed pleased to announce this, his scythe disappearing into thin air once more.
“Thank you, Tooya,” Chihiro said gratefully with a smile. “You saved us.”
“You did,” Michiomi concurred. “You have my thanks as well.”
I will protect Miko, Tooya repeated.
Chihiro took Tooya’s hand with her free one then tugged he and Nagi toward the large door. A large chain hung to one side of the door. “Do you think we pull this?” she asked.
“Go ahead and try,” Kazahaya encouraged.
“Okay, here goes.” She grabbed the chain and pulled down once, twice. Instead of a brassy ringing sound, a dull thunk, thunk met her ears. “Maybe it’s broken...”
A round hole in the door, well above their heads, swung open, and a scowling man stuck his head out. “Why are you ringing the bell!” he demanded sharply. “Didn’t you read the notice?”
Chihiro nearly took a startled step backward. “Wh-what notice?”
“The notice on the-” If possible, his scowl grew darker and he let out a long-suffering sigh. “I told them to put a notice up,” he muttered, then spoke up again. “Well, state your business.”
“We want to see the wizard,” Chihiro answered nervously.
“The wizard...” He shook his head and grumbled what sounded like, “Why did Shi-kun assign me this position...” Giving the group a stern look, he answered, “No one sees the Great Oz. Now stop wasting my time.” He stepped back and began to swing his small round door closed.
“Oh please, sir, I’ve got to see the wizard!” Chihiro begged. “We’ve come such a long way, and the Good Witch of the Earth sent me!”
“Shi-kun...” the guard repeated, letting out another sigh. He appeared to consider this then said, “Prove it.”
“Um...” Chihiro tried to think back to her encounter with the witch. “She told me to wear these boots so that Wizard Nasatya couldn’t take them, and that the Wizard of Oz would help me.”
“She did, hm. And the wizard is supposed to fix this problem?” The slightest of smirks crossed his face. “Come in, then. If it’s an order from Shi-kun.” He closed the small door and pulled open the massive double doors with little effort. “Follow me.”
Chihiro looked up at Kazahaya. “It’s all right,” he reassured her. “We’re almost there now. Soon you’ll be home again!”
“Home...” Chihiro smiled at the thought and followed the annoyed-looking guard, who led them across the great entryway.
“First you’ll have to stop here. You’ll want to clean up after your long journey.” He gestured to a doorway. “Once you’re done, the staff will tell you where you need to go.”
“Thank you, sir,” Chihiro said with a bow of her head.
“You don’t have to call me ‘sir,’ just Oshihito is fine.” He gave her a nod and strode off in the direction they had come, intending to return to his post.
“Well. I don’t know if he was being helpful or not,” Chihiro said quietly as she watched him leave.
“Doesn’t matter, does it?” Nagi asked.
“Yes, we’re almost there,” Kazahaya said happily. “So let’s go get cleaned up like he suggested.” He ushered everyone toward the large double-doors.
~ ~ ~
“Why do we have to follow that evil wizard’s orders, huh?!” Sazaki grumbled, shifting the large bolt of cloth in his arms yet again. “This job sucks!”
Karigane, who flew beside him, gave Sazaki a sidelong look. “He placed a spell on our boat and won’t return it until we accomplish this,” he answered without enthusiasm.
“I know he did!” Sazaki squawked. “Doesn’t it just piss you off? What’s a pirate without a ship!?“
“A bandit?” one of the other Himuka behind him suggested.
“A bandit! I’m no bandit!” Sazaki challenged, shaking a fist angrily. The giant scroll nearly slipped out of his grasp again, and he fumbled to regain his grip on it. “Ah, damn it!! Let’s just get this done with!”
“Emerald City is down there,” Karigane pointed out, eyes fixed on the shining city below them. “Shall we?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Sazaki started to unravel the cloth. “Hey you guys, get over here and help!” he called to his underlings. The group of Himuka crowded around, and slowly they unfurled the large sign. Sazaki hovered in front to survey the work with a nod. “Looks fine to me,” he said to Karigane. “Did you like how I used big black letters?”
“...You misspelled ‘surrender.’”
“What?!” Sazaki’s eyes narrowed critically. “S-U-R-R-E-N-D-A-R... no I didn’t.”
“E-R,” Karigane corrected.
“Well, it’s good enough!” Sazaki retorted. “They’ll be able to read it, anyhow!” To the group he ordered, “All right, now hold it so all the people down there can see! They have to give us this girl, or we won’t get our ship back!”
“Aye-aye, Captain!” came the many-voiced reply.
~ ~ ~
“I feel so much better,” Chihiro said happily as they all gathered in the large courtyard. “I didn’t realize how tired and dirty I was!”
“I think we all feel better,” Michiomi agreed with a smile.
Tooya nodded. Yes. Miko’s light shines brightly once more.
“What’s that?” a nearby woman cried out, pointing upward at the sky.
Chihiro looked up and gasped. Large birdmen were flying over Emerald City holding a banner that read “SURRENDAR CHIHIRO” in black letters. “Why...?”
“Obviously they’re Wizard Nasatya’s henchmen,” Nagi scoffed, “but I doubt we have to worry. If they can’t even spell correctly then they’re probably inept at everything else, too.”
The townspeople rushed around them, calling out to each other, “The Wizard will know what to do!”
“Do you think they’re going to see our wizard?” Chihiro asked Kazahaya.
“You know that I can’t think, Chihiro,” he replied kindly, pointing to his head. “But if I had to guess, I would guess that you’re correct.”
“Then we should follow them!” She grabbed hold of Kazahaya’s arm with one hand and Nagi’s hand with the other.
“You don’t have to pull me,” Nagi protested. “I came with you this far, it’s not like I’m going back to the forest now, so leggo.”
Chihiro paid him no mind, following the throng of people. They stopped in front of a short platform leading to a tall, heavy door. A man dressed in long robes with a dark patch over one eye was already waving away the crowd gathered there.
“It’s all right,” he addressed them calmly. “The great and powerful Oz has things quite under control. You may all rest assured that he is certainly aware of and already problem-solving the task at hand.” His visible eye scanned the crowd. “This was, of course, fated to happen, and the wizard is quite capable of taking care of this issue. You may all return home secure in this knowledge.”
The townspeople murmured amongst themselves as they drifted away in twos and threes, and the man on the platform nodded his approval. When he turned to disappear past the large door Chihiro called out to him.
“Please, sir, please wait!” She approached the stair nervously.
“Oh?” The man came forward one, two steps. His eye took her in with keen interest. “Is there something I might do for you?”
“Yes, sir,” Chihiro answered, clinging to Kazhaya’s hand. “We’d like to see the wizard. All five of us.”
“The wizard, hm...” The man appeared to consider this for a moment, looking over the unlikely group of travelers. “I’m afraid that is quite impossible, waga kimi. The powerful Oz grants no one audiences.”
“But we just have to see him!” Chihiro insisted. “We came all this way because the Good Witch of the Earth said he could help us!”
His smile faltered for a split second. “I do apologize for your troubles, but I simply cannot allow you through.”
“But she’s Chihiro!” Kazahaya chimed in.
“Chihiro...” His musing tone returned. “The one to be, ah, ‘surrendared’ to the Himuka clan?”
“Yes, and we believe they are working under the orders of the Fire-Lightning Wizard,” Michiomi added. “Please, we must see the wizard!”
“Hm...” The man raised a gloved hand to his chin and appeared to reconsider. “Very well. I shall announce you to the great Wizard of Oz. Wait here.” Without another word he disappeared inside, the heavy door slamming shut behind him.
“Did you hear that? He said he would announce us!” Kazahaya shook Chihiro’s hand excitedly. “I’ve as good as got my brains!”
“I’ll make it home in time for supper,” Chihiro replied, shaking his hand in return.
“I’ll have nothing to fear in the forest,” Michiomi said, his expression peaceful.
Nagi made a face when they all turned to look at him expectantly. “What. It’s not like I really wanted a heart in the first place.”
“Aww, Nagi,” Chihiro scolded. “You’re being a curmudgeon.”
Rolling his eyes, Nagi pointed out, “How come no one’s asking Tooya what he’s going to ask of the wizard?”
Chihiro blinked. “You’re right!” She turned to their silent companion. “I’m so sorry, Tooya. What are you going to ask the wizard?”
I have only one wish. I want to be with Miko. His violet eyes gazed at her happily. I want to be near Miko’s light.
Blushing, Chihiro stammered, “I, I don’t think that’s something to ask the wizard for, Tooya.”
I ask Miko. I want to stay by Miko’s side.
She nodded, ignoring the curious looks from the rest of their party. “All right, Tooya,” she agreed.
Just then the large door opened, and the man with the eye patch returned. “The wizard sends his regards and requests that you vacate the premises at once. He will not receive you.” Before the group could react he disappeared behind the closed door once more. Dumbfounded, Chihiro could only stare at the place where the stranger had stood.
“I guess we really did come all this way for nothing,” Kazahaya lamented, his voice soft.
Tears welled up in Chihiro’s blue eyes as she slowly sunk to the ground. “I thought I was going to get to go home...”
“Oh, don’t cry, Chihiro,” Michiomi said consolingly.
“We’ll get you home,” Kazahaya reassured her.
“...Yeah,” Nagi agreed in a monotone voice when the other two looked at him sharply, expecting words of comfort from him as well.
Miko... Tooya crouched beside her, a worried frown on his face.
“I need to get back,” Chihiro insisted between sobs. “I have to get back to the place I belong.”
Tooya’s expression turned mournful. My power heals, my power erases. It cannot send you back.
“...” The man with the eye patch, watching through the door he had cracked open, spoke up. “I understand.” He pushed the door and strode out, kneeling beside Chihiro. “Do not cry, waga kimi. I know well the feeling of needing to return to the place you belong.” One black-gloved hand brushed away the tears from her wide eyes. “Come, I will allow you inside.” He stood and helped her do the same.
“But, but you just said the wizard wouldn’t receive us,” Kazahaya countered.
“Oh?” The man raised his eyebrow at the scarecrow. “Would you rather I leave it at that?”
“Of course not,” Chihiro said, sniffling softly. “Please, please take us to see him!”
“As you wish, waga kimi.” He disappeared inside again, but this time he left the door open for them to follow.
Chihiro paused long enough to scrub away the tear tracks on her cheek with her sleeve then smiled at her companions. “Let’s go!” Once they stepped inside a long, empty corridor greeted them, but there was no sign of the mysterious man with the eye patch. “Huh? Where did he go?” she wondered aloud.
“Maybe he went on ahead to tell the wizard we’re coming,” Kazahaya suggested. “There’s no way to go but straight ahead, so we might as well follow, right?”
“Wait just a moment,” Michiomi spoke up in a small voice. “On second thought, I don’t really want to see the wizard. Perhaps I’ll wait outside for you.” He turned and tried to hurry back the opposite way.
“What’s the matter?” Kazahaya asked as he grabbed the lion’s arm and tugged him along.
“He’s scared,” Nagi said flatly.
“But don’t you know that the wizard is going to give you some courage?” Chihiro reminded him.
“I, I’m too scared to ask him for it,” Michiomi protested.
“Well then we’ll ask him for you,” Chihiro said firmly, taking hold of his paw.
Michiomi attempted to pull away once more. “I’d still rather wait outside...”
This time both Chihiro and Kazahaya grabbed the shaking lion, each one holding onto a paw. “This way,” Chihiro told him. The corridor stretched on, and the high ceilings made the hall seem even longer.
“So where’s this wizard?” Nagi asked disinterestedly.
As if on cue, the ceiling-high double doors at the far end of the corridor swung open, and a booming voice echoed, “Come forward!”
Chihiro took hold of Nagi’s hand in her free one, squeezing Michiomi’s paw with her other. She found it difficult to continue forward, but together the group passed through the doors into a grand chamber filled with various decorations that gave off an emerald glow.
“Look at that!” Michiomi exclaimed fearfully, pointing off to the left. An elevated dais held strange metal contraptions that gave off steam and flame. The one in the middle, larger than the others, released a huge tongue of fire, which shrank back down to reveal eerie, green-tinted smoke.
