Chapitre Sixteen: The Hideaway
Sen stared at the two people poised in front of her before releasing them from her spell. Haku went off immediately to see Yubaba, probably the problem of Nova being in her country. As for Nova, she stared at Sen, and asked, "Isn't your name Sakura? Since when is it Sen?"
"What are you saying? My name is Sakura? You must be kidding!" Sen looked at Nova dumbly.
"How can I forget? Your name is really Sakura!"
"Really?"
"Yes!"
"But if that is the case, then why do I not remember my name?" Sen asked.
"Then I ask you. What did Yubaba do when you were in her office?" Nova asked.
Sen, however, was neither looking nor listening to Nova. Instead, she was looking at the guests that were going towards Yubaba's bathhouse, which was in the distance. Then she turned back to Nova.
"Do you know how to fly? If so, can you please fly back towards the train station and then out of this place? The Gods and the people who serve the Gods here are able to smell humans. Besides, if you do not go now, you will disappear soon."
Nova looked at herself. Indeed, she was starting to disappear already. "But...but, the problem is that I can't fly! I have not learnt that spell yet! Then, how? What should I do? Can you hide me here? Also, what should I do to stop myself from disappearing?"
Frowning, Sen said, "I don't know...but I guess I will know eventually."
"But, it will be too late already! YOU MUST HELP ME NOW!"
At that moment, something materialized in front of the two of them. It was something small and to Sen, it seemed familiar... she snatched it and ordered, "Open you mouth and eat this now. You will not disappear if you eat this. Once you have eaten something from this country, you will not disappear."
"Are you sure?" Nova asked Sen doubtfully. "What if it is the opposite? What if I disappear at a faster rate instead of not disappearing?"
"This will not happen at all. Haku sent this to me and he wants you to eat this. I have eaten this myself, and aren't I here talking to you?"
Nova hastily took the thing that was in Sen's hand, threw it into her mouth and swallowed it without a moment's hesitation. When Sen this, she was satisfied and took Nova's hand, running towards a bathhouse that was in the distance.
"Since you cannot fly, I would have no chance but to hide you in Yubaba's bathhouse, and I do hope that you know how to mask your human scent and also your aura. It would not do to have you found out by the people working there in a dark corner and then eaten by them, or taken you to Yubaba. Do you know what to do now? Since I am a human, the others would not know that you were with me, but you have to be very careful, for the people here love human meat. The people here despise me, and to hide you, I will take you to the place where I sleep and you will have to hide there, under all the clothes that they have."
"What do you mean? Hide under all the clothes? As in hiding in the closet?"
"Yes, the closet is quite big and it stores clothes for the new people who come to work at Yubaba's bathhouse. This is what I am going to do to you now. I will wipe you with some of the cloths that we use to clean ourselves. We cannot bath and this is good, for I can use their dirtiest wipe cloth and you wipe your whole body with it. It is so smelly that it can hide your scent. With that done, you will have to discard the clothes you are wearing and wear what I am wearing as a precaution. The only thing you have to do is to hide your aura and wait until morning."
"That's all? But..."
"No buts. We are at the bridge now. You have to take a deep breath and do NOT exhale as you cross the bridge. If you do so, they will know that you are here. I will do this with you, don't worry." Sen smiled a grim smile.
Nova followed Sen's instructions and they crossed the bridge successfully. Then Sen brought Nova to her room, where Nova did everything Sen had instructed. When everything was done, Sen hid Nova in the closet.
"Remember, do not make a sound. I will be back in the morning and take you out of this country. If you hear anybody here, do not move. It may be one of the people I share the room with, all right?"
"Yes," came Nova's muffled voice under all the clothes she had hidden behind. Sen closed the door to the closet and Nova was in darkness for the night, waiting for morning to break, and the freedom that Sen promised.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with any of the anime/manga authors except for this story's plot!
I am so sorry that I have not updated for such a long time, as I did not know how to continue this chapter. So sorry that this chapter is a bit short, but I really hope that you have enjoyed it! Ja!
