CHAPTER VIII
-welcoming-
Chihiro looked around hoping to see even a small light. What she was waiting for didn't happen, Kohaku could sense her disappointment.
"No...It can't be..." she knelt down on the wooden bridge. The only source of light was a half moon that had just appeared. Kohaku went near and placed his arm around her shoulders. Why wouldn't they appear? She thought that it might all be a dream after all. The place was empty and lifeless.
"Chihiro, don't question your conscience. I believe in you. I know that I'm not human, or that I was not human originally, at least..."
She wanted to rely on Kohaku's words, but if the Spirit World had ceased to exist, maybe it had never existed in the first place. That was her reasoning.
"Hey...look over there" he muttered.
She lifted her eyes from the wooden floor to see a faint light moving in the abyss. It was making its way through ruins and buildings, probably heading their way. Chihiro couldn't imagine what it could be.
Once the light was close enough for them to see, Chihiro got up instantly and started running towards it. It was a lone lamp, hopping on a white gloved hand at the base of its pole. It was the same lamp post that had once led Chihiro to Zeniba's house, when she reached the Swamp Bottom on a train. The lamp just stood there, waiting for the two of them to take a step. When they started walking, it also turned around and started hopping through the darkness. Chihiro looked at Kohaku, and he smiled at her in response.
If this lamp was there, then it would most probably lead them to Zeniba again. Chihiro knew that there was something wrong, and she would find out what it was.
The hopping lamp post guided them along a narrow path through a cluster of trees, resembling a small forest. Then, what they reached was the small house that Chihiro remembered as the house in Swamp Bottom. It was identical. Except the fact that, they weren't in Swamp Bottom. The lamp post pulled back into a corner, encouraging them to keep going forward. Without a word, Kohaku and Chihiro walked up to the door, but it opened before they even got to knock.
"Come in, you two...I'm busy with the tea, so take a seat" Chihiro's heart jumped when the old but familiar voice reached her ears "Chihiro, was it? I remember it as clear as yesterday, when you came to bring back my sister's seal and apologize for this Dragon's doing."
They stepped inside and sat on the table in the center. Kohaku observed the surroundings. The house looked old, yet it had a very warm feel. Zeniba's back greeted them from the fire stove, where she prepared the tea. And there, in a corner next to the stove, stood a dark slim figure, with a white mask on the spot where there was supposed to be a head.
"This is...No Face!" Chihiro stood up and went towards him. No Face couldn't talk of course, but he nodded a few times while staring at her, and Chihiro took it as a "welcome back".
"He's been sad while you were gone, you know" said Zeniba, "but he is an excellent assistant."
The old woman brought the tea and poured some on two cups. Then she offered the first to Kohaku with her huge mouth forming a grin, and the other one to Chihiro.
"You sure have grown a lot! What a fine lady you've become!" she said looking at her "And you! You have grown too...even in a human form, that is!" she told Kohaku and chuckled.
"Granny Zeniba..." muttered Chihiro.
"I know, I know...You two want to know what's wrong here, am I right?"
"Not just that." It was the first time Kohaku had spoken since entering the house "There is also something else. I have no memories...of this place. Even though I know I don't belong in the human world, I don't know how I ended up being a human, or what I was before that."
Zeniba furrowed her eyebrows and looked down, at her heavy with rings fingers.
"My dear, I'm afraid that there is no way to make your memories return. No way that I know of, at least. You see, one can not achieve everything with magic, let alone the fact that mine is getting weaker by the time..."