“I am Oz, the great and powerful. Who are you?!” a booming voice demanded.
Do not fear, Miko. I will protect you. Though he did not call forth his scythe, Tooya remained close to Chihiro.
“Thank you, Tooya,” she said quietly as she stepped forward, trembling with fear. “I am Ashihara Chihiro, the small and meek,” Chihiro finally answered. “Please, sir, we’ve come to ask you-”
“Silence!” Flames spouted up toward the ceiling each time he spoke. “The great and powerful Oz knows why you have come. Step forward, Tin Man!”
Nagi glanced over at Chihiro then took an unhurried step forward. “Yeah?”
“You dare to come to me for a heart, do you? You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk?”
Sighing, Nagi answered. “I guess. Quite frankly I don’t really care, but these two pulled me out of the forest and brought me along with them.”
“Silence!”
Shrugging, Nagi returned to Chihiro’s side, rolling his eyes. “That went well,” he muttered to himself.
“And you, Scarecrow, have the effrontery to ask for a brain, you billowing bale of bovine fodder?”
Kazahaya stumbled forward, but his straw legs gave out. He called toward the tower of flames from his position on the floor. “Yes, Your Honor. I mean Your Excellency. I mean Your Wizardry.”
“Enough!” the Wizard of Oz interrupted. Kazahaya had barely gotten to his feet when more flames burst upward. “And you, Lion!”
Michiomi scrambled to run away, but Chihiro and Tooya gently pushed him past Kazahaya. When the wizard shouted, “Well?!” Michiomi promptly fainted backwards.
“Oh!” Chihiro rushed forward, kneeling at his side. She glared up at the dais. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” she blurted our angrily. “Frightening him like that, when he came to you for help!”
“Silence!” the wizard commanded again. “The munificent Oz has every intention of granting your requests.”
Michiomi stirred back to consciousness, mumbling, “What did he say...?” Chihiro and Kazahaya helped him to his feet while the wizard continued to speak.
“First, you must prove yourselves worthy by performing a very small task.” He paused, and Chihiro wondered what a wizard could possibly ask of them. “Bring me Wizard Nasatya’s sword.”
“What?” Nagi’s voice was disbelieving. “We’d have to kill him to get that.”
“Bring me his sword, and I will grant all of your requests. Now go.” The flames began to die down, the smoke dissipating.
“But, what if he tries to kill us?” Michiomi asked.
“I said go!” With that the flames fell to nothing, but the group had already hurried from the chamber back into the hallway, eager to escape from the frightening wizard.
~ ~ ~
If meeting with the Wizard of Oz had been fearsome, then the journey to Wizard Nasatya’s castle could only have been called terrifying. Strange birds and animals screeched and howled from the dark shadows of the forest, making the travelers startle every few steps.
Miko, stand back! Tooya warned suddenly, stepping in front of her. Wings hover.
Puzzled, Chihiro dutifully remained behind the Tsuchigumo. “Wings? Is it those birdmen again?” she asked.
“The Himuka clansmen we saw earlier?” Michiomi looked from Tooya to Chihiro. “What’s he saying?”
Chihiro shook her head. “I’m not sure yet.”
Tooya summoned his scythe, eyes darting around the forest then looking upward. Barely visible through the thick, gnarled tree branches many Himuka circled overhead. Suddenly a loud cry echoed in the skies and they descended, aiming straight for the group of travelers.
Nagi hefted his ax, ready to fight alongside Tooya. “Chihiro, hide in the trees where they won’t spot you,” he told her.
She glanced to the side of the path, where the trees grew thicker but also darker. “But...”
The Himuka clansmen swooped lower, a few flying just overhead. Nagi swung his ax in an attempt to ward them off. “Go!” he yelled over his shoulder. “It’s you they want!”
“Ahh!” Kazahaya screeched when one of the Himuka knocked him over, scattering straw from his limbs. When he tried to stand the remaining stuffing was insufficient for him to climb to his feet. “Help!”
I won’t let you harm Miko. Tooya stared down the incoming flock, swinging his scythe less randomly than Nagi’s ax. The large birdmen carefully altered their courses to avoid the Tsuchigumo.
“This way, Chihiro,” Michiomi urged. He took her hand and led her down the path in the direction they had come, searching for a hiding place that would be less frightening for them both.
“Michiomi-sa- ahh, no!” Chihiro shrieked as one strong Himuka picked her up. She beat her fists against the arms holding her. “Put me down!!”
“Easy, there,” the Himuka answered. “Just stay still and we’ll be good.”
“No, let go!” she shouted, trying to squirm out of his grasp.
“Hey, stop that!” he warned, swerving to the side a little as they rose higher. “Do you really want me to drop you?”
“I want you to put me down!” Chihiro tried to peer down to see how high they had flown already and gasped.
“If you drop her,” another Himuka with gray wings advised from nearby, “you should do it over the trees, Sazaki.”
“Ka-! Karigane, I won’t drop her, just you watch!” With that he swooped down a little closer to the trees then shot upwards again, whooping as he headed in the direction of the Fire-Lightning Wizard’s castle.
~ ~ ~
“Help put me back together! We need to go after Chihiro!” Kazahaya tried to lift his arms toward his comrades, but his limbs would not cooperate.
Tooya knelt down and dutifully began to gather the scattered straw.
“They got you good, huh,” Nagi said flatly, surveying the mess that had once been stuffed inside the scarecrow.
“Don’t just stand there,” Kazahaya scolded.
Michiomi, who had picked up Kazahaya’s pants and was scooping straw back into the legs, sighed. “Those Himuka have taken Chihiro to Wizard Nasatya’s castle...”
I know the way, Tooya tried to convey with a nod of his head. I can lead.
Nagi raised an eyebrow at the Tsuchigumo. “Are you agreeing, or are you saying you can get there?”
Tooya pointed through the forest in roughly the same direction the Himuka had flown. We go that way.
“Great,” Kazahaya said. “Once I’m back in one piece we’ll hurry after them.”
“We- we are?” Michiomi asked, voice shaking.
“Of course we are!” Kazahaya answered sternly. “Don’t you think about running away, we have to go save Chihiro.”
Michiomi’s expression reflected his desire to back out of the journey and return to his forest. “I...”
“Make up your mind,” Nagi said, annoyed, as he helped the scarecrow to his feet. “Either you’re coming or not.”
“I... I’m coming with, I’m helping Chihiro,” Michiomi decided. He turned to Tooya. “Please, lead us to her.”
Tooya nodded again. This way, to Miko. He picked his way through the trees, leading the other three off of the path and into the forest. He often paused and listened before changing their direction just slightly and continuing on.
“I hope you know where you’re going,” Nagi grumbled as he carefully stepped over a fallen, rotting tree.
“At least the Himuka can’t suddenly attack us here,” Kazahaya pointed out, voice cheerful.
“Is that... Is the forest thinning out up there?” Michiomi asked hopefully.
After trees come rocks, Tooya silently told them as he brought them out of the forest, though no one heard him.
“Good, I was getting sick of this,” Nagi said uncharitably.
Nagi, we’re not done, Tooya encouraged, reaching for the blond’s arm. His fingers grabbed Nagi’s wrist and tugged. We have to climb the mountain. With his other hand Tooya pointed up the craggy mountain to where Nasatya’s castle stood.
“Wha- Ow, what, Tooya?” Nagi tried to break free from the Tsuchigumo’s strong hold while his eyes followed the direction Tooya pointed. “Way the hell up there? No thanks.”
“Now, now,” Kazahaya attempted to convince him, “I’m sure it’s really not as bad as it looks. Let’s give it a try.” He nudged Michiomi, who also appeared rather hesitant to continue forward.
Nagi crossed his tin arms with a loud clunk. “Right. You first.”
Tooya reached for a handhold and hauled himself up atop a slight ledge. He turned to look at the others and offered his hand. Come. Miko is waiting.
“Oh, thank you, Tooya.” Michiomi laid his paw on Tooya’s hand, and the Tsuchigumo grabbed him tightly and tugged the lion up with him. Eyes wide, Michiomi voiced a short yelp of pain and rubbed at his sore hand once his hind feet were safely on the ledge. “Tooya... you’re awfully strong.”
Strong? Tooya tilted his head curiously. I want to be strong, for Miko.
Michiomi’s expression mirrored his discomfort at knowing Tooya had answered him and his inability to understand. Instead he turned to the two men on the ground. “Here, we can help you up.”
“Just let me grab your tail to climb up,” Nagi suggested in monotone sarcasm.
“Now, Nagi,” Kazahaya chided. “If we’re to reach the castle, we’ll have to work together.”
Nagi merely heaved a tired sigh in reply.
~ ~ ~
“Hey, that wasn’t our deal!” Sazaki squawked indignantly. “You said if we brought the girl you’d lift the spell on our boat!”
Nasatya’s manner remained unfazed by the large Himuka’s objections. “And I shall, as soon as she is disposed of.”
Eyes wide, Sazaki protested, “I’m not killing anyone for you! I may be a pirate, but even pirates have a code of ethics!” Behind him he thought he heard Karigane muttering something, but he dismissed it as irrelevant.
“You try my patience,” warned Nasatya. “Rest assured your ship will be returned by nightfall. Now take your men and leave my castle.”
“Well where the hell are we supposed to go, huh?” Sazaki demanded.
“That is none of my concern.” Tone dismissive, Nasatya strode from the room in the direction of the cell holding his prisoner. The heavy door had only a small barred window to peer through. Inside, the girl ran her hands along the walls as if examining them. She still wore Asvin’s boots, he noted. “There are no means of escape from here,” the wizard informed her sharply.
The words caused Chihiro to jump and she spun around to face the door. “Let me out!”
Nasatya simply laughed, a sound evoking cold shivers rather than amusement. “You will stay there until I decide how to dispose of you. Enjoy your final moments of life.” The shock and fear on her face made him smirk, and he wordlessly continued down the hall.
~ ~ ~
Outside the castle, Chihiro’s companions huddled together behind a rocky crag, spying on the castle gate.
“Only two guards, that’s rather lucky,” Kazahaya remarked, gazing at the shrouded figures.
The sound of many wings. Tooya looked eagerly from the castle to his cohorts, and his face fell slightly at their lack of reaction. He gestured toward the sky as many Himuka rose into the air from an inner courtyard.
“What the- Are they just leaving?” Nagi wondered aloud.
“Perhaps the wizard has no need of them now that Chihiro has been taken prisoner,” Michiomi offered.
“It’s fewer opponents to deal with,” Kazahaya said cheerfully. “Now, let’s figure out a way to get past these guards.” He peered down at them. “They’re wearing strange uniforms.”
Shrouds, Tooya told them silently. From his belongings he pulled out the shroud he had worn when he first encountered Chihiro. Tsuchigumo are here.
“Why do you have that, Tooya?” Kazahaya asked.
“It’s a Tsuchigumo shroud,” Michiomi answered for him. “Most wear these at all times, like those guards. I think he’s suggesting we disguise ourselves with it.”
I have three. Tooya brought out two spares and laid them on the ground, nodding proudly at his idea.
“Only three? That means someone will have to go without,” Nagi pointed out.
“I got it!” Kazahaya snapped his fingers. “What if we made the undisguised party look like our prisoner?”
Nagi’s eyes narrowed. “Who do you suggest does that? It obviously can’t be Tooya, and I can’t see a reason why the wizard would want any of the rest of us.”
Michiomi began to wring his paws fretfully. “This sounds awfully dangerous. I could just stay behind instead,” he offered.
“No, we’ll need all the help we can get inside the castle,” Kazahaya said.
“Hey, isn’t that...” Nagi trailed off as he gestured to an item hanging on Michiomi’s belt, half-hidden by his furry limb. “What are you doing with that?”
“Huh?” Michiomi looked down, his face turning pale as he realized where Nagi was pointing. “Ah, this is...”
“I know what it is,” Nagi said flatly. “Why do you have a sankanrei?”
“What’s a sankanrei?” Kazahaya interrupted, looking at the item curiously.
Nagi sighed. “It’s a magical item. It can be used to run away three different times. The catch is that the user can’t control where they’re sent to, so sankanrei are rarely used except in life-or-death situations.” He turned sharp green eyes on the lion. “I guess your cowardice explains why one of the three bells is already missing.”
