Don't Look Back – Chapter 18

The Dream

((Kallisto's POV))

"Maeve… I can't just SIT here and let things happen!" I roared, slamming a fist against the wood of my desk, making her flinch. "I will not allow this! I need one of those elements, I need one now!"

"Chihiro is nearly impossible to get, she's too well protected."

"Don't you think I would know that by now?" I spat. "Maeve, you are not helping me! Whom could we possibly get our hands on?"

"Perun or Amaya. It would have to be Amaya though."

I glared up at the woman, "And why do you say that?" I hissed.

Maeve sighed, "Perun and Haku are brothers, and both hold the water element. If we captured Perun, Haku just use his brother's element, while Kentoku would step in for the wind element. Nothing would change and we'd still be at square one. Now if we take Amaya, the League as no earth spirit to use. She's our prime target."

I nodded grudgingly. "You're right. Tell the men they are to capture her as soon as possible."

"We are attacking?"

"Of course! What else do you expect me to do?"

((Chihiro's POV))

I knew this was a dream; it had to be. But it seemed real… a little too real for comfort. I was running in a dark and secluded wood behind a woman. Creepy… but it's true. I couldn't seem to stop, nor could I run faster. I was determined to make sense of this dream, so I studied the woman in front of my intently. Well, rather the back of her.

She was fairly tall and pale, and moved with such grace that it made Haku look like he was stumbling. She wore dark, earthy colors like green and brown. Her outfit consisted of pants and a sleeveless jacket and shirt. Her shirt was green, her pants brown… but her jacket confused me. The jacket was a deep maroon with intricate black scrollwork on the hem, and it went all the way down to her calves. Since the jacket was sleeveless, it displayed her pale and somewhat muscular arms. I looked harder, and saw something tattooed on her right bicep, but I couldn't make it out. But her hair…it was my exact color and as long as Kentoku's! My mother said that no one could get my brown hair color in a bottle, and she was right. So how on earth did this woman get it without being related to me?

Suddenly, I stopped running, she continued on, and then stopped. I realized that I had "chased" her to a small peninsula that was surrounded by a sea. Then, the sea erupted into flames! I took a step back out of surprise, and watched it… burn. Then, a tree suddenly grew out of nowhere, right in front of the strange woman. The wind picked up, making the branches sway and her hair dance like fire. She turned around, and faced me for the first time.

The woman looked at me sternly with emerald eyes… Haku's eyes. But, they had flecks of silver, as silver as his father's hair. Those eyes belonged to a face that I would call my own, but it was more a combination of two people. I looked hard and saw some of Haku in her, mainly her eyes and their shape. I remembered the tattoo on her arm, and took a closer look. It had so many details it was almost unreal. The tattoo resembled something like water, and I thought it was a pretty good comparison. Tendrils of dark navy blue twisted and flowed along her arm with no beginning or end in sight.

My eyes went wide. What was the meaning of this? Why does the woman have a resemblance to the four of us? What's going on? Haku's eyes, my hair, Amaya and Perun's colors… who was this woman?

Then, I seemed to fly. The woman looked up at my floating form, and watched me float upward into the blackness.

"Hurry little one… you do not have much time… she will succeed if you do not hurry!" The woman cried, and I was stunned at the sound of her voice. It was a low alto with that tone in it that made men shiver with delight. Somehow, she didn't strike me as one to get involved with them in the first place. "Three beings must bind her… but one of those beings shall be four. Go."

My vision faded to black, and I found myself in bed with Haku once again.

I sat up bolt right, my eyes wide. Haku was up in an instant, hands on my shoulders and emerald eyes filled with worry. "Chihiro, what is it?"

I looked at him in the eye and shuddered, "Horrible…"

"What was horrible?"

"The… dream…" I whispered, shaking my head. What was that all about? But before I could think of anything, Haku pulled me close.

"It's all right… it was just a dream." He murmured, stroking my hair.

"This was way to realistic to be a dream!" I cried, holding onto him for dear life.

