I must be turning insane... I've rewatched Ghost Hunt for the 34th time! Well, if it helps me with my revision I'm not going to complain xD
FILE 9 - YOUR SOUL, MY SOUL - #4
How strange, what are these five creatures? Silvery streaks of gentle light glided around me as if protecting me from the huge stretch of ocean before me... It wasn't like I was going to step into the waters. I looked down only to find my neck, wrists and ankles tied with bells on a red ribbon. That's odd, where have I seen these bells before...? A smile pulled to my lips as I touched the bell to my neck. It rang playfully yet coaxingly... an image of Ayako in her miko* outfit immediately sprung to my mind.
...Ayako... everyone... maybe I should try to go back- huh? I sighed as as my previous thought disappeared with a ring of my bells. Why do I need to go back? In this state, I can see a gentle Naru again-
"Mai!" I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"N-Naru! It's not nice to sneak up on someone like that!" huh, it's kind of strange to be speaking to the dream Naru as if he really was the real Naru... how weird.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to shout."
"N-No, it's OK," perhaps I was overthinking it, "ne, Naru what are these bells and lights?"
"Mai, please calm down before listening to my explanation. Your spirit has been bound by Matsusaki-san's shichibaku whilst you cannot return to my body due to Lin's Shiki."
"What?"
"Mai, didn't I tell you calm down before listening to me?" you did but your attitude is definitely not helping!
"Why? Why are you tying me down? Is it because you're scared of me humiliating you when I'm occupying your body? Is your pride really that important that you're trapping me here where I can't go anywhere? Y-You're so selfish, Naru!" he sighed then made a grab for my hand.
I blinked in shock and confusion. The real Naru had always grabbed my wrist and only the dream Naru was kind enough to take me by the hand... what's he doing, is he some hybrid Naru or something? As my thoughts collided together, I realised that Naru was taking me away from the ocean.
"N-Naru?" then he suddenly stopped. I looked behind me to find the ocean gone. Instead we were standing in a maze, a maze full of staircases, corridors and infinite amount of archways. I was speechless, this maze wasn't just... on the ground. It was twisting all around us, even upside down!
"What is this?" Naru turned to me and sat me down on one of the steps then sat down opposite me.
"This, is my brain."
"Eh? No way, I've seen anatomical pictures, there's no way-"
"Mai, we're spirits right now. We'll be viewing things slightly differently. As I was saying, this is my brain the furthest place from the ocean."
"The ocean?"
"Yes, that ocean is my PK energy store," then he lurched into an explanation about PK energies and its link between the spirit and body.
"I-I see... so that's why you asked Ayako to bind my spirit, to stop me from wandering around into the ocean where I could release the PK energy you've stored."
"Yes. When I'm in control of my body, that ocean is usually a dam. The dam walls are the controlled kikou that Lin taught me to stop PK energy from leaking uncontrollably out of my body."
"So what are we going to do? Or do you intend to persuade me to stay here, bound up and unconscious?" Naru sighed.
"No, the point of me telling you is so that I can try teach you how to utilise kikou so that you can stay conscious. It would be rather inconvenient if I have to lug around your unconscious form with me when I need to do research," well I'm sorry that you're the one that asked Lin-san to knock me out!
"Hah, right... so what do I need to do?" he stared at me as if judging me. Feeling myself blush under his gaze I looked away.
"Find the path in this maze which leads to the ocean."
"WHAT?" Naru stood up, folding his arms he leaned against one of the walls of the maze.
"We don't have much time. Although time runs differently in this place compared to the outside, we still need to hurry up."
"W-What if I get lost-?"
"I'll be here all the time. It's not like the maze will change forms. If you meet a dead end, turn back and retrace your steps. This shouldn't be too difficult, considering it was much harder for me when I had to first find out the relevance between my mind and body."
I gulped and seeing that Naru wasn't about to change his mind, I took my first step into his mind.
*miko: priestess that is supposed to exorcise spirits within shrines (but obviously not in Ayako's case. And definitely glad she's the mobile type - there'd be no Ghost Hunt without Ayako's sister/mother pampering over Mai! xD)
In response to those who reviewed kindly on chapter 3, I meant to say that Naru would show his sweetness more openly especially to Mai! I'm still gutted everytime I watch the Bloodstained Maze file when he 'smiled so lovingly' at Masako... If I was Mai, I would've turned very, very green with envy!
Shaari