Michiomi hung his head in shame. “Yes,” he admitted softly, “I’ve used it once already.”
“But this is perfect!” Kazahaya said excitedly. “Michiomi can be our prisoner, and if the guards get suspicious he can use the remaining bells on them!”
“Wha- Wait a minute...” Michiomi protested, but his words trailed off as he watched Tooya hand a shroud to both Kazahaya and Nagi.
The Tsuchigumo smiled at the rest of the group. The shrouds. Miko awaits. He aided the other two in donning on their costumes first before putting on his own. Michiomi thought the scarecrow and the tin man made rather unnatural shapes beneath the flowing garments, but he kept his doubtful comments to himself.
“Tooya should probably go first,” Nagi suggested, eyeing the guards before turning to the silent Tsuchigumo. “You can communicate with them, right?”
Tsuchigumo communicate in many ways. He bowed his head in the direction of the castle entrance. Now. The winds are calm. Tooya summoned his scythe and stepped out from their surveillance point and approached the guards, leaving the other three to scramble after him.
“Follow Tooya,” Nagi hissed, taking hold of one of Michiomi's arms while on the other side of the lion Kazahaya did the same. “Michiomi, try to look like a captive.” He prodded the lion ahead each time Michiomi’s footsteps faltered and tried to keep his own limbs from clanking together.
The group remained silent as they passed between the guards, and the two Tsuchigumo watched them but said nothing and made no move to stop them. A collective sigh of relief rose from the huddled trio, but Tooya continued to move cautiously, cocking his head to the side as if listening.
“Where do we go now?” Kazahaya whispered, indicating a split in the hallways ahead of them.
Miko... Tooya advanced a few steps, staying toward the shadows of a dimly lit side passageway, listening again. He stiffened and looked back at his companions. This way. Miko’s light shines in this darkness.
“That way?” Kazahaya asked, looking at Nagi and Michiomi for clarification.
“Can you tell what he’s saying when he's got that shroud on?” Nagi asked derisively.
“Let’s just follow him, he’s been right so far,” Michiomi advised.
The trio hurried after Tooya, who disappeared into the shadows
~ ~ ~
Miko. Are you there?
Chihiro startled and looked around eagerly. “Tooya? Tooya, is that you?”
Quiet, Miko. The wind carries words, stirs up fire.
Chihiro frowned at the cryptic meaning of Tooya’s words and moved closer to the door, listening carefully. She could hear scuffling footsteps and the unmistakable clank of Nagi’s tin limbs. “Please hurry!” she called as loudly as she dared.
“Stand back.” Nagi’s voice sounded as if he was leaning against the door so that he wouldn’t have to raise his voice. “I’ll break down the door.”
Had the situation not been so dire Chihiro would have laughed aloud. Everyone was concerned about gathering attention by speaking loudly, but now the steady booming of Nagi’s ax hacking away at her prison door echoed through Nasatya’s castle.
“Almost... got it...” Nagi’s strained words were punctuated by the sound of wood splintering as his ax dug deeper into the door. After a few more chops the door broke away from the metalwork of the lock, swinging on its hinges.
“Oh, thank you!” Chihiro cried, launching herself at the tin man, who seemed at a loss as to what to do with her. Tears welled up in her blue eyes. “The wizard, he said he planned to kill me... Nagi, why are you wearing Tooya’s shroud?” She looked at the lion and the other two cloaked figures. “And Kazahaya too?”
“We’ll explain later, right now we need to leave, and fast,” Kazahaya said gently, prying Chihiro off of Nagi.
“This way,” Michiomi waved his paw and retreated in the direction they had come. “With any luck we’ll be able to escape before they notice us.” The group rushed back toward the main castle entrance, but the heavy door was shut tightly.
“Can you chop this one down too, Nagi?” Chihiro asked.
“There’s no need,” a sharp voice called from above them. Nasatya glared down at the intruders and gestured with his right hand. “Seize them.”
Chihiro gasped as a dozen or so Tsuchigumo appeared from the various dark corridors off the foyer, each holding a large scythe like Tooya’s.
I won’t let you. Tooya stepped forward, his own scythe ready.
“Stand down, Tooya.” A Tsuchigumo appeared at Nasatya’s side. Chihiro tried to glimpse his face behind the shroud he wore, but the only distinguishing trait she could see was long, pale braids hanging beyond the cloth mask.
Eka. You will not harm Miko.
“Enough,” Nasatya interrupted, drawing his sword and pointing it at the group of five. “Kill the others, bring her to me alive.”
The Tsuchigumo pressed in slowly. While Tooya threatened them with a swing of his giant blade Nagi quickly tore off the shroud he was wearing, ax in hand.
“Kazahaya, Michiomi, protect Chihiro!”
Weaponless, the other two watched as Nagi and Tooya fought off the enemies. “What can we do?” Kazahaya bemoaned. “I don’t have anything to fight back with!”
“Fight back...” Michiomi looked from the fighting in front of them up to the landing where Nasatya stood with the lone Tsuchigumo. A stone staircase led up to them. “Kazahaya, I have an idea. Can you distract the wizard?”
“I, I guess so?” Kazahaya answered, though his tone betrayed his fear. He swallowed hard as Michiomi slipped away along the wall, staying clear of the fighting. “Chihiro, stay behind me,” he instructed as he removed the shroud from his head then raised his voice to address Nasatya. “What’s the matter, wizard? Too scared to come down and fight us yourself? Have to send your lackeys instead? What a coward!”
Blue eyes narrowed at the insult, and Nasatya switched his sword to his other hand, using his right to conjure a large fireball. “We’ll see who the coward is, scarecrow,” he countered, launching the fire at Kazahaya, who pulled Chihiro aside to avoid the danger.
“Nasatya-sama,” Eka warned beside him, scythe out to challenge the approaching lion.
Michiomi scuffled across the stone floor as close as he dared, then stopped with his front paws raised in the air. “I don’t wish to fight you. I surrender, please spare my life.”
“Unfortunately, I do not trust you,” Nasatya answered coldly, his right hand holding another fireball. “Eka.”
“As you wish, Nasatya-sama.” The blond Tsuchigumo stepped forward, ready to cut down the lion. Michiomi suddenly charged at them, grabbing the two remaining sankanrei from his belt and activating them before hurling one each at Nasatya and Eka. In an instant the two disappeared, leaving behind only the clattering of Nasatya’s sword, which had fallen from his left hand.
“He’s... gone,” Chihiro breathed.
“Not only that!” Michiomi scrabbled to pick up the silver sword with his paws. “He left behind his sword. Now we can deliver it to the Wizard of Oz!”
At the sight of the lion holding Nasatya’s sword, the Tsuchigumo retreated, speaking softly amongst themselves in a language Chihiro could not understand.
Their blades will not sing anymore. Tooya hurried over to Chihiro and Kazahaya, Nagi right behind him. Miko is safe now.
“Thank you, Tooya.” Chihiro beamed at all of them, hugging each as Michiomi joined them. “Thank you all!”
Nagi gave her a grumpy look but accepted her hug regardless. “How about we get out of here? We don’t know where the sankanrei sent them.”
“Yes, let’s hurry back to Oz,” Kazahaya agreed, taking the sword from Michiomi, who appeared rather uncomfortable to be holding it.
~ ~ ~
“Why have you returned!” the voice of the Wizard of Oz boomed from the large cloud of smoke on his dias.
“Please, sir,” Chihiro began as she stepped forward, holding Wizard Nasatya’s sword. “We’ve done what you told us. We’ve brought you the sword of the Fire-Lightning Wizard.” She laid it down on the floor as an offering. “So we’d like you to keep your promise to us, if you please.”
“Not so fast!” the wizard yelled. “I require time to consider this turn of events. Leave me and return again tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” Chihiro repeated, dismayed. “But I want to go home now!”
“Yeah, you’ve had plenty of time to think things over already!” Kazahaya added.
“Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Oz!” Large tongues of flame shot up amidst the clouds of greenish-gray smoke. “I said return tomorrow!”
“If you were really great and powerful, you would keep your promise!” Chihiro countered stubbornly.
Sensing something, Tooya cocked his head to the side and listened, slowly wandering away from the group toward a small area walled off by a curtain. He pulled back the green silk to reveal the man with the eye patch pushing buttons and pulling levers on a machine in front of him. When he spoke, it was into a microphone that amplified his voice to echo throughout the room. “Do you presume to criticize the great Oz? You ungrateful creatures. Consider yourself fortunate that I am granting you an audience tomorrow, rather than 20 years from now.” He glanced over his shoulder to see Chihiro and her companions staring at him, and he quickly tugged the curtain out of Tooya’s grasp to close it. The smoke cloud billowed again. “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, waga kimi.”
Chihiro hurried over to the curtain and yanked it open. “Who are you?” she demanded.
Chagrinned, the man replied hesitatingly into the microphone, “I am the great and powerful... Wizard of Oz.”
“You!” Her blue eyes wide, Chihiro reached for Tooya’s hand to steady herself. “I don’t believe you!”
“I’m afraid my word is the truth, waga kimi,” he responded, abandoning the machine entirely. “There is no wizard here but I.”
“You’re a very bad man!” Chihiro scolded angrily.
“Oh, no my dear,” he said with a soft chuckle. “I am a good man, I assure you. I simply happen to be a bad wizard.”
Kazahaya spoke up. “What about all the things you promised? Like Michiomi’s courage, and Nagi’s heart!”
“And Kazahaya’s brain,” Michiomi added.
“Oh? Why anyone can have a brain, Kazahaya. It’s quite the mediocre commodity. Anything born to the earth has a brain.” With a smile, the wizard opened a cabinet built into the wall and pulled out a small velvet pouch. “Take these.”
Kazahaya opened the pouch to reveal small shiny stones, each a different color. “What are they?”
Another chuckle came from the mysterious wizard. “They are the key to many types of knowledge. In time, you will fully understand. Until then, please do treasure them, for they are irreplaceable.”
“Really?” Kazahaya gazed at the stones in his palm then carefully scooped them back into the pouch. “Thank you!”
“No need to thank me,” the wizard answered, turning his attention to Michomi. “And you, my friend, are a victim of disorganized thinking. You believe that your dislike of fighting means you are a coward, that your pacifism means that you lack courage. But here,” he grabbed a wooden scroll from the cabinet and handed it to Michiomi, “on this scroll is written your brave deeds at the Fire-Lightning Wizard’s castle, lacking violence and following your personal credo perfectly, which clearly shows the courage within you.”
Michomi accepted the scroll, reading over it with wide eyes. “I... suppose that I did...”
“Of course you did,” the Wizard of Oz said smoothly. He hummed thoughtfully to himself as he considered Nagi. “Now you, tin man, have a different sort of problem entirely.”
Nagi rolled his eyes. “Don’t bother. I’m fine the way I am.”
“Oh, Nagi.” Chihiro shook his arm, his joint squeaking faintly. “Let him help you.”
“The key to your problem is not that you completely lack a heart,” the wizard continued, “but in that you once had one and have hidden it away.”
“Hidden it away?” Chihiro asked, confused.
“Yes...” He looked at Nagi knowingly. “And so long ago that you’ve simply forgotten you ever had one.”
Nagi stared back at the man with the eye patch, lips pressed together, expression distant.
Chihiro looked from the tin man to the wizard and back, realizing that Nagi wasn’t about to ask the question necessary to prompt Oz into talking. “How do we find it?”
He smiled at Chihiro. “It is something he alone must do. But with caring friends at his side, he will have no trouble, ah, locating his other half, now that he has been reminded of its existence.”
Nagi growled but said nothing more, turning away from everyone.
“That’s wonderful, Nagi,” Chihiro encouraged, giving him a small pat on his metal shoulder. “What about Tooya?”
The Wizard of Oz glanced at the Tsuchigumo curiously. “I have yet to hear his wish.”
I want to stay at Miko’s side. Tooya shifted closer to Chihiro.
Before Chihiro could speak to convey Tooya’s words, the wizard answered gently, “I believe his wish must be granted not by I, but by you, waga kimi.”
