'Ugh, what happened?'Zero's eyes fluttered open,'Where am I?' She weakly sat up and looked around, she was in some kind of boiler room,'Boiler room? Ugh, Chihiro's stories are gettin' to me.'
"Kamaji, chow time!"
'Kamaji?'Zero slapped her forehead,'Ow.'
"Oh, you're awake." She turned to see Lin standing over her.
"Yeah, I am."Zero rubbed her head,"Where am I?"
"Yubaba's bath house."Kamaji looked over at her,"Who are you?"
"I think my name's Zeroku, but everything that's happened lately is starting to give me doubts about my brain."Zero hissed.
"Zeroku?"Kamaji eyed her,"That's Haku's sister's name."
"No, ya think?"Zero rolled her eyes,"That's because I AM Haku's sister."
"He's not gonna be pleased to see you."Lin grunted,"I'm suprised you're even willing to show your face around here after what you did."
Zero rubbed her forehead,"What did I do this time?"
"What do you mean, what did you do?"Lin hissed,"You wiped out an entire city!"
"I did?"Zero flopped back down on her bed,"Ugh, my head's pounding, yell at me for something I didn't do later."
Lin glared at her,"How dare you say that after you KILLED Chihiro."
Zero shot up,"I WHAT?!"
"You heard me."Lin snarled,"Haku came back four years ago and said you'd killed Chihiro."
"Chihiro's my best friend, besides, I just saw Chihiro the other day, she was fine!" 'Sure, she's gone missing now, but, these two probably don't need to know that.'
"You expect us to believe that?!"Kamaji snapped.
Zero gave an annoyed grunt,"Why do I get the VERY annoying feeling that Garasaki had something to do with this?"
"Garasaki?"
"My jerk-off father."Zero snarled,"He's been out to get me for the last millenia, ever since Kohaku and I saved him from getting killed by a renegade guardian."
"How do we know you're not lying?"Lin asked.
Zero rubbed her temples,'What I'd give for my amulet right now.' "I can't give you any proof besides my word. I've never even been in the Spirit World before, I was too busy babysitting Kohaku and the rest of my brothers."
Lin watched her warily,"What are you doing here, anyway?"
"I got banished from Japan by Garasaki."Zero grumbled,"I got mad about Chihiro going missing and poisined the river water, going against my father's law, and he got fed up with my attitude and banished me. I swear he makes Yubaba look like a sweatheart."
"So, you don't have anywhere else to go?"Kamaji asked,"Yubaba needs some new workers."
"I do NOT want to get stuck living under that witch for the rest of my life, no thanks."Zero crossed her arms,"Besides, I have to find Chihiro and my brother."
"That could be a problem considering the fact that the tunnel to the human world collapsed."Lin pointed out.
Zero would have been pounding her head on a wall if she'd had the strength to move,"If Kohaku doesn't kick my butt Chihiro will, but not before I get my hands on Garasaki. Where is my brother?"
"He wanders back here every now and then."Kamaji shrugged,"There are rumors going around that he's working for the gods."
"The gods? Please, Kawa no Kami can barely stand having Kohaku and his attitude around."Zero shook her head,"I know, they get along about as well as Yubaba and Zeniba."
"Who made you an expert on the gods?"Kamaji asked.
"I'm not, I just know alot about Kawa no Kami because I'm a river spirit myself, and I spent a lot of time among the gods when they came to the human world to speak with my parents and the forest spirits. Kohaku had a tendancy to tick the gods off when we were little, it wasn't a pretty sight."
"Why does this not suprise me?"Lin asked dryly,"Listen, unless you get a job here you won't be able to stay, and your best bet to find Haku is to stay here. I suggest to ask Yubaba for a job."
"You're helping me now?"
"I'm makign sure Haku gets the chance to kill you."
"If I die so will my brother, the existance of my river is the only reason he's alive right now. No spirit can survive without a body to inhabit, and, because our rivers were fed by the same waterfall and end at the same point we were born as twin rivers. Now that his river's been filled in, it's my river that' s been keeping him alive, but, now that Garasaki's in control, I don't know how much longer it will be before the Chinese get their hands on my river too."
"Come on, I'll take you to see Yubaba."Lin hissed.
Chihiro pounded her head on the wall of her cell,"Why me?!"
"Because you love Kohaku."Garasaki replied, strutting into the cell,"And because you stood aginst me. You've been asking for this since the day you fell in Zeroku's river, that's why I killed your parents, to pay you back for turning the forest against me."
"The forest was already turning against you when I came!"Chihiro retorted.
"You're just a human, what do you know about the Spirit World besides what Zeroku and Kohaku taught you?"
