Lin continued, and her story went like this:

It was the dawn of another morning at the bathhouse. Lin rose from her cot in the room where all the yuna—the female workers of the bathouse—slept. It was barely light, and outside the water was grey and the dark blue sky just faintly glowed.

Lin felt oddly restive. She left the room and stepped out onto the deck in the open air, and gazed out across the ocean, toward the bright glow of the lights on the very far shore. She felt oddly compelled to go there, to that bright city, but, Lin supposed, she never would. In all her life, she'd never left Skylandia.

Which reminded her—today was her thirteenth birthday. Lin was not particularly excited. She did not know that in other places, birthdays were celebrated. To her, it was just another day, except for her sudden longing to explore beyond Skylandia. Maybe—maybe, Lin thought—she might ask Yubaba if she could visit the city across the ocean, just for a little while.

"Lin!"

Turning, Lin saw one of her 'co-workers', Lily.

"Aren't you coming to breakfast? We have a busy day ahead of us," Lily demanded.

"Lily, the sun's just coming up," Lin protested.

"This isn't a normal day," Lily said acidly. "Don't you remember? We have the paint the outside of the bathhouse where it's starting to peel, and scrub the decks, and trim those flower bushes, and everything."

Ah, yes, the annual spring cleaning. Lin had forgotten that.

"You know," said another voice, "you're mother's a witch. Can't you persuade her to use her magic to get things done a little…faster?"

Yuna turned around and saw Kaze; she was the oldest yuna, though it was hard for a stranger to detect this. All of the yuna looked very much alike; Lin had been told once that they were the transformed spirits of slugs, and aged slowly.

"I asked her before," Lin said. "Mother told me that if she uses her powers frivolously, they'll weaken her physically, and then she'd have to waste time recovering."

"It's too bad you never got any of her powers," Kaze said shortly. "Now, come along, Lin! Let's not waste any more time."

Lin obediently followed Lily, Kaze and the other workers. The others chattered as they hurried to the kitchen to get their breakfast, but Lin was silent. The other girls had never really liked her. They hadn't been unkind, but they were curt and disdainful. Perhaps it was because her mother was Yubaba; maybe they were afraid of getting too friendly with a witch's daughter.

"I think I'll ask Mother if I can go to the city across the ocean," Lin said cheerfully, trying to deflect the women's curt attitudes.

"Really?" Kaze yawned. "I'm sure it's nothing but bright lights and maybe even humans!"

"What's wrong with humans?" Lin said. She'd heard of the dislike of humans before, but had never asked why, until now.

"I don't know," Lily said. They were at the break room now, and each took cheese and bread for breakfast. "But legend says that two centuries ago, the first human wandered into the spirit world by accident and tried to wage war for no reason. That is when Yubaba started transforming stray humans into pigs."

"Why isn't the gate to the spirit world stronger?" Lin asked, speaking not of a physical barrier, but an enchanted one.

"It is, now," Kaze said. "Yubaba invented a very strong charm thirteen years ago, before you were born. Didn't she tell you that?"

"No," Chihiro said.

"Well, the charm is so strong that only a human who is very curious about what lies beyond the tunnel can break into it—and no human's come since."

Lin finished her breakfast in silence. Yubaba never told her much about humans and in fact was always vague about Lin's past. She avoided questions about who Lin's father was, and why her own mother would put her to work and make her board with the yuna.

"Come along, Lin!" Kaze said impatiently. "I'm putting you to wash the windows."

"Not now," Lin said defiantly. "I'm going to ask my mother about visiting the city across the ocean."

"WHY!" Kaze said in consternation. "Now, Lin, you just listen to m—"

"Oh, let her go. We'll just give her extra work," Lily sneered.

They walked off with the rest of the yuna and Lin made her way to her mother's office.

"Mother?" Lin said, pushing the door open.

The chair behind the desk wasn't occupied, and Yubaba was nowhere to be found. Lin turned to leave; Lin knew all too well that her mother didn't want her alone in the office.

Just as she was going to the door, however, Lin felt oddly compelled to look in a jeweled box on her mother's desk…it was almost as if it wasn't her own will telling her to do that. She boldly walked forward, but her fingers were trembling as she lifted the heavy gold lid. Something tingled in her arms, and she drew out a piece of gilt edged paper—and then wheeled backward, shocked. The paper read:

To reveal another's name

Put his very blood in flame

Then

Add paper to the blaze

Put it out with ink and say:

Blood in the fire, blood for the fire

Ink to reveal

Paper to seal

The name you wish to know

And knowing the name

Will put that person in your power.

There was a line, and then—

Her name was Tsuri

But now is Lin—

"LIN!"

A voice that was almost an animal's snarl caused Lin to startle. She whirled and then paled when she saw Yubaba before her, outraged, eyes blazing and fire literally coming from her mouth.

But Lin did not feel afraid.

"I'm not your daughter…" she said faintly.

"No!" roared the witch. "Your parents were filthy, greedy humans. I should have killed you, too, but I decided to be merciful. I would raise you up like the yuna."

Lin felt an odd sense of power.

"Tsuri…that is my name, Tsuri. How odd…I feel as if…I shouldn't be here anymore…I should be in the humans' world…"

"Tsuri is not your name now," Yubaba said, and concentrated hard, looking straight into Lin's eyes. "Your name is Lin…"

I can get out of here, Lin thought. I'm meant to be in the human world. I can find out about my family. I just have to resist Yubaba and remember my name. Tsuri.

"Lin. You're name is Lin!" shouted Yubaba.

"Tsuri, It's Tsuri," chanted Lin. "It's Tsuri…"

"Lin…" said Yubaba in a deadly voice. Her eyes turned steely, and they began to swirl. Lin. Lin .Lin. The name began to echo in the girl's mind.

"No! Tsuri! I'm Tsuri!" Lin almost sobbed.

"Your—name—is—Lin!"

"Tsuri!" Lin tried to shout out, but could not tear her eyes away from Yubaba's swirling eyes. "Tsu…ri…"

And then everything went black.

"I remember finding the paper, and blacking out. I remember that I found my real name, and that I was using it to fight when Yubaba kept saying 'Lin'…but I don't actually remember the name," Lin said sadly. "All that's left for me is to see the city across the ocean. Maybe it'll be better for me there."

"You couldn't just walk through the tunnel and leave?" Chihiro said, and immediately realized that she'd asked a silly question.

"I wish I could," Lin said. "Sometimes, in my subconscious memory, I hear a man's voice, or a woman's voice, but I can't hear what they're saying. Yet, somehow, I feel that I've heard them before…"

"Why didn't Yubaba let you go? You never did anything! It's not your fault that your parents wandered in," Chihiro asked.

"I'm supposed to be her heir," Lin's voice dropped to a whisper. "She hates her sister and wanted an heir, so that the bathhouse wouldn't fall into Zeniba's hands, if my 'mother'"—she said the last word with dark sarcasm—"—died first. She thought I would do; working in the bathhouse would make me familiar with it; she told me that the other workers are too stupid to manage the bathhouse. But I have a feeling…if only I could remember my name…I would be released."


Here is the conclusion to Lin's story, I hope you enjoyed!