spirited away 2: Return to the spirit world

Chapter 22: The spirit of life

They fell into the darkness, the seemingly never-ending darkness. Chihiro was screaming at the top of her lungs, but Yuteela didn't seem too concerned about it. In fact, she was still attempting to get to Chihiro even as they fell; not that Chihiro noticed, she was too terrified to even remember the enraged forest spirit.

'I have her now!' Yuteela thought victoriously. 'She can't get away from me this time! She's mine!' 

Her fangs slid down as she reached for the hysterical human with her long leg. The human was dead no matter what. If Yuteela didn't kill her, the fall would.

"I shall have my revenge!"

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light. Yuteela cried out as the sudden brightness blinded her. Chihiro thought that this must be the light at the end of the tunnel since she was surely going to die. But no, she did not. A light pressure seemed to surround her body, as if she were being held. Her fall came to a stop, but Yuteela's did not. The forest spirit roared with rage as she fell past her target and vanished into the darkness below.

Chihiro was too stunned to even realize what was happening. Her mind was a complete blank as her terror sent her into shock as she fell. The light caress against her cheek went by unnoticed, but the kind voice that spoke in her ear registered to her.

"Wake up, child. You're safe now."

Something pulled at Chihiro's mind, waking her from her initial shock. She immediately began panicking again as she realized she was hovering over thousands of feet. The kind voice spoke to her again.

"Calm down, child. I will not drop you."

Almost as if a spell had been cast upon her, and perhaps one had been, Chihiro felt herself relaxing. Whoever, or whatever had saved her had a firm grip on her, preventing her from dropping down into the darkness.

It was then that Chihiro noticed that nothing was holding her. She was suspended in midair and there was no one around. Nothing except this light, that seemed to contain every color in existence. The light was warm and comforting .

"What's happening?" she cried. "Where am I? What's going on?"

She heard whoever was there chuckled. Chihiro could sense its amusement. "You always were very curious." The being said. It's voice sounded like many, as if hundreds of people, men and women, young and old, were speaking at once. "But trust me when I say that you're safe."

"Where are you?" Chihiro asked.

"I am the light that surrounds you."

Chihiro blinked and looked around. That was when she noticed the impossible. The light was alive! Chihiro didn't have a clue as to how the light could be alive, but it was. Chihiro tried to comprehend this, but her brain just couldn't make sense of the whole situation.

"Forgive me, but I cannot take on a physical form. This is the only form I possess. But do not fear, I won't let you fall."

Chihiro looked down below her; down where Yuteela had vanished. "What about Yuteela? She fell down there."

The being chuckled again. "Not to worry. She is a spirit. A little fall like this won't hurt her too much."

"…A little fall?" This fall was anything but little.

"It's such a shame. She has so much anger in her and has for so long, it's nearly driven her insane. I had hoped that she would be able to let her anger go if she could only see that not all humans are destructive. It was a very slim chance. Hmm, but perhaps there may still be a chance."

Chihiro looked around her some more. It was very strange talking to someone made of light. "Who are you?"

"My child, do you not know?" Zeniba's goldenseal floated over to her and dropped in her hand. "I am the spirit of life."