Tooya turned to Chihiro with a smile. Miko.
“Well, well of course you can, Tooya,” she stammered, a light blush coloring her cheeks.
“Hey, what about Chihiro?” Kazahaya interrupted.
“Yes, Chihiro’s turn next,” Michiomi urged.
“Ah, that will prove slightly more difficult. The only way for Chihiro to return home is for me to accompany her there,” the wizard explained.
“Are you a clever enough wizard to do that?” Chihiro asked.
“I assure you, waga kimi, that I will see you safely home. Come with me.” He led them all down the hall to a small side chamber. “Beyond this door lies a cave that will take us to the place you belong.”
“Really?” Chihiro looked at her companions excitedly. “I can finally go home!”
The wizard opened the door with a flourish to reveal a large rock pile, and a frown quickly marred his face. “What is this?”
“It looks like the tunnel caved in,” Kazahaya stated.
“So it has...” He surveyed the blocked entrance carefully. “The way the boulders have fallen suggest that attempting to climb or dig our way through would be quite treacherous. I could not recommend such an endeavor.” The wizard gently ushered them all out of the cave and back into his large chamber.
“Oh, now I’ll never get home...” Tears welled up in Chihiro’s eyes, and she tried to hold back the overwhelming sorrow that accompanied her words.
“Stay with us then, Chihiro,” Michomi suggested gently. “We all love you. We don’t want you to go.”
Her lower lip quivered, and Chihiro bit it to keep from sobbing. “That’s very kind of you, but this could never be like home...” She wiped at the teardrops running down her cheeks. “Kazahaya, what am I going to do?”
The scarecrow looked troubled for a moment, then a loud noise from the hall stole his attention, and he nudged Chihiro, pointing. “Look. There’s someone who can help you.”
Striding through the doorway was the Good Witch of the Earth, Iwanaga-hime, followed by the gate guard, Oshihito.
“So I get it already, you think everyone is incompetent. Anything else, Oshihito?” The witch sounded weary.
“Shi-kun, I am being perfectly serious,” Oshihito said sternly.
“I know,” Iwanaga-hime answered, “and that’s why this conversation is so boring.” She approached the group, looking relieved for an excuse to change the topic. “What’s the matter, Chihiro? You look like you’re about to cry.” Before anyone could answer she looked sharply at the wizard. “What did you do to her, Hiiragi?”
The strange name caused Chihiro to frown, but when the wizard spoke up she realized it must be his real name. “Me? I promise I did nothing to warrant tears from this young lady.”
From a few steps behind Iwanaga-hime Oshihito snorted derisively.
“It’s not his fault, really,” Chihiro said between sniffles. “It’s just, we defeated the Fire-Lightning Wizard and, um,” she fumbled for his name, “Hiiragi was finally going to bring me home, but the path is blocked.” Approaching the witch hopefully, Chihiro asked, “Is there any way you can help me?”
“The answer’s simple, really.” Iwanaga-hime waved her hand at Chihiro. “In fact, it’s been with you this whole time.”
“It has?” Chihiro tried to think of what the witch could be hinting at, but only Tooya had been with her since she entered Munchkinland. When she looked to him for help he gave her a puzzled smile.
Asvin’s boots?
Chihiro looked down at the leather boots she had been wearing her entire journey. “These boots?” she asked, a little skeptical.
“What.” Nagi gave Iwanaga-hime a disbelieving look. “Don’t tell me those boots have some sort of magical power that can send her back.”
The witch laughed heartily. “No, of course not! I just thought it would be funny to watch Chihiro clomping around in those awful things.” She cleared her throat and continued a bit more seriously, “It’s your desire to return, Chihiro. If you concentrate on what really matters to you, you’ll be home in no time.”
“Oh, that’s too wonderful to be true!” Chihiro looked at her companions gathered around her. “It’s going to be so hard to say goodbye... I love you all too.” She cautiously approached Nagi, who stood back behind everyone else. “Goodbye, Nagi.”
As he hugged her back tightly, he muttered, “This is why I didn’t want a heart... I always lose the people I care about, and it hurts.”
Chihiro leaned up to kiss his cheek, choking back a sob, then she moved to Michiomi. “Goodbye, Michiomi. I’ll never forget how brave you were, when you confronted that wizard all by yourself.”
Michiomi smiled sadly. “I never would have found my courage if I hadn’t met you, Chihiro.”
Returning his smile, she pet his fur consolingly before turning to the scarecrow. “Kazahaya... I think I’ll miss you most of all.” He merely smiled kindly and accepted the kiss she pressed to his cheek, hugging her for a long moment then releasing her.
Wiping away the tears that trickled down her face, Chihiro looked at the others gathered: Iwanaga-hime, Oshihito, and Hiiragi. “Thank you all, for everything you’ve done for me.” She glanced up at Tooya, who waited silently for her to finish her goodbyes, and took his hand in hers. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” she asked him.
My place is with Miko. I love Miko’s light. He gave her a serene smile.
“Okay.” Chihiro nodded at the witch. “We’re ready now.”
Iwanaga-hime clapped her hands once. “Then let’s do this. Close your eyes and picture the place you want to go. Make sure you’re seeing it clearly in your mind’s eye. Then repeat to yourself, ‘There’s no place like home.’ “
Grasping Tooya’s hand tightly, Chihiro softly repeated, “There’s no place like home... There’s no place like home... There’s no place like home...”
~ ~ ~
“Chihiro? Hey, I think she’s coming around.”
“Oh thank goodness.”
Chihiro opened her eyes to find Kazahaya leaning over her with a concerned expression. On the other side of her bed sat Nagi, who feigned apathy.
“Are you all right?” Kazahaya asked softly. “How do you feel?”
“Am I back?” She looked around, expecting to see her plain bedroom. “Wait, this isn’t Japan.”
“Japan?” Nagi shot her a look that was half amusement, half worry. “Did you hit your head when you passed out?”
“We’re in Kashihara no Miya, Chihiro,” Kazahaya told her gently. “You fainted from fatigue two days ago. Do you remember?”
Chihiro sat up, taking in her surroundings once more. “We’re... in the capital. This is my room.”
Slowly, Miko. Tooya moved to stand next to her bed beside Nagi, watching her closely. Your light is still faint.
She smiled at how familiar that sounded. “It must have all been a dream... But everyone was there! All of you, and everyone else...”
Kazahaya chuckled indulgently. “You’ve been asleep for two days, I imagine you dreamed a lot of different things.”
“But it wasn’t just things, it was a place...” Memories of her dream rushed to the forefront of her mind, and Chihiro struggled with how to express it all in a way they would understand. “I remember parts of it weren’t very nice, but most of it was beautiful. But the whole time I kept trying to get back, because I knew I didn’t belong there. And now I finally made it back!”
Kazahaya remained quiet, a tiny smile on his face. He walked over to her door and slipped into the hall, speaking to someone who waited there.
Nagi shook his head. “Right. And your little adventure is the reason you’ve been sleeping for this long.”
Chihiro frowned. “You don’t believe me, do you.”
Tooya gave her a bright smile. Welcome home, Miko.
Pacified by this, Chihiro said, “Thank you, Tooya. I promise I won’t leave like that again.”
“You better not,” Nagi deadpanned. “I’m not ruling in your place.”
In reply Chihiro stuck her tongue out at him then turned her attention to Kazahaya as he reentered the room. A small crowd of people came with him, including Michiomi, Iwanaga-hime, and Oshihito.
“Oh, Chihiro, good to see you up,” Iwanaga-hime said with a satisfied nod. “I brought you something to help you feel better.” She handed over a bottle of wine.
“Here, I’ll take that,” Kazahaya said quickly, grabbing the bottle. “I think alcohol wouldn’t be the best thing for her right now.”
“I’m feeling fine, thank you all,” Chihiro said with a smile. “I’m sorry to have worried you.”
“Just rest,” Oshihito said firmly. “You’re no good to us if you just pass out again.”
“Now, now,” Michiomi protested good-naturedly. “I’m sure she’ll be back to full health in no time. Do rest well, Hime.”
“I promise I won’t push myself until I’m ready,” she answered, gazing at the people around her. “I’m just happy to be back. There really is no place like home!”
~ ~ ~
THE END
Translations:
Miko - Priestess
Hime - Princess
waga kimi - something akin to "my lady" (but with Hiiragi there's a connotation of him being her servant as well which I don't really pick up on with other Chi no Byakko who call Miko this)... I kept the Japanese because putting it in English didn't seem to flow as well
sankanrei - literally, 3 breaking bells; as the story explains, it's a magical item Michiomi has
-sama - very formal suffix used to convey respect
also Shi-kun is what a few of the characters, including Oshihito, call Iwanaga-hime
and Kashihara no Miya is the palace in the capital, where Chihiro rules as Queen at the end of [most of the paths in] the game
There's actually an omake I wanted to insert, but I felt that it would mess up the flow of the story as it follows the movie plot. Instead, I decided to give it its own post which will hopefully be tomorrow.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it. I had no idea when I started that this thing was going to be such a monster - it's over 15,000 words long! O_O I apologize again for the 8-month fail on my part. Hopefully it was worth the inexcusable wait. ^^;
Fandom: Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 4
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own rights to Haruka or to Wizard of Oz. Probably best to be familiar with the movie.
Notes: It's been a few months since the first part was posted. If you'd like to read this story in its entirety part one is here. Hugs for thisissong for her help and advice. Translations at the end.
Nasatya stared out the window of his study, waiting. Finally a whoosh of air signaled the return of his subordinate, and he turned swiftly to look at the shrouded figure. “Eka. What have you discovered?”
The Tsuchigumo bowed low. “Another has joined her group. She still wears the boots once belonging to Wizard Asvin.”
“So she won’t accept my warning. How foolish.” Nasatya moved to stand in front of Eka. “Then it’s time. Go and stop her. I don’t care what happens to the rest of them, but you must bring her to me alive.”
“Understood.” Without another word Eka disappeared to complete his assignment.
Nasatya’s gaze hardened as he looked down where Asvin’s braid lay on his desk. Blue eyes narrowed coldly. “I will make her pay for what she did to you, Ash.”
~ ~ ~
The group of five emerged from the forest to the sight of a meadow bright with wildflowers.
“Oh look,” Chihiro gasped, pointing to the shining green towers in the distance. “There’s Emerald City! We’re almost there at last!” she said excitedly. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”
“It certainly is,” Kazahaya answered with a smile.
“He really must be a wonderful wizard, to live in a city like that,” she added with certainty.
“Well, then, what are we waiting for?” Michiomi asked good-naturedly.
“Nothing, let’s hurry!” Kazahaya said.
“Oh, yes, let’s run,” Chihiro urged.
“There will be no running,” Nagi said flatly.
Chihiro pouted and tugged on his arm. “Nagi, aren’t you excited? You’ll be able to ask the wizard for a heart!”
Nagi merely looked at her. “I’m not running across this meadow. And you wouldn’t even be able to run in those ridiculous boots.”
“Oh, all right...” Disappointed, Chihiro kept hold of his tin hand as she began walking through the brightly-colored wildflowers. “If we weren’t in a hurry, I think I’d like to stop and pick some of these flowers,” she commented to no one in particular. “They’re lovely.”
“I think so too,” Kazahaya agreed. Beside him Michiomi softly echoed the sentiment.
“I’m in no hurry,” Nagi mumbled, though his tone clearly conveyed that his reason had nothing to do with a desire to pick flowers.
Chihiro suddenly stopped, head tilted to the side. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what? Nagi’s grumbling?” Kazahaya asked.
“No, no.” She shook her head. “I thought I could faintly hear a song.”
The group stopped, everyone listening closely.
“...Maybe you’re just hearing things,” Nagi suggested when nothing could be heard.
“No, I’m sure I heard it!” Chihiro persisted, shaking Nagi's arm for teasing her. “It was a soothing song, like a lullaby.”
“I’m afraid I don’t hear it,” Michiomi said apologetically.
“How strange...” Chihiro took a single step then stopped as the melody floated toward her again. “There, can you hear it?”
“I can.” Kazahaya looked around for the source. “I can’t tell where it’s coming from.”