He leaned down to look at my face, "Come on, it's all right. What was it about?"

"There was this strange woman-"

"Did she have brown hair?"

I looked up at him and blinked, "Yes-"

"With red highlights?"

I starred at him in shock, "How did you know?"

He shook his head and went on, "And a blue tattoo on her right arm with green and silver eyes?"

"You had it too!" I said happily, grateful that I wasn't losing my mind or something.

"Yes, I did. I think that we need to talk about this with everyone. Come on, we better get ready." He told me, and gave me a swift kiss before getting up. I moved to follow him and picked up my dress from the night before. I was about to put it on, but thought better of it. I placed it on the bed and pulled open the wardrobe. I looked at my options, and Haku came over. He wrapped his arms around me and put his head on my shoulder. With a blush, I realized that I wasn't exactly wearing anything…

"Don't be embarrassed." He murmured, "You're beautiful."

I blushed even redder, "Thank you." I whispered.

"Having trouble deciding what to wear?" He asked.

"Trying to remember where that darn dress is…" I muttered, searching through the vast amount of dresses again, "That stupid, blue dress…"

"You mean this one?" Haku asked innocently, touching a baby blue kimono hanging on the end of the rack. I looked at him, back at the dress, and then back to him.

"How did you do that?"

He just laughed and took it off of the hanger. He smiled faintly and handed it to me. "I must be good."

"I'll give you that. Now, get out and let me get dressed."

"Oh come on, I can't stay?" He joked while I pushed him toward the door.

I laughed, "No because this is a surprise! I've never worn this before and you're going to be the first to see it! Now get out of here!" I finally pushed him out of the room and slammed the door behind him with a bang. He laughed from the other side and I smiled. It was good to see him in a good mood. I heard a knock at the door and I looked at it suspiciously.

Before I could ask who it was, I got my answer. "It's Kasumi. Chihiro, open up!"

"It's unlocked!" I called back.

She came in and closed the door behind her and made her way over to me, setting a big white box on the bed. "Haku says you kicked him out of his own bedroom this morning."

I giggled, "I guess you could say that."

Kasumi raised her eyebrow at me, "What's wrong with you? You're never up, let alone happy at six o'clock in the morning." When I didn't answer, she looked around the room and I followed her gaze. I covered my hand with a smile. The sheets on the bed were messed up, and I spied Haku's pants in one corner, and bra on top. "What did you two do?" Kasumi accused, looking back at me with a twinkle in her eye.

"You honestly can't figure it out?" I laughed.

"I can, but I just don't believe it! How on earth did THAT happen?"

A knock startled us both. Kasumi cleared her throat, "Yes?"

"I can hear the both of you… you do realize that right?" Haku asked smoothly, and Kasumi went pink. "Yes Kasumi, you caught us red handed. Now please, hurry up you two. I want to talk with my father before everyone else wakes up."

With Kasumi no longer badgering me for details, she finally helped me get dressed. Not that I can't do it myself… but someone has to help me with the obi. I handed her the dress that I wanted to wear and she clicked her tongue.

"Are you sure? This is a wonderful kimono… but I think that something else would be better…"

"Like what?" I asked, watching her walk over to the wardrobe and put the kimono back.

"This!" she cried triumphantly and pulled out a dress out of the box that she carried in. Not a kimono… but a dress, a true dress. It was sleeveless with that Japanese look to it. With the high collar and everything. It went all the way down to the floor, and had gold vines twisting and weaving around an invisible pole on the left seam.

"You've got to be kidding me." I deadpanned, and Kasumi just smiled and advanced on me with the dress. "Kasumi, I'm not wearing that…"

"Oh yes you are!" she cried, pouncing. After a few minutes of struggling, she rolled her eyes. "Chihiro just put it on."

A few minutes later, she had done my hair in a braid and finally allowed me to look in the mirror. My jaw dropped. This was NOT the woman that just got out of bed ten minutes ago. I didn't realize how long my hair had gotten, about to the middle of my back. I think I'll ask Kasumi to cut it later. The dress was something I've never seen before. An old fashioned dress the color of Haku's eyes, only a few shades darker. I stared at Kasumi in the mirror, "Where did this come from?"