Chihiro suppressed a snarl,"What do you know about your children, or the forest around you?"
Garasaki brought his hand across the girl's face,"Shut the hell up."
"Rei, Lin, get in here!"
Zero rolled her eyes,"Ugh, now what?"
Lin glared at her,"What did I do to deserve this?"
They walked lazily into Yubaba's office, where said witch was waiting for them,"There you are."
"No duh."Zero muttered.
"Rei..."Zero stuck out her tongue at the witch. "I've got a job for you."
"Oh, brother."Zero sat down on the of the heads that was rolling around the room.
"Kawa no Kami's heir is is coming in a few days, and I want the two of you to take care of him. He's been through a hard battle and he'll need someone to watch him."Yubaba explained,"Since Rei is a river spirit she should be able to understand him better than the rest of these buffoons."
Zero nodded,"I understand, what is his name?"
"I'm not sure, I haven't been told."
"Just my luck."Zero muttered,"It's probably someone I hate."
"I can only hope."Lin hissed.
"He'll be here in three days, don't mess this up." the two young women nodded. "Now get out of here!"
Zero grumbled lightly as she scrubbed away at the big tub. She'd been at this for ATLEAST three hours, probably more, and she was getting nowhere,"I hate this. The moment everyone clears out I'll get some water from Kamaji and boil all of the crap off here."
"That's not gonna happen any time soon."Lin slid down into the tub next to her,"Everyone's getting ready for Kawa no Kami's heir, they're gonna be up all night."
"Shut up."Zero glared at the sludge in front of her,"Explain to me why we got this job?"
"Because we're going to take care of Kawa no Kami's heir the frogs think it should be our job."Lin hissed.
Zero muttered something unprintable,"This better be worth it. If I don't hunt Kohaku down soon I'll go crazy."
"And I'll go crazy if I have to put up with you much longer."Lin hissed.
"That makes two of us."Zero suddenly picked up the bucket of water at her feet and flung it on the wall. The water began to boil and cut away at the grime and muck,"There's not enough water here to get it all off, but it should help."
Lin watched in suprise as the muck and grime began to crumbled away as the boiling water cut through it,"How hot is that water?"
"You've stuck your hand in fire before, right?"
"Yeah."
"About twice that. I'm using my powers to keep the water from turning into stream."Zero explained,"Ugh, but it gives you one heck of a headache." Within a few seconds the water had completely evaporated, and Zero was leaning against the wall for support, too tired to stand up,"I hate doing that."
"Kamaji, chow time!"
'Kamaji?'Zero slapped her forehead,'Ow.'
"Oh, you're awake." She turned to see Lin standing over her.
"Yeah, I am."Zero rubbed her head,"Where am I?"
"Yubaba's bath house."Kamaji looked over at her,"Who are you?"
"I think my name's Zeroku, but everything that's happened lately is starting to give me doubts about my brain."Zero hissed.
"Zeroku?"Kamaji eyed her,"That's Haku's sister's name."
"No, ya think?"Zero rolled her eyes,"That's because I AM Haku's sister."
"He's not gonna be pleased to see you."Lin grunted,"I'm suprised you're even willing to show your face around here after what you did."
Zero rubbed her forehead,"What did I do this time?"
"What do you mean, what did you do?"Lin hissed,"You wiped out an entire city!"
"I did?"Zero flopped back down on her bed,"Ugh, my head's pounding, yell at me for something I didn't do later."
Lin glared at her,"How dare you say that after you KILLED Chihiro."
Zero shot up,"I WHAT?!"
"You heard me."Lin snarled,"Haku came back four years ago and said you'd killed Chihiro."
"Chihiro's my best friend, besides, I just saw Chihiro the other day, she was fine!" 'Sure, she's gone missing now, but, these two probably don't need to know that.'
"You expect us to believe that?!"Kamaji snapped.
Zero gave an annoyed grunt,"Why do I get the VERY annoying feeling that Garasaki had something to do with this?"
"Garasaki?"
"My jerk-off father."Zero snarled,"He's been out to get me for the last millenia, ever since Kohaku and I saved him from getting killed by a renegade guardian."
"How do we know you're not lying?"Lin asked.
Zero rubbed her temples,'What I'd give for my amulet right now.' "I can't give you any proof besides my word. I've never even been in the Spirit World before, I was too busy babysitting Kohaku and the rest of my brothers."
Lin watched her warily,"What are you doing here, anyway?"
"I got banished from Japan by Garasaki."Zero grumbled,"I got mad about Chihiro going missing and poisined the river water, going against my father's law, and he got fed up with my attitude and banished me. I swear he makes Yubaba look like a sweatheart."