Miko, be careful! Tooya said sharply, hurrying to stand in front of her with his mysterious scythe in his hands. This music brings sleep. Sleep brings danger.
Despite his warning Chihiro yawned widely. “But I feel so sleepy all of a sudden,” she protested. “Can’t we just stop to rest a little? My feet feel so heavy.”
“Are you sure it’s not just those boots?” Kazahaya asked. “They’re awfully large for someone small like you.”
“You want to rest?” Nagi said in disbelief, ignoring the scarecrow. “Weren’t you just saying you wanted to run?”
Michiomi covered his mouth with a large paw, smothering a yawn of his own. “I think a rest... sounds nice.”
“But!” Kazahaya looked at Tooya. “There’s something out there, right? What’s Tooya saying, Chihiro?”
Something comes, Miko. We must not rest. Violet eyes scanned the meadow, searching for the source of the lullaby.
“He says, something’s coming...” Chihiro stumbled to her knees, pulling Nagi down with her. “So tired...”
“Hey, what’re you-!?” Nagi looked down at where she was already sprawled on the ground amongst the flowers. “Chihiro, get up. It’s dangerous to be sleeping now, isn’t it? Let’s get to Emerald City.” He knelt down and shook her shoulder, but her eyes remained closed. “Can’t we do something?!” he asked, sounding slightly panicked.
“Same thing over here,” Kazahaya said mournfully as he tried to shake Michiomi awake. “Is it something only people and animals are susceptible to?”
We must keep moving, Tooya insisted. He knelt down on the other side of Chihiro, intending on picking her up.
“I think I understand what you want us to do, Tooya,” Nagi said, “but that’s impossible. Between the three of us, we can’t carry both Chihiro and Michiomi.”
Tooya frowned, eyes still searching for the source of the song. This is a Tsuchigumo’s doing. This is Eka’s song. He stood and took a deep breath, notes of his own song leaving his lips.
“What’s this?” Kazahaya looked from Tooya to Nagi, confused. “You hear him too, right?”
“Of course I can hear him,” Nagi scoffed. He continued attempting to rouse Chihiro.
Carefully countering Eka’s lullaby, Tooya wove lively threads of sunlight and wildflowers, of the journey behind them and the shining goal that was Emerald City. His watchful gaze alternated between Chihiro and the meadow. Finally he noticed her stirring, and he brought encouraging notes into the melody. Miko awakens.
“Hm?” Chihiro slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She blinked at Nagi, who watched her with a worried expression, then focused her attention on Tooya, who continued to sing. “Tooya?”
“I think he’s countering the sleeping spell,” Nagi quietly answered her question. Behind her, he could see Kazahaya helping Michiomi to his feet. “Let’s get out of here while we’re all still awake.”
“Okay...” Chihiro bowed her head. “I’m sorry, I must have caused trouble for you all.” She kept hold of Nagi’s hand as they all made their way to where the yellow brick road emerged from the heavily growing wildflowers and tall grasses. Tooya continued to sing until they reached the outer gates of Emerald City.
He is gone. Miko is safe now. Tooya seemed pleased to announce this, his scythe disappearing into thin air once more.
“Thank you, Tooya,” Chihiro said gratefully with a smile. “You saved us.”
“You did,” Michiomi concurred. “You have my thanks as well.”
I will protect Miko, Tooya repeated.
Chihiro took Tooya’s hand with her free one then tugged he and Nagi toward the large door. A large chain hung to one side of the door. “Do you think we pull this?” she asked.
“Go ahead and try,” Kazahaya encouraged.
“Okay, here goes.” She grabbed the chain and pulled down once, twice. Instead of a brassy ringing sound, a dull thunk, thunk met her ears. “Maybe it’s broken...”
A round hole in the door, well above their heads, swung open, and a scowling man stuck his head out. “Why are you ringing the bell!” he demanded sharply. “Didn’t you read the notice?”
Chihiro nearly took a startled step backward. “Wh-what notice?”
“The notice on the-” If possible, his scowl grew darker and he let out a long-suffering sigh. “I told them to put a notice up,” he muttered, then spoke up again. “Well, state your business.”
“We want to see the wizard,” Chihiro answered nervously.
“The wizard...” He shook his head and grumbled what sounded like, “Why did Shi-kun assign me this position...” Giving the group a stern look, he answered, “No one sees the Great Oz. Now stop wasting my time.” He stepped back and began to swing his small round door closed.
“Oh please, sir, I’ve got to see the wizard!” Chihiro begged. “We’ve come such a long way, and the Good Witch of the Earth sent me!”
“Shi-kun...” the guard repeated, letting out another sigh. He appeared to consider this then said, “Prove it.”
“Um...” Chihiro tried to think back to her encounter with the witch. “She told me to wear these boots so that Wizard Nasatya couldn’t take them, and that the Wizard of Oz would help me.”
“She did, hm. And the wizard is supposed to fix this problem?” The slightest of smirks crossed his face. “Come in, then. If it’s an order from Shi-kun.” He closed the small door and pulled open the massive double doors with little effort. “Follow me.”
Chihiro looked up at Kazahaya. “It’s all right,” he reassured her. “We’re almost there now. Soon you’ll be home again!”
“Home...” Chihiro smiled at the thought and followed the annoyed-looking guard, who led them across the great entryway.
“First you’ll have to stop here. You’ll want to clean up after your long journey.” He gestured to a doorway. “Once you’re done, the staff will tell you where you need to go.”
“Thank you, sir,” Chihiro said with a bow of her head.
“You don’t have to call me ‘sir,’ just Oshihito is fine.” He gave her a nod and strode off in the direction they had come, intending to return to his post.
“Well. I don’t know if he was being helpful or not,” Chihiro said quietly as she watched him leave.
“Doesn’t matter, does it?” Nagi asked.
“Yes, we’re almost there,” Kazahaya said happily. “So let’s go get cleaned up like he suggested.” He ushered everyone toward the large double-doors.
~ ~ ~
“Why do we have to follow that evil wizard’s orders, huh?!” Sazaki grumbled, shifting the large bolt of cloth in his arms yet again. “This job sucks!”
Karigane, who flew beside him, gave Sazaki a sidelong look. “He placed a spell on our boat and won’t return it until we accomplish this,” he answered without enthusiasm.
“I know he did!” Sazaki squawked. “Doesn’t it just piss you off? What’s a pirate without a ship!?“
“A bandit?” one of the other Himuka behind him suggested.
“A bandit! I’m no bandit!” Sazaki challenged, shaking a fist angrily. The giant scroll nearly slipped out of his grasp again, and he fumbled to regain his grip on it. “Ah, damn it!! Let’s just get this done with!”
“Emerald City is down there,” Karigane pointed out, eyes fixed on the shining city below them. “Shall we?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Sazaki started to unravel the cloth. “Hey you guys, get over here and help!” he called to his underlings. The group of Himuka crowded around, and slowly they unfurled the large sign. Sazaki hovered in front to survey the work with a nod. “Looks fine to me,” he said to Karigane. “Did you like how I used big black letters?”
“...You misspelled ‘surrender.’”
“What?!” Sazaki’s eyes narrowed critically. “S-U-R-R-E-N-D-A-R... no I didn’t.”
“E-R,” Karigane corrected.
“Well, it’s good enough!” Sazaki retorted. “They’ll be able to read it, anyhow!” To the group he ordered, “All right, now hold it so all the people down there can see! They have to give us this girl, or we won’t get our ship back!”
“Aye-aye, Captain!” came the many-voiced reply.
~ ~ ~
“I feel so much better,” Chihiro said happily as they all gathered in the large courtyard. “I didn’t realize how tired and dirty I was!”
“I think we all feel better,” Michiomi agreed with a smile.
Tooya nodded. Yes. Miko’s light shines brightly once more.
“What’s that?” a nearby woman cried out, pointing upward at the sky.
Chihiro looked up and gasped. Large birdmen were flying over Emerald City holding a banner that read “SURRENDAR CHIHIRO” in black letters. “Why...?”
“Obviously they’re Wizard Nasatya’s henchmen,” Nagi scoffed, “but I doubt we have to worry. If they can’t even spell correctly then they’re probably inept at everything else, too.”
The townspeople rushed around them, calling out to each other, “The Wizard will know what to do!”
“Do you think they’re going to see our wizard?” Chihiro asked Kazahaya.
“You know that I can’t think, Chihiro,” he replied kindly, pointing to his head. “But if I had to guess, I would guess that you’re correct.”
“Then we should follow them!” She grabbed hold of Kazahaya’s arm with one hand and Nagi’s hand with the other.
“You don’t have to pull me,” Nagi protested. “I came with you this far, it’s not like I’m going back to the forest now, so leggo.”
Chihiro paid him no mind, following the throng of people. They stopped in front of a short platform leading to a tall, heavy door. A man dressed in long robes with a dark patch over one eye was already waving away the crowd gathered there.
“It’s all right,” he addressed them calmly. “The great and powerful Oz has things quite under control. You may all rest assured that he is certainly aware of and already problem-solving the task at hand.” His visible eye scanned the crowd. “This was, of course, fated to happen, and the wizard is quite capable of taking care of this issue. You may all return home secure in this knowledge.”
The townspeople murmured amongst themselves as they drifted away in twos and threes, and the man on the platform nodded his approval. When he turned to disappear past the large door Chihiro called out to him.
“Please, sir, please wait!” She approached the stair nervously.
“Oh?” The man came forward one, two steps. His eye took her in with keen interest. “Is there something I might do for you?”
“Yes, sir,” Chihiro answered, clinging to Kazhaya’s hand. “We’d like to see the wizard. All five of us.”
“The wizard, hm...” The man appeared to consider this for a moment, looking over the unlikely group of travelers. “I’m afraid that is quite impossible, waga kimi. The powerful Oz grants no one audiences.”
“But we just have to see him!” Chihiro insisted. “We came all this way because the Good Witch of the Earth said he could help us!”
His smile faltered for a split second. “I do apologize for your troubles, but I simply cannot allow you through.”
“But she’s Chihiro!” Kazahaya chimed in.
“Chihiro...” His musing tone returned. “The one to be, ah, ‘surrendared’ to the Himuka clan?”
“Yes, and we believe they are working under the orders of the Fire-Lightning Wizard,” Michiomi added. “Please, we must see the wizard!”
“Hm...” The man raised a gloved hand to his chin and appeared to reconsider. “Very well. I shall announce you to the great Wizard of Oz. Wait here.” Without another word he disappeared inside, the heavy door slamming shut behind him.
“Did you hear that? He said he would announce us!” Kazahaya shook Chihiro’s hand excitedly. “I’ve as good as got my brains!”
“I’ll make it home in time for supper,” Chihiro replied, shaking his hand in return.
“I’ll have nothing to fear in the forest,” Michiomi said, his expression peaceful.
Nagi made a face when they all turned to look at him expectantly. “What. It’s not like I really wanted a heart in the first place.”
“Aww, Nagi,” Chihiro scolded. “You’re being a curmudgeon.”
Rolling his eyes, Nagi pointed out, “How come no one’s asking Tooya what he’s going to ask of the wizard?”
Chihiro blinked. “You’re right!” She turned to their silent companion. “I’m so sorry, Tooya. What are you going to ask the wizard?”
I have only one wish. I want to be with Miko. His violet eyes gazed at her happily. I want to be near Miko’s light.
Blushing, Chihiro stammered, “I, I don’t think that’s something to ask the wizard for, Tooya.”
I ask Miko. I want to stay by Miko’s side.
She nodded, ignoring the curious looks from the rest of their party. “All right, Tooya,” she agreed.
Just then the large door opened, and the man with the eye patch returned. “The wizard sends his regards and requests that you vacate the premises at once. He will not receive you.” Before the group could react he disappeared behind the closed door once more. Dumbfounded, Chihiro could only stare at the place where the stranger had stood.
“I guess we really did come all this way for nothing,” Kazahaya lamented, his voice soft.
Tears welled up in Chihiro’s blue eyes as she slowly sunk to the ground. “I thought I was going to get to go home...”
“Oh, don’t cry, Chihiro,” Michiomi said consolingly.
“We’ll get you home,” Kazahaya reassured her.
