A terrifyingly familiar feeling washed over Chihiro. The cold, the stinging in her eyes and lungs, the crushing pressure as she was tossed around like a rag doll. This was the Kohaku river without a single doubt. Despite the stinging Chihiro tried to open her eyes and find the surface. It was even darker than she remembered; as if she was in oil instead of water.

It was impossible to tell which way was up, all she could do was helplessly let the water toss her around. It was much more violent than last time and she could reach far enough to touch anything. A thought hit her and she panicked before raising her hand to her face; it was tiny, a child's hand. Why am I a child again?

This must have been Nomura's doing. This was the first time she had fallen into the river, barely old enough to walk. She heard voices screaming but they quickly faded, the river moving faster than her parent's feet could keep up with. Since this was a memory she knew she would get out eventually, but the panic still swelled in her chest. As her consciousness began to fade she started to doubt that it was just a memory. Either she was reliving this in a way that could kill her or the venom was taking what little life she had left.

She tried once again to find the surface but gave up quickly, closing her eyes. It was very fitting for her to lose her life in the Kohaku river, wasn't it?

As she let the cold take her, a sudden burst of warmth enveloped her body. She found herself reaching out to it and her hand brushing across soft fur. Opening her eyes she saw that the creature seemed to be glowing softly, lighting the water enough for her to finally see the surface of the water. A strong force practically launched her upwards and onto the shore.

Immediately she began coughing up water, too weak to move. Soft and warm fur nudged her and she forced herself to turn onto her back, deep green eyes greeting her. At the time this first happened, she had no idea who this dragon was, but now she knew all too well. The dragon vanished and was replaced by a young Haku, bending over to check her pulse while smiling softly.

She wanted to scream at him, but she didn't have the strength in either the little girl or the adult she really was. Haku sat up slightly and pulled something from his shirt. It was a shoe, one she hadn't realized she had lost. It belonged to a pair she loved so much she would often throw a tantrum when she was told she couldn't wear them. He placed it beside her and turned back into the dragon, his eyes still soft as he sunk into the river.

Fuck! Her vision was blurry and sharp ringing echoed in her ears. She tried to sit up and scream again, she was sure her deterioration was her real body very close to dying if it wasn't already dead.

Pain radiated through her body as she managed to sit up and scream, her throat already so raw that it was barely a normal volume, "Haku! For fucks sake!"

The dragon looked startled for a second before disappearing. Chihiro felt her breath leave her again as everything around her shifted, the sounds of her parents and sirens becoming silent. The area around her got much darker and everything seemed to be dying. The grass was brown and the river water looked brown with garbage; all the flowers and nearby trees were wilted. Chihiro struggled to lift her hand to look at it. She was an adult again, but that wasn't the only thing that had suddenly changed.

Her whole arm and hand were a light grey. She screamed, "No! No, no, no!" Ignoring the pain she ripped her shirt off to inspect herself. Seeing it had spread far enough up that she couldn't see it. She then ripped her pants off to see her legs were in the same state as her arms. The wound itself had expanded to a point where she would be long dead under normal circumstances. She noticed the fact that things that really shouldn't be seen were visible and bent over the dirty river as she vomited violently. Even with the protection of a literal god, there was no way that her real body was still alive. In all honesty, she had probably died a while ago and Nomura did some weird shit to keep her conscious in this other dream - no - nightmare reality.

She let herself cry harder than she had cried this entire journey, quiet screams escaping her lips. She and her dad hadn't been close for a while, but she wasn't ready to leave him yet. What had happened to Lin and Aogaeru? Did they manage to escape? Would she be stuck in this reality forever? Or maybe she would be until the venom had nothing left to devour.

She could only hope that her theory of Haku's power returning when the emeralds broke was true. If that was the case then at least she did what she set out to do. She lied there for a while, deciding to not bother with figuring out how long. At the very least, despite her cognition worsening, she lost the ability to feel the pain. This loss of feeling only solidified the situation more to her.

I'm so fucking tired. She found herself closing her eyes. Could she fall asleep in this kind of place? She doubted it but that didn't stop her from trying to drift off into sleep. It wasn't like she could do anything else.

What felt like days passed when something changed. The noise of water beginning to flow in the river caused Chihiro to stir. She hadn't noticed that it was hardly moving and silent before. She smiled softly as the river was revived.

Then she noticed something that caused her eyes to widen. The disgusting state of the river shifted, causing it to gradually turn blue again, clear enough that she could see the bottom. It looked like diamonds were dancing on the surface as it moved; colourful crystals decorating the bottom. She was mesmerized by the beauty of it.

She may still be dead, but this was a much better way to spend the time. Smiling, she shifted so she could let her legs rest in the water. When she did, the grey colouring started to fade into her normal pale pink skin. She let out a soft scream and scrambled away from the water, staring at her legs. Did this mean…?

Shaking herself off from being startled, she approached the water again. "Fuck it!" She pushed herself fully into the water. It was cool but not cold, the perfect temperature. Even though it looked so deep, probably twice her height, she found herself being able to touch the bottom while comfortably having her head above the water.

Although her wound didn't heal as the grey faded, she found herself grinning as she put her head under so she could grab one of the rainbow crystals. Raising back up and shaking out her now wet hair, she opened her hand to look at what she had grabbed. She let out a loud gasp as she saw an emerald like the others before sitting in her palm.

Chihiro started laughing like an idiot when she felt a familiar feeling of fur brushing past her legs. She calmed down after a moment and spoke softly, "I still don't forgive you for breaking your promise, you know."

The fur moved until she couldn't feel it anymore and arms wrapped around her from behind, a deep voice seeming to echo, "I know."

Chihiro sighed and clenched the emerald, "I'm dead, right?"

The voice hesitated before getting close to her ear. She turned bright red and looked down to try to hide it, "You've been dead more than once. Do you really think it matters?"

Chihiro couldn't help but smile, "So I was supposed to die that day."

She felt him nodding against her, tightening his grip, "You were. I also seem to have been too late this time, but you don't have to wait much longer."

Chihiro frowned, "You're still not back to normal?"

The head shook, "I need you to fight just for another second."

Chihiro sighed after a long moment, turning to look into the deep green eyes, "Promise you'll save me soon?"

Haku smiled softly and planted a gentle kiss on Chihiro's lips before she could protest, "I don't plan on breaking any promises again."

Chihiro huffed, "So you admit it." Haku laughed and began to fade away, as well as the rest of this world. Chihiro felt sharp pain radiate from her side and she knew she was waking up. She felt a little giddy at seeing Nomura's reaction once she did.