The King of Flames

"Ooooooooooooooh," moaned Chihiro, "Where am I? It feels like I've been hit with a ton of bricks. I can't believe how strong that guy was. My punches didn't even seem to phase him; and I hit all of the areas that are vital in knocking down an assailant. It was almost as if he wasn't human; but a Demon."

As she held her left hand to her forehead and slowly got up out of bed, she noticed that there was something different about her. Well, for one thing the young woman was now wearing a white dress; she had been in blue shorts and a brown T-shirt when she'd come home from the lake. The other was that her hair was not only down out of its ponytail, but instead of stretching to just under her shoulders, it was down to her rear end. In panic, Chihiro ran towards the mirror only to find she was no longer fifteen years old: her physical appearance suggested that of an eighteen year old. Had she really slept for three years?

"It is good to see you are finally awake M'lady. I will go and inform the Master that your long sleep has ended at last. He had been eagerly awaiting your introduction for the past millennium," a cheerful female voice called out. Chihiro turned in panic at the word "millennium"; she couldn't still be alive after a full thousand years passed. The woman wore a simple brown dress; worn and dirty like that of a servant or slave. Her hair was bright orange with bright red lining the tips. Red was also the color of her eyes; the eyes that were filled with a light that Chihiro didn't think she had it in her to possess again.

But just as she yelled, "Wait! I want to ask you a few things," the woman left. The young girl was now on her own to figure out what in the world had happened to her. How was it that she could have been alive for an entire millennium? Perhaps the master of this place, no doubt her kidnapper, would be able to shed some light on the subject. He certainly would be able to tell her how he'd taken her so easily.

The girl didn't dwell on it though; everything would come to her in time. Right now, she should be concentrating on finding a plan of escape. She walked over to the window, only to find that her plans had been anticipated and it was locked. However, what shocked her was the scene outside of it. Everywhere, as far as the eye could see, she spied lava and flames spurting or spilling. The houses were build to withstand the immense heat no doubt; they appeared to be on fire perpetually. But why then could she?

Suddenly, a low laugh echoed through the room. "Whatever escape plan you try will be futile. One who has five wives escape his grasp tends to learn from each experience. Why do you think I chose a human girl as number six? You have no people that owe you immense loyalty to come and rescue you like the Spirits I courted over the millennia. And you are actually quite the looker for one born human."

Hearing the voice of the man who had taken her, Chihiro turned around violently. She would never forget how he'd laughed at her for fighting back, nor how he told her that she would never be able to escape his grasp. There, in the doorway, stood a tall man with a gleam in his eye. His short and spiky hair was orange with red on the tips and his eyes were also red; just like the girl who had come by earlier. A red shirt and red breeches could be seen under his armor. Said defensive gear consisted of a black jerkin with a half steel plate strapped around the right side of his chest. Also, he wore a pair of steel grieves and a belt with two armored plates that protected his legs; also made of the same metal. Now Chihiro could clearly sense that he wasn't human; something she couldn't do when they'd fought before.

"What is it my bride?" he cockily inquired, "Cat got your tongue? Do not fear me; you only have to obey me and I will not hurt you. My name is Inferno. I am the Spirit who governs this volcano. You should consider yourself lucky. I have transformed your pathetic mortal body into that of a Spirit; the type you become will be all a result of your feelings and actions over the next day or so. Now, you will be able to live for all eternity in this castle as my queen. And with your family long gone due to mortality, you owe no loyalty to anyone in the human world; nor does any human or Spirit owe any loyalty to rescue you."

"A Spirit! I have become a Spirit! Why me? I was happy living a mortal's existence with my parents and friends. Yet, without even asking if I desired this chance, you kidnapped me and stole all that I held dear away. Who gives you the right to play with the lives of women like this?" Chihiro demanded.

Inferno smacked the girl on the right cheek; sending her reeling onto the bed. He hissed, "You will address me properly from now on; a wife should show her husband some manners. The choice was obvious for me. My first five wives were Spirits like myself. However, they became homesick and had their people rescue them and then send them into hiding. I figured that a human child who has been lost from her family for hundreds of years won't just be able to reappear in the world. Thus, you are now free to marry me as my queen. I so hope you become a Volcano Spirit like myself; or even just another Fire Spirit would be nice. It would make your eternal life here so much more enjoyable. There are no options left for you; only to become accepting of your fate and join with me as my queen. I will let you relax now my dear Chihiro." With that, he walked back towards the door and left; leaving the young girl shocked.

She put her hand to her cheek; rubbing the sore spot. "How did he know my name? Does he have the power to read minds? If not, that would mean that he's been stalking me long before he made his move. Well, I'll show him. I'll concentrate all my feelings into becoming a Water Spirit of sorts; that's the opposite of Fire. Then, I'll make his life a living nightmare so that he lets me go; even wandering whatever worlds the Spirits reside in for years on end has got to be better than being a wife to such a control freak. You know, if I can become any Spirit my feelings are in tune with, why not a River Spirit. That's Water oriented and I love Dragons. I wonder why though; I suddenly became obsessed at ten."

So she sat back down on her bed to brood over her circumstances. Chihiro then thought back on her life as a human. In her inquiry about her sudden ten year old love of Dragons, she thought back to other things that happened at ten. That was when Chihiro had suddenly stopped becoming a skittish and slothful girl who never tried new things. Suddenly, she had become an energetic child who tried any crazy stunt that her friends and she could come up with. In fact, everything happened after they'd moved.

'We went through the tunnel and walked through that field,' the young woman thought, 'Then, when we got back, our car was suddenly filled with leaves; almost as if it had been left there a few days. Plus, we missed the movers by a few days as well. But we'd only been gone an hour or so. That was also when I discovered that I had a shinier hair tie than I'd worn on the way there. Did something happen when we were there and all three of us blacked out?'

Somehow, Chihiro felt the answers scared her. No matter how close she came to discovering the exact cause of what memories she'd forgotten, it would slip away again. Something was obviously trying to keep her from remembering. However, it couldn't have been Inferno; else she'd have lost all the memory of her human existence, besides, she'd never known what happened in there. Now that she was a Spirit, she had an eternity to figure out what it was. But why did the truth make her feel so depressed?

Teefa's Last Words...
 Well, we've met our villain and the mental issues are starting for Chihiro. Next chapter, a few new friends will arrive to help out. Oh, and the reason Inferno has an English name instead of a Japanese was that he lives in a volcano underwater somewhere between California and Hawaii. That and the fact that there really were no fiery words in Japanese that seemed like I could make them into a name.