“...Yeah,” Nagi agreed in a monotone voice when the other two looked at him sharply, expecting words of comfort from him as well.
Miko... Tooya crouched beside her, a worried frown on his face.
“I need to get back,” Chihiro insisted between sobs. “I have to get back to the place I belong.”
Tooya’s expression turned mournful. My power heals, my power erases. It cannot send you back.
“...” The man with the eye patch, watching through the door he had cracked open, spoke up. “I understand.” He pushed the door and strode out, kneeling beside Chihiro. “Do not cry, waga kimi. I know well the feeling of needing to return to the place you belong.” One black-gloved hand brushed away the tears from her wide eyes. “Come, I will allow you inside.” He stood and helped her do the same.
“But, but you just said the wizard wouldn’t receive us,” Kazahaya countered.
“Oh?” The man raised his eyebrow at the scarecrow. “Would you rather I leave it at that?”
“Of course not,” Chihiro said, sniffling softly. “Please, please take us to see him!”
“As you wish, waga kimi.” He disappeared inside again, but this time he left the door open for them to follow.
Chihiro paused long enough to scrub away the tear tracks on her cheek with her sleeve then smiled at her companions. “Let’s go!” Once they stepped inside a long, empty corridor greeted them, but there was no sign of the mysterious man with the eye patch. “Huh? Where did he go?” she wondered aloud.
“Maybe he went on ahead to tell the wizard we’re coming,” Kazahaya suggested. “There’s no way to go but straight ahead, so we might as well follow, right?”
“Wait just a moment,” Michiomi spoke up in a small voice. “On second thought, I don’t really want to see the wizard. Perhaps I’ll wait outside for you.” He turned and tried to hurry back the opposite way.
“What’s the matter?” Kazahaya asked as he grabbed the lion’s arm and tugged him along.
“He’s scared,” Nagi said flatly.
“But don’t you know that the wizard is going to give you some courage?” Chihiro reminded him.
“I, I’m too scared to ask him for it,” Michiomi protested.
“Well then we’ll ask him for you,” Chihiro said firmly, taking hold of his paw.
Michiomi attempted to pull away once more. “I’d still rather wait outside...”
This time both Chihiro and Kazahaya grabbed the shaking lion, each one holding onto a paw. “This way,” Chihiro told him. The corridor stretched on, and the high ceilings made the hall seem even longer.
“So where’s this wizard?” Nagi asked disinterestedly.
As if on cue, the ceiling-high double doors at the far end of the corridor swung open, and a booming voice echoed, “Come forward!”
Chihiro took hold of Nagi’s hand in her free one, squeezing Michiomi’s paw with her other. She found it difficult to continue forward, but together the group passed through the doors into a grand chamber filled with various decorations that gave off an emerald glow.
“Look at that!” Michiomi exclaimed fearfully, pointing off to the left. An elevated dais held strange metal contraptions that gave off steam and flame. The one in the middle, larger than the others, released a huge tongue of fire, which shrank back down to reveal eerie, green-tinted smoke.
“I am Oz, the great and powerful. Who are you?!” a booming voice demanded.
Do not fear, Miko. I will protect you. Though he did not call forth his scythe, Tooya remained close to Chihiro.
“Thank you, Tooya,” she said quietly as she stepped forward, trembling with fear. “I am Ashihara Chihiro, the small and meek,” Chihiro finally answered. “Please, sir, we’ve come to ask you-”
“Silence!” Flames spouted up toward the ceiling each time he spoke. “The great and powerful Oz knows why you have come. Step forward, Tin Man!”
Nagi glanced over at Chihiro then took an unhurried step forward. “Yeah?”
“You dare to come to me for a heart, do you? You clinking, clanking, clattering collection of caliginous junk?”
Sighing, Nagi answered. “I guess. Quite frankly I don’t really care, but these two pulled me out of the forest and brought me along with them.”
“Silence!”
Shrugging, Nagi returned to Chihiro’s side, rolling his eyes. “That went well,” he muttered to himself.
“And you, Scarecrow, have the effrontery to ask for a brain, you billowing bale of bovine fodder?”
Kazahaya stumbled forward, but his straw legs gave out. He called toward the tower of flames from his position on the floor. “Yes, Your Honor. I mean Your Excellency. I mean Your Wizardry.”
“Enough!” the Wizard of Oz interrupted. Kazahaya had barely gotten to his feet when more flames burst upward. “And you, Lion!”
Michiomi scrambled to run away, but Chihiro and Tooya gently pushed him past Kazahaya. When the wizard shouted, “Well?!” Michiomi promptly fainted backwards.
“Oh!” Chihiro rushed forward, kneeling at his side. She glared up at the dais. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” she blurted our angrily. “Frightening him like that, when he came to you for help!”
“Silence!” the wizard commanded again. “The munificent Oz has every intention of granting your requests.”
Michiomi stirred back to consciousness, mumbling, “What did he say...?” Chihiro and Kazahaya helped him to his feet while the wizard continued to speak.
“First, you must prove yourselves worthy by performing a very small task.” He paused, and Chihiro wondered what a wizard could possibly ask of them. “Bring me Wizard Nasatya’s sword.”
“What?” Nagi’s voice was disbelieving. “We’d have to kill him to get that.”
“Bring me his sword, and I will grant all of your requests. Now go.” The flames began to die down, the smoke dissipating.
“But, what if he tries to kill us?” Michiomi asked.
“I said go!” With that the flames fell to nothing, but the group had already hurried from the chamber back into the hallway, eager to escape from the frightening wizard.
~ ~ ~
If meeting with the Wizard of Oz had been fearsome, then the journey to Wizard Nasatya’s castle could only have been called terrifying. Strange birds and animals screeched and howled from the dark shadows of the forest, making the travelers startle every few steps.
Miko, stand back! Tooya warned suddenly, stepping in front of her. Wings hover.
Puzzled, Chihiro dutifully remained behind the Tsuchigumo. “Wings? Is it those birdmen again?” she asked.
“The Himuka clansmen we saw earlier?” Michiomi looked from Tooya to Chihiro. “What’s he saying?”
Chihiro shook her head. “I’m not sure yet.”
Tooya summoned his scythe, eyes darting around the forest then looking upward. Barely visible through the thick, gnarled tree branches many Himuka circled overhead. Suddenly a loud cry echoed in the skies and they descended, aiming straight for the group of travelers.
Nagi hefted his ax, ready to fight alongside Tooya. “Chihiro, hide in the trees where they won’t spot you,” he told her.
She glanced to the side of the path, where the trees grew thicker but also darker. “But...”
The Himuka clansmen swooped lower, a few flying just overhead. Nagi swung his ax in an attempt to ward them off. “Go!” he yelled over his shoulder. “It’s you they want!”
“Ahh!” Kazahaya screeched when one of the Himuka knocked him over, scattering straw from his limbs. When he tried to stand the remaining stuffing was insufficient for him to climb to his feet. “Help!”
I won’t let you harm Miko. Tooya stared down the incoming flock, swinging his scythe less randomly than Nagi’s ax. The large birdmen carefully altered their courses to avoid the Tsuchigumo.
“This way, Chihiro,” Michiomi urged. He took her hand and led her down the path in the direction they had come, searching for a hiding place that would be less frightening for them both.
“Michiomi-sa- ahh, no!” Chihiro shrieked as one strong Himuka picked her up. She beat her fists against the arms holding her. “Put me down!!”
“Easy, there,” the Himuka answered. “Just stay still and we’ll be good.”
“No, let go!” she shouted, trying to squirm out of his grasp.
“Hey, stop that!” he warned, swerving to the side a little as they rose higher. “Do you really want me to drop you?”
“I want you to put me down!” Chihiro tried to peer down to see how high they had flown already and gasped.
“If you drop her,” another Himuka with gray wings advised from nearby, “you should do it over the trees, Sazaki.”
“Ka-! Karigane, I won’t drop her, just you watch!” With that he swooped down a little closer to the trees then shot upwards again, whooping as he headed in the direction of the Fire-Lightning Wizard’s castle.
~ ~ ~
“Help put me back together! We need to go after Chihiro!” Kazahaya tried to lift his arms toward his comrades, but his limbs would not cooperate.
Tooya knelt down and dutifully began to gather the scattered straw.
“They got you good, huh,” Nagi said flatly, surveying the mess that had once been stuffed inside the scarecrow.
“Don’t just stand there,” Kazahaya scolded.
Michiomi, who had picked up Kazahaya’s pants and was scooping straw back into the legs, sighed. “Those Himuka have taken Chihiro to Wizard Nasatya’s castle...”
I know the way, Tooya tried to convey with a nod of his head. I can lead.
Nagi raised an eyebrow at the Tsuchigumo. “Are you agreeing, or are you saying you can get there?”
Tooya pointed through the forest in roughly the same direction the Himuka had flown. We go that way.
“Great,” Kazahaya said. “Once I’m back in one piece we’ll hurry after them.”
“We- we are?” Michiomi asked, voice shaking.
“Of course we are!” Kazahaya answered sternly. “Don’t you think about running away, we have to go save Chihiro.”
Michiomi’s expression reflected his desire to back out of the journey and return to his forest. “I...”
“Make up your mind,” Nagi said, annoyed, as he helped the scarecrow to his feet. “Either you’re coming or not.”
“I... I’m coming with, I’m helping Chihiro,” Michiomi decided. He turned to Tooya. “Please, lead us to her.”
Tooya nodded again. This way, to Miko. He picked his way through the trees, leading the other three off of the path and into the forest. He often paused and listened before changing their direction just slightly and continuing on.
“I hope you know where you’re going,” Nagi grumbled as he carefully stepped over a fallen, rotting tree.
“At least the Himuka can’t suddenly attack us here,” Kazahaya pointed out, voice cheerful.
“Is that... Is the forest thinning out up there?” Michiomi asked hopefully.
After trees come rocks, Tooya silently told them as he brought them out of the forest, though no one heard him.
“Good, I was getting sick of this,” Nagi said uncharitably.
Nagi, we’re not done, Tooya encouraged, reaching for the blond’s arm. His fingers grabbed Nagi’s wrist and tugged. We have to climb the mountain. With his other hand Tooya pointed up the craggy mountain to where Nasatya’s castle stood.
“Wha- Ow, what, Tooya?” Nagi tried to break free from the Tsuchigumo’s strong hold while his eyes followed the direction Tooya pointed. “Way the hell up there? No thanks.”
“Now, now,” Kazahaya attempted to convince him, “I’m sure it’s really not as bad as it looks. Let’s give it a try.” He nudged Michiomi, who also appeared rather hesitant to continue forward.
Nagi crossed his tin arms with a loud clunk. “Right. You first.”
Tooya reached for a handhold and hauled himself up atop a slight ledge. He turned to look at the others and offered his hand. Come. Miko is waiting.
“Oh, thank you, Tooya.” Michiomi laid his paw on Tooya’s hand, and the Tsuchigumo grabbed him tightly and tugged the lion up with him. Eyes wide, Michiomi voiced a short yelp of pain and rubbed at his sore hand once his hind feet were safely on the ledge. “Tooya... you’re awfully strong.”
Strong? Tooya tilted his head curiously. I want to be strong, for Miko.
Michiomi’s expression mirrored his discomfort at knowing Tooya had answered him and his inability to understand. Instead he turned to the two men on the ground. “Here, we can help you up.”
“Just let me grab your tail to climb up,” Nagi suggested in monotone sarcasm.
“Now, Nagi,” Kazahaya chided. “If we’re to reach the castle, we’ll have to work together.”
Nagi merely heaved a tired sigh in reply.
~ ~ ~
“Hey, that wasn’t our deal!” Sazaki squawked indignantly. “You said if we brought the girl you’d lift the spell on our boat!”
Nasatya’s manner remained unfazed by the large Himuka’s objections. “And I shall, as soon as she is disposed of.”
Eyes wide, Sazaki protested, “I’m not killing anyone for you! I may be a pirate, but even pirates have a code of ethics!” Behind him he thought he heard Karigane muttering something, but he dismissed it as irrelevant.
“You try my patience,” warned Nasatya. “Rest assured your ship will be returned by nightfall. Now take your men and leave my castle.”