"Well, it was going to be your birthday present from Yubaba, but she figured that it wouldn't hurt to give it to you know since you and Haku finally got together." Kasumi said with a smile, and I couldn't help but blush.

Had everyone really been waiting for it? This dress really shows that I'm his… I'm wearing his colors again! But I must admit… this dress is certainly more dashing than the last… Yubaba knew what she was doing; I never would have expected her to be a fashion expert! The dress fit me like a glove, and I smiled. I was ready to take on a new day. Funny how much confidence a simple dress can give you.

((Haku's POV))

I tried not to tap my foot, I really did. But where were those women? I was about to call for them when I heard the Shoji door open. I turned around and looked. I didn't try to hide my surprise. My eyes widened and my mouth opened slightly.

I was staring at an angel. Her dress was the deepest green imaginable, the deepest green of my river. With her long hair in a braid and hanging over her shoulder, she looked like she was ten years older. I smiled and offered her my arm. "Thank the gods not a lot of people are up. If there were, we would have a somewhat difficult time getting you to the board room."

A few minutes later, I sat Chihiro down, and my father came through the door, followed by Yubaba. As soon as the door closed, it opened again to admit Perun, and then Amaya.

"What's the rush?" Perun groaned, "It's not even seven yet Haku…"

I inclined my head, "I'm sorry Perun, but there's a reason. Chihiro and I awoke to learn that we had the exact same dream in every detail. It was an unusual dream, something that scared me a little bit."

"A dream." Yubaba said in a monotone voice, "You woke us up for a dream?"

Perun was about to complain, but he didn't say anything. He sat down across from Chihiro and I and looked straight at me. "Would this dream involve a sea of burning water?"

"Yes." Chihiro answered.

"And with a woman that looked a lot like Chihiro?" Amaya asked, sitting down next to Perun.

"She didn't look exactly like me," Chihiro corrected, "She was more a meld of the four of us."

"You all had the same dream?" Yubaba asked, looking at us in wonder.

"I think so." I replied, looking at my father.

"You saw all four elements… the sea, water. The fire itself was the fire, and the wind was itself as well. With the tree behind… it's all four elements." Kentoku said softly.

Yubaba looked at him in shock. "What are you talking about? Wind and a tree? Since when did they pop into the equation? They haven't even told us about the entire thing!"

"They don't need to. I've seen it as well."

The old witch threw her up her hands in frustration. "Am I the ONLY one who didn't have this dream?"

"I believe that would be correct Yubaba." Kentoku said softly, "Since you might be a little lost, you can leave if you chose."

It wasn't a choice; he practically dismissed her. She wrinkled her nose in annoyance and gathered her skirts in a huff. She left the room, shutting the door behind her with a click.

Kentoku turned to us and sat down at the head of the table. "All right. Before we go over the dream, I believe that I need to explain the prophecy to all of you.

"What prophecy?" Perun asked.

"You mean the one that Kallisto was talking about?" Amaya asked.

"Yes, I believe that this is the one she was referring to." Kentoku replied. "The prophecy goes like this; those who believe they will fail, will. Those who trust each other with their lives shall triumph over what threatens to destroy them. Fire, water, air, and earth shall win. But only if they are bound together by those whom have learned to love, will this succeed. Be bound, you for elements and eradicate the things that do not belong."

Amaya tilted her head to the side. "So… we need four people that trust each other and are close to bind Callisto away… right?"

"Exactly." Kentoku said. "Now that we all know it, let's move onto the dream. We know that all four elements were present, but we still have the woman to interpret. Let's just take her apart piece by piece."

"What was her purpose anyway?" Perun asked.

"I think…" Chihiro began, and paused. "As I said, she looked like she was four of us combined."

"But which four?" Amaya questioned.

Kentoku smiled sadly. "You four. I saw no traces of me in her."