"So, you don't have anywhere else to go?"Kamaji asked,"Yubaba needs some new workers."
"I do NOT want to get stuck living under that witch for the rest of my life, no thanks."Zero crossed her arms,"Besides, I have to find Chihiro and my brother."
"That could be a problem considering the fact that the tunnel to the human world collapsed."Lin pointed out.
Zero would have been pounding her head on a wall if she'd had the strength to move,"If Kohaku doesn't kick my butt Chihiro will, but not before I get my hands on Garasaki. Where is my brother?"
"He wanders back here every now and then."Kamaji shrugged,"There are rumors going around that he's working for the gods."
"The gods? Please, Kawa no Kami can barely stand having Kohaku and his attitude around."Zero shook her head,"I know, they get along about as well as Yubaba and Zeniba."
"Who made you an expert on the gods?"Kamaji asked.
"I'm not, I just know alot about Kawa no Kami because I'm a river spirit myself, and I spent a lot of time among the gods when they came to the human world to speak with my parents and the forest spirits. Kohaku had a tendancy to tick the gods off when we were little, it wasn't a pretty sight."
"Why does this not suprise me?"Lin asked dryly,"Listen, unless you get a job here you won't be able to stay, and your best bet to find Haku is to stay here. I suggest to ask Yubaba for a job."
"You're helping me now?"
"I'm makign sure Haku gets the chance to kill you."
"If I die so will my brother, the existance of my river is the only reason he's alive right now. No spirit can survive without a body to inhabit, and, because our rivers were fed by the same waterfall and end at the same point we were born as twin rivers. Now that his river's been filled in, it's my river that' s been keeping him alive, but, now that Garasaki's in control, I don't know how much longer it will be before the Chinese get their hands on my river too."
"Come on, I'll take you to see Yubaba."Lin hissed.
Chihiro pounded her head on the wall of her cell,"Why me?!"
"Because you love Kohaku."Garasaki replied, strutting into the cell,"And because you stood aginst me. You've been asking for this since the day you fell in Zeroku's river, that's why I killed your parents, to pay you back for turning the forest against me."
"The forest was already turning against you when I came!"Chihiro retorted.
"You're just a human, what do you know about the Spirit World besides what Zeroku and Kohaku taught you?"
Chihiro suppressed a snarl,"What do you know about your children, or the forest around you?"
Garasaki brought his hand across the girl's face,"Shut the hell up."
"Rei, Lin, get in here!"
Zero rolled her eyes,"Ugh, now what?"
Lin glared at her,"What did I do to deserve this?"
They walked lazily into Yubaba's office, where said witch was waiting for them,"There you are."
"No duh."Zero muttered.
"Rei..."Zero stuck out her tongue at the witch. "I've got a job for you."
"Oh, brother."Zero sat down on the of the heads that was rolling around the room.
"Kawa no Kami's heir is is coming in a few days, and I want the two of you to take care of him. He's been through a hard battle and he'll need someone to watch him."Yubaba explained,"Since Rei is a river spirit she should be able to understand him better than the rest of these buffoons."
Zero nodded,"I understand, what is his name?"
"I'm not sure, I haven't been told."
"Just my luck."Zero muttered,"It's probably someone I hate."
"I can only hope."Lin hissed.
"He'll be here in three days, don't mess this up." the two young women nodded. "Now get out of here!"
Zero grumbled lightly as she scrubbed away at the big tub. She'd been at this for ATLEAST three hours, probably more, and she was getting nowhere,"I hate this. The moment everyone clears out I'll get some water from Kamaji and boil all of the crap off here."
"That's not gonna happen any time soon."Lin slid down into the tub next to her,"Everyone's getting ready for Kawa no Kami's heir, they're gonna be up all night."
"Shut up."Zero glared at the sludge in front of her,"Explain to me why we got this job?"
"Because we're going to take care of Kawa no Kami's heir the frogs think it should be our job."Lin hissed.
Zero muttered something unprintable,"This better be worth it. If I don't hunt Kohaku down soon I'll go crazy."
"And I'll go crazy if I have to put up with you much longer."Lin hissed.
"That makes two of us."Zero suddenly picked up the bucket of water at her feet and flung it on the wall. The water began to boil and cut away at the grime and muck,"There's not enough water here to get it all off, but it should help."
Lin watched in suprise as the muck and grime began to crumbled away as the boiling water cut through it,"How hot is that water?"
"You've stuck your hand in fire before, right?"
"Yeah."
"About twice that. I'm using my powers to keep the water from turning into stream."Zero explained,"Ugh, but it gives you one heck of a headache." Within a few seconds the water had completely evaporated, and Zero was leaning against the wall for support, too tired to stand up,"I hate doing that."