“Well where the hell are we supposed to go, huh?” Sazaki demanded.
“That is none of my concern.” Tone dismissive, Nasatya strode from the room in the direction of the cell holding his prisoner. The heavy door had only a small barred window to peer through. Inside, the girl ran her hands along the walls as if examining them. She still wore Asvin’s boots, he noted. “There are no means of escape from here,” the wizard informed her sharply.
The words caused Chihiro to jump and she spun around to face the door. “Let me out!”
Nasatya simply laughed, a sound evoking cold shivers rather than amusement. “You will stay there until I decide how to dispose of you. Enjoy your final moments of life.” The shock and fear on her face made him smirk, and he wordlessly continued down the hall.
~ ~ ~
Outside the castle, Chihiro’s companions huddled together behind a rocky crag, spying on the castle gate.
“Only two guards, that’s rather lucky,” Kazahaya remarked, gazing at the shrouded figures.
The sound of many wings. Tooya looked eagerly from the castle to his cohorts, and his face fell slightly at their lack of reaction. He gestured toward the sky as many Himuka rose into the air from an inner courtyard.
“What the- Are they just leaving?” Nagi wondered aloud.
“Perhaps the wizard has no need of them now that Chihiro has been taken prisoner,” Michiomi offered.
“It’s fewer opponents to deal with,” Kazahaya said cheerfully. “Now, let’s figure out a way to get past these guards.” He peered down at them. “They’re wearing strange uniforms.”
Shrouds, Tooya told them silently. From his belongings he pulled out the shroud he had worn when he first encountered Chihiro. Tsuchigumo are here.
“Why do you have that, Tooya?” Kazahaya asked.
“It’s a Tsuchigumo shroud,” Michiomi answered for him. “Most wear these at all times, like those guards. I think he’s suggesting we disguise ourselves with it.”
I have three. Tooya brought out two spares and laid them on the ground, nodding proudly at his idea.
“Only three? That means someone will have to go without,” Nagi pointed out.
“I got it!” Kazahaya snapped his fingers. “What if we made the undisguised party look like our prisoner?”
Nagi’s eyes narrowed. “Who do you suggest does that? It obviously can’t be Tooya, and I can’t see a reason why the wizard would want any of the rest of us.”
Michiomi began to wring his paws fretfully. “This sounds awfully dangerous. I could just stay behind instead,” he offered.
“No, we’ll need all the help we can get inside the castle,” Kazahaya said.
“Hey, isn’t that...” Nagi trailed off as he gestured to an item hanging on Michiomi’s belt, half-hidden by his furry limb. “What are you doing with that?”
“Huh?” Michiomi looked down, his face turning pale as he realized where Nagi was pointing. “Ah, this is...”
“I know what it is,” Nagi said flatly. “Why do you have a sankanrei?”
“What’s a sankanrei?” Kazahaya interrupted, looking at the item curiously.
Nagi sighed. “It’s a magical item. It can be used to run away three different times. The catch is that the user can’t control where they’re sent to, so sankanrei are rarely used except in life-or-death situations.” He turned sharp green eyes on the lion. “I guess your cowardice explains why one of the three bells is already missing.”
Michiomi hung his head in shame. “Yes,” he admitted softly, “I’ve used it once already.”
“But this is perfect!” Kazahaya said excitedly. “Michiomi can be our prisoner, and if the guards get suspicious he can use the remaining bells on them!”
“Wha- Wait a minute...” Michiomi protested, but his words trailed off as he watched Tooya hand a shroud to both Kazahaya and Nagi.
The Tsuchigumo smiled at the rest of the group. The shrouds. Miko awaits. He aided the other two in donning on their costumes first before putting on his own. Michiomi thought the scarecrow and the tin man made rather unnatural shapes beneath the flowing garments, but he kept his doubtful comments to himself.
“Tooya should probably go first,” Nagi suggested, eyeing the guards before turning to the silent Tsuchigumo. “You can communicate with them, right?”
Tsuchigumo communicate in many ways. He bowed his head in the direction of the castle entrance. Now. The winds are calm. Tooya summoned his scythe and stepped out from their surveillance point and approached the guards, leaving the other three to scramble after him.
“Follow Tooya,” Nagi hissed, taking hold of one of Michiomi's arms while on the other side of the lion Kazahaya did the same. “Michiomi, try to look like a captive.” He prodded the lion ahead each time Michiomi’s footsteps faltered and tried to keep his own limbs from clanking together.
The group remained silent as they passed between the guards, and the two Tsuchigumo watched them but said nothing and made no move to stop them. A collective sigh of relief rose from the huddled trio, but Tooya continued to move cautiously, cocking his head to the side as if listening.
“Where do we go now?” Kazahaya whispered, indicating a split in the hallways ahead of them.
Miko... Tooya advanced a few steps, staying toward the shadows of a dimly lit side passageway, listening again. He stiffened and looked back at his companions. This way. Miko’s light shines in this darkness.
“That way?” Kazahaya asked, looking at Nagi and Michiomi for clarification.
“Can you tell what he’s saying when he's got that shroud on?” Nagi asked derisively.
“Let’s just follow him, he’s been right so far,” Michiomi advised.
The trio hurried after Tooya, who disappeared into the shadows
~ ~ ~
Miko. Are you there?
Chihiro startled and looked around eagerly. “Tooya? Tooya, is that you?”
Quiet, Miko. The wind carries words, stirs up fire.
Chihiro frowned at the cryptic meaning of Tooya’s words and moved closer to the door, listening carefully. She could hear scuffling footsteps and the unmistakable clank of Nagi’s tin limbs. “Please hurry!” she called as loudly as she dared.
“Stand back.” Nagi’s voice sounded as if he was leaning against the door so that he wouldn’t have to raise his voice. “I’ll break down the door.”
Had the situation not been so dire Chihiro would have laughed aloud. Everyone was concerned about gathering attention by speaking loudly, but now the steady booming of Nagi’s ax hacking away at her prison door echoed through Nasatya’s castle.
“Almost... got it...” Nagi’s strained words were punctuated by the sound of wood splintering as his ax dug deeper into the door. After a few more chops the door broke away from the metalwork of the lock, swinging on its hinges.
“Oh, thank you!” Chihiro cried, launching herself at the tin man, who seemed at a loss as to what to do with her. Tears welled up in her blue eyes. “The wizard, he said he planned to kill me... Nagi, why are you wearing Tooya’s shroud?” She looked at the lion and the other two cloaked figures. “And Kazahaya too?”
“We’ll explain later, right now we need to leave, and fast,” Kazahaya said gently, prying Chihiro off of Nagi.
“This way,” Michiomi waved his paw and retreated in the direction they had come. “With any luck we’ll be able to escape before they notice us.” The group rushed back toward the main castle entrance, but the heavy door was shut tightly.
“Can you chop this one down too, Nagi?” Chihiro asked.
“There’s no need,” a sharp voice called from above them. Nasatya glared down at the intruders and gestured with his right hand. “Seize them.”
Chihiro gasped as a dozen or so Tsuchigumo appeared from the various dark corridors off the foyer, each holding a large scythe like Tooya’s.
I won’t let you. Tooya stepped forward, his own scythe ready.
“Stand down, Tooya.” A Tsuchigumo appeared at Nasatya’s side. Chihiro tried to glimpse his face behind the shroud he wore, but the only distinguishing trait she could see was long, pale braids hanging beyond the cloth mask.
Eka. You will not harm Miko.
“Enough,” Nasatya interrupted, drawing his sword and pointing it at the group of five. “Kill the others, bring her to me alive.”
The Tsuchigumo pressed in slowly. While Tooya threatened them with a swing of his giant blade Nagi quickly tore off the shroud he was wearing, ax in hand.
“Kazahaya, Michiomi, protect Chihiro!”
Weaponless, the other two watched as Nagi and Tooya fought off the enemies. “What can we do?” Kazahaya bemoaned. “I don’t have anything to fight back with!”
“Fight back...” Michiomi looked from the fighting in front of them up to the landing where Nasatya stood with the lone Tsuchigumo. A stone staircase led up to them. “Kazahaya, I have an idea. Can you distract the wizard?”
“I, I guess so?” Kazahaya answered, though his tone betrayed his fear. He swallowed hard as Michiomi slipped away along the wall, staying clear of the fighting. “Chihiro, stay behind me,” he instructed as he removed the shroud from his head then raised his voice to address Nasatya. “What’s the matter, wizard? Too scared to come down and fight us yourself? Have to send your lackeys instead? What a coward!”
Blue eyes narrowed at the insult, and Nasatya switched his sword to his other hand, using his right to conjure a large fireball. “We’ll see who the coward is, scarecrow,” he countered, launching the fire at Kazahaya, who pulled Chihiro aside to avoid the danger.
“Nasatya-sama,” Eka warned beside him, scythe out to challenge the approaching lion.
Michiomi scuffled across the stone floor as close as he dared, then stopped with his front paws raised in the air. “I don’t wish to fight you. I surrender, please spare my life.”
“Unfortunately, I do not trust you,” Nasatya answered coldly, his right hand holding another fireball. “Eka.”
“As you wish, Nasatya-sama.” The blond Tsuchigumo stepped forward, ready to cut down the lion. Michiomi suddenly charged at them, grabbing the two remaining sankanrei from his belt and activating them before hurling one each at Nasatya and Eka. In an instant the two disappeared, leaving behind only the clattering of Nasatya’s sword, which had fallen from his left hand.
“He’s... gone,” Chihiro breathed.
“Not only that!” Michiomi scrabbled to pick up the silver sword with his paws. “He left behind his sword. Now we can deliver it to the Wizard of Oz!”
At the sight of the lion holding Nasatya’s sword, the Tsuchigumo retreated, speaking softly amongst themselves in a language Chihiro could not understand.
Their blades will not sing anymore. Tooya hurried over to Chihiro and Kazahaya, Nagi right behind him. Miko is safe now.
“Thank you, Tooya.” Chihiro beamed at all of them, hugging each as Michiomi joined them. “Thank you all!”
Nagi gave her a grumpy look but accepted her hug regardless. “How about we get out of here? We don’t know where the sankanrei sent them.”
“Yes, let’s hurry back to Oz,” Kazahaya agreed, taking the sword from Michiomi, who appeared rather uncomfortable to be holding it.
~ ~ ~
“Why have you returned!” the voice of the Wizard of Oz boomed from the large cloud of smoke on his dias.
“Please, sir,” Chihiro began as she stepped forward, holding Wizard Nasatya’s sword. “We’ve done what you told us. We’ve brought you the sword of the Fire-Lightning Wizard.” She laid it down on the floor as an offering. “So we’d like you to keep your promise to us, if you please.”
“Not so fast!” the wizard yelled. “I require time to consider this turn of events. Leave me and return again tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” Chihiro repeated, dismayed. “But I want to go home now!”
“Yeah, you’ve had plenty of time to think things over already!” Kazahaya added.
“Do not arouse the wrath of the great and powerful Oz!” Large tongues of flame shot up amidst the clouds of greenish-gray smoke. “I said return tomorrow!”
“If you were really great and powerful, you would keep your promise!” Chihiro countered stubbornly.
Sensing something, Tooya cocked his head to the side and listened, slowly wandering away from the group toward a small area walled off by a curtain. He pulled back the green silk to reveal the man with the eye patch pushing buttons and pulling levers on a machine in front of him. When he spoke, it was into a microphone that amplified his voice to echo throughout the room. “Do you presume to criticize the great Oz? You ungrateful creatures. Consider yourself fortunate that I am granting you an audience tomorrow, rather than 20 years from now.” He glanced over his shoulder to see Chihiro and her companions staring at him, and he quickly tugged the curtain out of Tooya’s grasp to close it. The smoke cloud billowed again. “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, waga kimi.”
Chihiro hurried over to the curtain and yanked it open. “Who are you?” she demanded.
Chagrinned, the man replied hesitatingly into the microphone, “I am the great and powerful... Wizard of Oz.”
“You!” Her blue eyes wide, Chihiro reached for Tooya’s hand to steady herself. “I don’t believe you!”
