Chihiro could do little more than gasp. She looked up at the man before her… the man. Not the baby. The man. The man with beauty that was unquestionable, and a face more serious than a scolding teacher. Could Arata really be her friend- the friend who had accompanied her on her travels, the friend who she had known most as a chubby rat? Arata saw her questions written across her face and smiled.
"I know that you must be quite confused, Chihiro. I shall explain". Chihiro was beckoned out of her colourful prison and was led away into the former office. Tea had been prepared previously by an unknow spirit, and Chihiro was seated onto a cushion in front or Arata. Arata spent awhile pouring the tea, and when he was done he sighed. Chihiro was handed her cup, and she breathed deeply as Arata began.
"I am Boh" he stated, "No matter how I look, what I do, that fact is inescapable. My mother tried to keep in on my former body with a spell. I had been a baby for many, many years- at least fifty". Chihiro gasped. Arata… Boh had been a baby for fifty years?! Then… how old was he?
Arata replies before she had the chance to ask. "I believe that I am around seventy. I'm not entirely sure, however that is the most accurate estimate".
Arata sipped he tea before he continued. "As for my mother… Yubaba, she is no longer any of mine, yours and the entire bathhouses concern".
"Then… what happened to her?" Chihiro asked, worrying for the spiteful old woman. While she had been hateful towards the young girl, Chihiro believed that she had a good heart. She obviously loved Boh, and was incredibly worried about him. However, this had obviously been dismissed by the man himself, who simply scowled at her question.
"As I said, she is no longer your concern!" Arata snapped, his voice low and his nose pointing to the ground. Chihiro felt her face going red, and she stood up.
"How could you say that! She is your mother- the woman who worried so much about you that she kept you a baby for fifty years! Don't you see? She did it out of love!" Chihiro clapped her hand over her mouth, embarassed at her rage. Arata kept his head down. Suddenly, her arm was once again entrapped, and Chihiro was being dragged by Arata. She screamed at him, kicked him, even tried to bite him. But he wouldn't let go.
She was being dragged down multiple stairs, through multiple doors and multiple curtained doorways. The only direction Chihiro could make out was down. Down, down, down. All the while she thought about the man before her. He was definitely Boh, his rage said so. But she could also sense...remorse. He had obviously done something that he was not proud of. And Chihiro feared that she was about to find out what.
After a while a door was reached. It was painted with gold and carved with pictures of spirits. There was a variety of different kinds, many Chihiro had encountered on her former travels, and many more whom she could not recollect. It became clear to her that there was more of the spirit world in existence beyond the train tracks.
Boh waved his hand across the door, and it silently opened. He dragged Chihiro inside, and our young heroine gasped. The room was empty, all except for a pedestal, on which sat a lonely box. And two large stone statues that seemed to guard it. However, unlike most statues these had glowing red eyes. Eyes that rendered impossible life. The statues were alive.
Before Chihiro could even begin to scream, they knelt down before Boh and herself. The blue-haired man was as cool as cucumber, and simply spoke words that were unclear to the ears of the girl. The statues halted, and instead of attacking them, they bowed in front of Boh, like servants. The smirk on Boh's face was as clear as daylight, as he pulled Chihiro towards the box.
Chihiro was confused. A conversation about Yubaba... had led her to a box? A box that seemed older than the woman herself? Chihiro would have giggled had it not been for the serious situation that she was in. Boh picked up this box- and opened the lid. Before Chihiro could ask what on earth he was doing, smoke piled out of the box. White smoke, like drifting snow, feel out, and began to drift across the floor. Suddenly, the smoke began to form into a person. A very small, yet, large person. Wrinkles, a tattered dress, jewels that shone despite their smoky texture. And chains. The figure was in chains.
It only took Chihiro a few moments to comprehend who this being was.
Yubaba.
Chihiro gasped- taking a step back. Her shoulders were caught by Boh, who had long since released her wrist. He had an even bigger smirk upon his face, at the sight of his mother in chains, her appearance rusty and her composure furious.
"S-Sen!" She cried desperately, trying to force her way over to the young girl. Chihiro flinched, finding herself grabbing onto Boh, trying to shield herself from the woman.
"S-Sen!" She cried. "S... Save me! Please- I destroyed your contract, didn't I?! I let you and your parents go, didn't I?! So please, d-dearie, please- save me!" Chihiro could have hardly imagined the w0man in this state before this day. She was different from her usual composed appearance. She was, in a way, beast-like. Chihiro couldn't take it anymore.
She shifted herself from Boh's arms and turned around. "Boh! You must let her go this instant! She is your mother!" Chihiro yelled. A scream made her glance back at the former sorceress.
"T-That is not my Boh!" Yubaba screamed, trying to claw out Boh's eyes. "That is a fake- an imposter! He is not my son!" Yubaba continued to reject Boh.
"That's enough from you" Boh said calmly, closing the lid on the box. Yubaba yelled and cursed, but the smoke was drained and soon, there was nothing left of her.
Chihiro fell to her knees. Boh looked down upon her, and kneeled, holding her shoulders. "Now, you see why I imprisoned her? She kept Me from growing up, from being an independant man. History would only repeat itself were she to be let free".
Chihiro had tears rolling own her eyes. Yubaba was right, this man... he wasn't Boh. Boh was long gone, and only Arata was left. "W-Why? She is your mother! Please, please just let her go free!" Chihiro was fully crying now- sobbing for the old woman. Arata simply sighed.
"No. I will not let that... that woman go free. If I am no son of hers, she is no mother of mine. And besides" He pulled Chihiro into a hug. "You should be focusing on our wedding, instead".
Chihiro lifted her head. "W... Wedding?"
Arata nodded. "Wedding. The truth of the matter is..." Arata let go of her and went down on one knee. "I'm in love with you, Chihiro. And I want to make sure no other person can have you". He went into the pocket of his kimono and took out a ring. He grabbed Chihiro's hand and slid the ring up her finger.
Our young heroine sat there, in the arms of a fiend. Our poor young heroine.