"But her hair was as long as yours." Perun pointed out.

"I doubt hair length has anything to do with it." He replied, looking hard at his youngest son. "But I believe Chihiro's one of the four that make her up."

"She's wearing earthy tones with a dark red jacket… perhaps that's Amaya." I said, leaning back in my chair.

"So we have Chihiro and Amaya… and then you." Kentoku said, "That woman has your eyes Haku."

"But what about the silver flecks?" Chihiro asked, leaning forward, "They don't make any sense at all. They're the color of your hair-"

"What is it with you four and my hair?" Kentoku asked in exasperation. We tried not to laugh or smile, but failed. He shook his head with a sigh. "Anyway, I do not know Chihiro. And before anyone asks, I do not understand the red highlights in the woman's hair either."

"Wait… the hair color represents Chihiro…" Amaya murmured, "Then perhaps the red represents her too." We sat there for a few minutes pondering this new thought when Chihiro burst out into laughter.

"Oh my gosh! Red and me… its fire! The red represents fire! I have to use fire!"

"Use? Who said anything about using something?" I asked, "But that does make sense. And as for the silver flecks, perhaps it means that I need to use wind."

"But for what?" Perun stressed.

"We're still not done analyzing the woman. What about her tattoo?" Amaya asked, looking around at everyone.

Perun snorted, "That's easy; it's me. Kentoku said that it was the four of us, and I'm the only one left. Besides, I have the same thing."

We all watched in confusion and curiosity and Perun rolled his right sleeve up to show the exact same tattoo.

"When did you get that?" Amaya asked, tracing a tendril of the navy blue with her finger.

"A few days after Chihiro first came to the spirit world. Kallisto had a fit when I got it, so she made me hide it."

"I was right, it's you four. Her eyes represent Haku using his wind element, and her hair Chihiro using fire. Amaya's represented by her clothes, and finally Perun with the water tattoo. Everyone following?" When everyone nodded, Kentoku continued, "Now, Chihiro said that she needed to 'use' her element. Care to explain?"

"I don't know…I-" she began, but her eyes widened in realization. She looked up at my father eagerly, " Kentoku, do you know how exactly we're supposed to bind Kallisto?"

My father blinked, "No, I do not. Why?"

"That woman looks like the four of us, and we're the ones that make her who she is. So, do you think that it's possible that we combine powers to become her?"

The room was dead silent. You could have heard a pin drop. Kentoku inclined his head, "I believe you are right Chihiro."

Perun looked at her in amazement. "Where is all of this coming from?"

I laughed. "I don't know," I said honestly, "but I'm loving it!"

"So… is that it?" Amaya asked.

"No. We need to figure out what she meant."

"What do you mean?" Perun questioned, "She didn't say anything."

Chihiro frowned, "Yes she did!"

"Wait… she said something to you?" Kentoku asked, holding a hand out to quit Perun.

"Yes. She said; three beings must bind her… but one of these beings shall be four."

Kentoku scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well. Three people must bind her…"

"But isn't there supposed to be four?" I asked in confusion, "The prophecy says that there has to be four, yet she says three!"

"Four of us are supposed to come together as one." Perun pointed out, "So, in a way we are one being. We just need two more."

All four of us turned to look at Kentoku. He closed his eyes and sighed, "If I must. Now, since we know who must bond to make the woman that binds Kallisto, we need to start practicing. Haku, Chihiro… do either of you know of a safe place to practice?"

A/N: Yay! Finally! I got it up! Thanks to my new beta, Goddess Of Grammar, you have an UNDERSTANDABLE chapter! And I appologize now for anything in the previous chapters that doesn't make sense... I'll go back and fix them eventually. I would like the thank everyone for reviewing... and this chapter is also being dedicated to:

Goddess Of Grammar
Oh how much I value your input! Thank you so much for reading this before everyone and fixing things for me!
It meansa lot, so the first chapter you edit deserves to be yours.

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Thank you all so much!This story is far from over!

-Vincent's Angel of Chaos-