The Brides

A week later, Chihiro was resting in her room. Inferno hadn't bothered her since that first night only because he knew she would take time to adjust her body to her new Spirit powers. By then, he had thought, she would be resigned to her fate; no one would rescue her and so she had no other choice in the matter. But the young girl planned to be defiant until the end; after all, she wouldn't just submit to him.

Suddenly, there was a tapping at her window. Thinking it might be some lame attempt on the part of Inferno to romance her, she ignored it. But when it happened again, she heard the strangest thing. A young girl's giggle was being hushed by a few other female voices; they apparently had reasons to be here that were not going along with Inferno's schemes. So Chihiro opened the window to let them inside.

The first was a girl with long blue hair worn down and yellow eyes. She had on a long sleeveless green dress with the frills at the top being represented by a line of red roses. Her choker was also green with a felt red rose coming down in front, while the two bands she wore on her arms were green with a daisy on top. "Good evening miss. I am Hana; Flower Spirit and the first of Inferno's runaway brides."

The second woman was short and stocky with a long sleeved black dress with a short skirt. Her hair was short and black while her eyes were the color of steel. Gray stockings were worn over her legs, and she had black shoes. The hat on her head was black with a gray band around the bottom, and a sword was worn in a gray sheath hanging from a gray belt. "I am Ayame; the second, a Shadow Spirit."

The third girl was tall and graceful with flowing purple hair and eyes of the same shade. Her dress was long in both sleeves and skirt; also in purple. A gold belt with an amethyst was around her waist, and she had gold bands on her wrists. "I am called Yume; third of the brides and a Dream Spirit."

Fourth came a girl with long green hair worn in a ponytail and bright green eyes. Her shirt was green with long sleeves, and she had a skirt that consisted of stripes of sky blue and gray running in a diagonal fashion from hem to waist. "You may call me Kaze; the fourth lost bride and a Wind Spirit."

Finally, there was the oddest girl of them all. She was the shortest, almost childlike even, and had short brown hair and brown eyes. Her ears were red and resembled a dog's while a crimson fox's tail came from her rear. The shirt she had on was white with long sleeves while her pants were green. As far as accessories go, she had a pair of leather gloves, leather boots, and a leather belt. "Last, but most definitely not least, I am Kira; the fifth bride and an Animal Spirit. We've come here to get you out of that jerk's clutches. I mean, I don't know what Spirit you are, but I'm surprised that your people aren't here."

"Shhhhhhhhhhh! Kira," hushed Hana, "Do you want Inferno to catch us? If he does, then he'll have six brides trapped in his chambers. And what if this young girl doesn't want to talk about it? We were all kidnapped by Inferno, but her circumstances might be different. She…what is your name?"

"Chihiro. And I don't mind telling you about what happened. The reason nobody has come for me is that everyone who knows me is dead; they died thinking that I was killed as a teenager. You see, I was once human. A thousand years ago, Inferno abducted me and transformed me into a Spirit so that no one would know or care enough to get me away from him," she informed the group of five women.

Yume stated, "He doesn't know how wrong he is. Our people might have rescued all of us, but we have devoted our time to making sure any other girls he kidnaps do get rescued. Hana's brother got her out through cunning, and then the two of them teamed up with the Shadow Spirits when Ayame became his next target. Both girls then joined forces to protect Spirit girls from this perverted fire boy; leading to the liberation of myself, Kaze, and Kira. So let's get you out of here; we can talk more later."

Thus, they snuck out the window and into the hidden passage they'd found on the next floor down. It led to an underground canal of lava. Hana was sweating the whole time for like any other flower she was not good in the heat. Chihiro's surprising resistance to the sweltering temperatures from being that close to the magma told her that either she had succeeded in becoming a Water Spirit, or she had ended up a Fire Spirit of some sorts. But a comforting feeling in her heart was telling her that it was the former.

S...S

The underground canal took them to a small niche portal that had been opened to another area of the Spirit World. Hana went through the hole first, followed by Ayame, then Yume, then Kaze, then Kira, and Chihiro brought up the rear. As the young woman looked around, she saw clear skies and a grassy field. Thinking back, it kind of resembled the place where she'd had that picnic with her parents back when they'd gotten lost on their way to the new house. Chihiro sighed a little bit as she thought of the less confusing times. Those were the days when she'd still had her mother and father by her side when something had gone wrong. Now, she was suddenly thrust out on her own in a new world with her only guides being a group of self appointed protectors of the female gender in regards to a Volcano Spirit.

Kira jumped for joy; giggling. "There's this wonderful bathhouse here that only the Spirits can visit. We go there once in awhile to unwind. And this is a nice day to do so; there's this guy who comes around once a year on this day and he's a hunk! Think he used to work here but some kind of incident drove him into deep depression. Most female Spirits long to be the ones win his heart. What was his name Hana?"

"It was Haku you ditz," retorted Kaze, "Actually, he's the Spirit who guards the Kohaku river; most of the workers all have their names shortened when they sign their contracts here. It's an amazing story about how the river was completely dredged long ago, but then somehow it came back at least 500 years ago. You should see him Chihiro; he's a real looker. And from my senses, you're a River Spirit like him."

'Just as I wanted; I'll just have to ask the girls for help in controlling my new powers. But why does the name Haku sound so familiar? I know the Kohaku River, falling into it as a child will do that to you, but there's just something about the shortened name that holds meaning to me,' the girl mused.

Hana told them, "Well, the sun is setting. Step lively girls; we've got to go to the bathhouse before all of the good tubs are taken. And Kira…no sneaking downstairs this year to find out if you can join Haku's pity party; he has one of those every time he comes with some of his friends after they work."

Chihiro looked back and watched as a river suddenly began to rise over the rocks and the field beyond it. Then, a large boat began to head towards the shore, filled with other guests no doubt. But she didn't spend any more time marveling it or wondering why it struck a chord of familiarity. Hana and the others had already gone on ahead and she needed to catch up. However, she still questioned the feeling.

Teefa's Last Words...

Well, next chapter we'll load up more crud onto Chihiro's plate; what happens when her old friends recognize her but she doesn't know them and they don't know it's her? And would someone tell Sky that I am not "Evil," I just like making a big show of things. Sorry, my Partner is an annoying pest sometimes.

I should also tell you the meanings of the names. Hana is Japanese for Flower. Ayame actually means Iris, but it's also the name of a Ninja in Suikoden 3; that's where we get Shadow. Yume means Dream and Kaze means Wind. Kira was just a name we kind of liked.