“I’m afraid my word is the truth, waga kimi,” he responded, abandoning the machine entirely. “There is no wizard here but I.”
“You’re a very bad man!” Chihiro scolded angrily.
“Oh, no my dear,” he said with a soft chuckle. “I am a good man, I assure you. I simply happen to be a bad wizard.”
Kazahaya spoke up. “What about all the things you promised? Like Michiomi’s courage, and Nagi’s heart!”
“And Kazahaya’s brain,” Michiomi added.
“Oh? Why anyone can have a brain, Kazahaya. It’s quite the mediocre commodity. Anything born to the earth has a brain.” With a smile, the wizard opened a cabinet built into the wall and pulled out a small velvet pouch. “Take these.”
Kazahaya opened the pouch to reveal small shiny stones, each a different color. “What are they?”
Another chuckle came from the mysterious wizard. “They are the key to many types of knowledge. In time, you will fully understand. Until then, please do treasure them, for they are irreplaceable.”
“Really?” Kazahaya gazed at the stones in his palm then carefully scooped them back into the pouch. “Thank you!”
“No need to thank me,” the wizard answered, turning his attention to Michomi. “And you, my friend, are a victim of disorganized thinking. You believe that your dislike of fighting means you are a coward, that your pacifism means that you lack courage. But here,” he grabbed a wooden scroll from the cabinet and handed it to Michiomi, “on this scroll is written your brave deeds at the Fire-Lightning Wizard’s castle, lacking violence and following your personal credo perfectly, which clearly shows the courage within you.”
Michomi accepted the scroll, reading over it with wide eyes. “I... suppose that I did...”
“Of course you did,” the Wizard of Oz said smoothly. He hummed thoughtfully to himself as he considered Nagi. “Now you, tin man, have a different sort of problem entirely.”
Nagi rolled his eyes. “Don’t bother. I’m fine the way I am.”
“Oh, Nagi.” Chihiro shook his arm, his joint squeaking faintly. “Let him help you.”
“The key to your problem is not that you completely lack a heart,” the wizard continued, “but in that you once had one and have hidden it away.”
“Hidden it away?” Chihiro asked, confused.
“Yes...” He looked at Nagi knowingly. “And so long ago that you’ve simply forgotten you ever had one.”
Nagi stared back at the man with the eye patch, lips pressed together, expression distant.
Chihiro looked from the tin man to the wizard and back, realizing that Nagi wasn’t about to ask the question necessary to prompt Oz into talking. “How do we find it?”
He smiled at Chihiro. “It is something he alone must do. But with caring friends at his side, he will have no trouble, ah, locating his other half, now that he has been reminded of its existence.”
Nagi growled but said nothing more, turning away from everyone.
“That’s wonderful, Nagi,” Chihiro encouraged, giving him a small pat on his metal shoulder. “What about Tooya?”
The Wizard of Oz glanced at the Tsuchigumo curiously. “I have yet to hear his wish.”
I want to stay at Miko’s side. Tooya shifted closer to Chihiro.
Before Chihiro could speak to convey Tooya’s words, the wizard answered gently, “I believe his wish must be granted not by I, but by you, waga kimi.”
Tooya turned to Chihiro with a smile. Miko.
“Well, well of course you can, Tooya,” she stammered, a light blush coloring her cheeks.
“Hey, what about Chihiro?” Kazahaya interrupted.
“Yes, Chihiro’s turn next,” Michiomi urged.
“Ah, that will prove slightly more difficult. The only way for Chihiro to return home is for me to accompany her there,” the wizard explained.
“Are you a clever enough wizard to do that?” Chihiro asked.
“I assure you, waga kimi, that I will see you safely home. Come with me.” He led them all down the hall to a small side chamber. “Beyond this door lies a cave that will take us to the place you belong.”
“Really?” Chihiro looked at her companions excitedly. “I can finally go home!”
The wizard opened the door with a flourish to reveal a large rock pile, and a frown quickly marred his face. “What is this?”
“It looks like the tunnel caved in,” Kazahaya stated.
“So it has...” He surveyed the blocked entrance carefully. “The way the boulders have fallen suggest that attempting to climb or dig our way through would be quite treacherous. I could not recommend such an endeavor.” The wizard gently ushered them all out of the cave and back into his large chamber.
“Oh, now I’ll never get home...” Tears welled up in Chihiro’s eyes, and she tried to hold back the overwhelming sorrow that accompanied her words.
“Stay with us then, Chihiro,” Michomi suggested gently. “We all love you. We don’t want you to go.”
Her lower lip quivered, and Chihiro bit it to keep from sobbing. “That’s very kind of you, but this could never be like home...” She wiped at the teardrops running down her cheeks. “Kazahaya, what am I going to do?”
The scarecrow looked troubled for a moment, then a loud noise from the hall stole his attention, and he nudged Chihiro, pointing. “Look. There’s someone who can help you.”
Striding through the doorway was the Good Witch of the Earth, Iwanaga-hime, followed by the gate guard, Oshihito.
“So I get it already, you think everyone is incompetent. Anything else, Oshihito?” The witch sounded weary.
“Shi-kun, I am being perfectly serious,” Oshihito said sternly.
“I know,” Iwanaga-hime answered, “and that’s why this conversation is so boring.” She approached the group, looking relieved for an excuse to change the topic. “What’s the matter, Chihiro? You look like you’re about to cry.” Before anyone could answer she looked sharply at the wizard. “What did you do to her, Hiiragi?”
The strange name caused Chihiro to frown, but when the wizard spoke up she realized it must be his real name. “Me? I promise I did nothing to warrant tears from this young lady.”
From a few steps behind Iwanaga-hime Oshihito snorted derisively.
“It’s not his fault, really,” Chihiro said between sniffles. “It’s just, we defeated the Fire-Lightning Wizard and, um,” she fumbled for his name, “Hiiragi was finally going to bring me home, but the path is blocked.” Approaching the witch hopefully, Chihiro asked, “Is there any way you can help me?”
“The answer’s simple, really.” Iwanaga-hime waved her hand at Chihiro. “In fact, it’s been with you this whole time.”
“It has?” Chihiro tried to think of what the witch could be hinting at, but only Tooya had been with her since she entered Munchkinland. When she looked to him for help he gave her a puzzled smile.
Asvin’s boots?
Chihiro looked down at the leather boots she had been wearing her entire journey. “These boots?” she asked, a little skeptical.
“What.” Nagi gave Iwanaga-hime a disbelieving look. “Don’t tell me those boots have some sort of magical power that can send her back.”
The witch laughed heartily. “No, of course not! I just thought it would be funny to watch Chihiro clomping around in those awful things.” She cleared her throat and continued a bit more seriously, “It’s your desire to return, Chihiro. If you concentrate on what really matters to you, you’ll be home in no time.”
“Oh, that’s too wonderful to be true!” Chihiro looked at her companions gathered around her. “It’s going to be so hard to say goodbye... I love you all too.” She cautiously approached Nagi, who stood back behind everyone else. “Goodbye, Nagi.”
As he hugged her back tightly, he muttered, “This is why I didn’t want a heart... I always lose the people I care about, and it hurts.”
Chihiro leaned up to kiss his cheek, choking back a sob, then she moved to Michiomi. “Goodbye, Michiomi. I’ll never forget how brave you were, when you confronted that wizard all by yourself.”
Michiomi smiled sadly. “I never would have found my courage if I hadn’t met you, Chihiro.”
Returning his smile, she pet his fur consolingly before turning to the scarecrow. “Kazahaya... I think I’ll miss you most of all.” He merely smiled kindly and accepted the kiss she pressed to his cheek, hugging her for a long moment then releasing her.
Wiping away the tears that trickled down her face, Chihiro looked at the others gathered: Iwanaga-hime, Oshihito, and Hiiragi. “Thank you all, for everything you’ve done for me.” She glanced up at Tooya, who waited silently for her to finish her goodbyes, and took his hand in hers. “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” she asked him.
My place is with Miko. I love Miko’s light. He gave her a serene smile.
“Okay.” Chihiro nodded at the witch. “We’re ready now.”
Iwanaga-hime clapped her hands once. “Then let’s do this. Close your eyes and picture the place you want to go. Make sure you’re seeing it clearly in your mind’s eye. Then repeat to yourself, ‘There’s no place like home.’ “
Grasping Tooya’s hand tightly, Chihiro softly repeated, “There’s no place like home... There’s no place like home... There’s no place like home...”
~ ~ ~
“Chihiro? Hey, I think she’s coming around.”
“Oh thank goodness.”
Chihiro opened her eyes to find Kazahaya leaning over her with a concerned expression. On the other side of her bed sat Nagi, who feigned apathy.
“Are you all right?” Kazahaya asked softly. “How do you feel?”
“Am I back?” She looked around, expecting to see her plain bedroom. “Wait, this isn’t Japan.”
“Japan?” Nagi shot her a look that was half amusement, half worry. “Did you hit your head when you passed out?”
“We’re in Kashihara no Miya, Chihiro,” Kazahaya told her gently. “You fainted from fatigue two days ago. Do you remember?”
Chihiro sat up, taking in her surroundings once more. “We’re... in the capital. This is my room.”
Slowly, Miko. Tooya moved to stand next to her bed beside Nagi, watching her closely. Your light is still faint.
She smiled at how familiar that sounded. “It must have all been a dream... But everyone was there! All of you, and everyone else...”
Kazahaya chuckled indulgently. “You’ve been asleep for two days, I imagine you dreamed a lot of different things.”
“But it wasn’t just things, it was a place...” Memories of her dream rushed to the forefront of her mind, and Chihiro struggled with how to express it all in a way they would understand. “I remember parts of it weren’t very nice, but most of it was beautiful. But the whole time I kept trying to get back, because I knew I didn’t belong there. And now I finally made it back!”
Kazahaya remained quiet, a tiny smile on his face. He walked over to her door and slipped into the hall, speaking to someone who waited there.
Nagi shook his head. “Right. And your little adventure is the reason you’ve been sleeping for this long.”
Chihiro frowned. “You don’t believe me, do you.”
Tooya gave her a bright smile. Welcome home, Miko.
Pacified by this, Chihiro said, “Thank you, Tooya. I promise I won’t leave like that again.”
“You better not,” Nagi deadpanned. “I’m not ruling in your place.”
In reply Chihiro stuck her tongue out at him then turned her attention to Kazahaya as he reentered the room. A small crowd of people came with him, including Michiomi, Iwanaga-hime, and Oshihito.
“Oh, Chihiro, good to see you up,” Iwanaga-hime said with a satisfied nod. “I brought you something to help you feel better.” She handed over a bottle of wine.
“Here, I’ll take that,” Kazahaya said quickly, grabbing the bottle. “I think alcohol wouldn’t be the best thing for her right now.”
“I’m feeling fine, thank you all,” Chihiro said with a smile. “I’m sorry to have worried you.”
“Just rest,” Oshihito said firmly. “You’re no good to us if you just pass out again.”
“Now, now,” Michiomi protested good-naturedly. “I’m sure she’ll be back to full health in no time. Do rest well, Hime.”
“I promise I won’t push myself until I’m ready,” she answered, gazing at the people around her. “I’m just happy to be back. There really is no place like home!”
~ ~ ~
THE END
Translations:
Miko - Priestess
Hime - Princess
waga kimi - something akin to "my lady" (but with Hiiragi there's a connotation of him being her servant as well which I don't really pick up on with other Chi no Byakko who call Miko this)... I kept the Japanese because putting it in English didn't seem to flow as well
sankanrei - literally, 3 breaking bells; as the story explains, it's a magical item Michiomi has
-sama - very formal suffix used to convey respect
also Shi-kun is what a few of the characters, including Oshihito, call Iwanaga-hime
and Kashihara no Miya is the palace in the capital, where Chihiro rules as Queen at the end of [most of the paths in] the game
There's actually an omake I wanted to insert, but I felt that it would mess up the flow of the story as it follows the movie plot. Instead, I decided to give it its own post which will hopefully be tomorrow.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it. I had no idea when I started that this thing was going to be such a monster - it's over 15,000 words long! O_O I apologize again for the 8-month fail on my part. Hopefully it was worth the inexcusable wait. ^^;