Chapter Five
When morning came, Chihiro found Lynn sleeping on the floor, her head on Chihiro's bed. Now it was Chihiro's turn to see Lynn off to bed. While her friend was sleeping, Chihiro decided to walk around the house. The house had three bedrooms, a living room, a library, a study, and a kitchen. There were paintings on the walls. And in the courtyard of the house there was a small garden, in which many fragrant flowers grew. Chihiro spent only half an hour to look at everything. And then she got bored. She entered Lynn's bedroom and checked if everything was okay with her friend.
After making sure that Lynn was asleep, Chihiro decided to go outside.
Interior. Ghost Park. Morning
The girl only vaguely understood what she had to do as a security consultant, and decided to walk around the ghost park just in case. Chihiro wanted to see Haku, but she knew that now that she was being watched by many eyes, she couldn't communicate with him informally, like in the real world. It took Chihiro about two hours to walk around the entire park. She walked slowly, trying to visit all the places that she hadn't managed to see during her last visit to the ghost park. The last point of her walk was the ghost bathhouse. And, fortunately, she met Haku there. Just like Chihiro, Haku tried, when he had the opportunity, to live in a normal human mode: sleep at night and do things during the day, but he didn't always succeed. Haku was happy to see Chihiro.
Chihiro
I wanted to see you.
Haku
I know, I've been watching you from the balcony and I've seen you looking thoughtfully in the direction of the ghost bath several times. You're not sleeping in vain. Tonight will be a sleepless night.
Chihiro
Why?
Haku
Have you forgotten that there will be a reception tonight, a grand reception in honor of your arrival?
Chihiro
No, why not, I remember. However, I didn't think it would take all night.
Haku
The officials from Concert Agency Number One and Concert Agency Number Two came to me and gave me the script for the upcoming celebration to read, so I can tell you that the celebration is scheduled to last all night. I'll finish my business now and go to bed, I suggest you do the same.
Chihiro
Actually, I wanted to ask you.
Haku
Ask your question.
Chihiro
I wanted to know what I should do as a security consultant?
Haku
First of all, you must cast aside your carelessness. You must be attentive
and observant. You must be especially attentive to those ghosts who
hang around Miss Yubaba and Jiniba.
Chihiro
Should I stop trusting all ghosts?
Haku
No, you must be attentive to those you don't know, to those who have appeared here
recently. But your main enemy, unfortunately, is No-Face. You probably don't know, but Mr. Lantern, the one who has served Mrs. Jiniba for centuries, is now disabled. When No-Face lost his mind, he tore Mr. Lantern's head from his body.
Chihiro
How horrible. Mr. Lantern is alive?
Haku
Yes, he is alive, but he can no longer serve his mistress Jiniba. That's why I ask you to be very attentive to everything related to No-Face.
Chihiro
Where is he now?
Haku
Nobody knows where he hides. As you know, the ghost park consists of five huge parks, five huge parts. He hides somewhere in one of the parks.
Chihiro
I always felt sorry for him.
Haku
I know that. But now you should forget about pity. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the Faceless One can divide into 99 parts, moreover, he can take the form of any ghost. True, in the morning, in the light of the sun, he can no longer deceive anyone. But the problem is that ghosts usually communicate with each other at night. Only you and I can walk freely in the light of the sun. By the way, how are you feeling? Do you feel tired?
Chihiro
Yes, it seems to me that my body, like last time, is thinning and becoming translucent, and I am also very hungry.
Haku
I want to invite you to the restaurant that is on the top platform of the thousand-year-old tree, but I will wait for you there in the evening. Right now I want to treat you to a bitter grass ball, it is probably not the treat you were expecting, but you need to swallow the grass ball now.
Haku puts the grass ball in Chihiro's palm. Chihiro shakes his head, but then gives in and swallows the grass ball.
Chihiro
Yes, everything is repeating itself like then.
Haku
Go to sleep. And when you wake up, everything will be fine.
Chapter Six
Interior. Meadow near the gate to the ghost park. Midnight
The party in honor of Chihiro's return to the ghost park began at midnight. The stage was arranged in a circle, with tables in the middle of the circle. There were passages between the segments of the stage, they looked like rays. However, the passages were not very wide, no more than two or three ghosts could pass at once. However, the ghosts who were invited to this party were not going to leave anywhere. They were comfortable, They ate, danced to the music coming from the speakers, and waited for the heroes of the evening to appear on stage. It was decided to place the stage and tables on the meadow near the entrance to the park. The organizers of the holiday considered this place symbolic. This was the very place where Chihiro came out of the gate. During the preparation of the holiday, the organizers complained that then, a year ago, cameras were not yet hung around the entire perimeter of the park and, unfortunately, there was no photo or video footage of the events when the parents and Chihiro entered the park and headed towards the gastronomic street "Hunger and Food". However, regrets never lead to anything, and the organizers of the holiday now made full use of the idea that the girl from the real world had returned and now everything would be fine. The ghosts enjoyed delicious food, danced, answered questions in various quizzes, received prizes, participated in competitions and were absolutely happy. As I said, the party started at midnight, and at 3:00 a.m. fireworks went up in the sky, a fanfare sounded from the speakers, and Chihiro came out on stage accompanied by Haku. The girl's entrance was accompanied by a show on huge screens that were suspended above the stage. It was 3:00 a.m., the girl wanted to sleep, maybe that's why she didn't look very happy. From midnight to 3:00, they put on her makeup and picked out her costume, and she also tried to memorize the ceremonial speech that the scriptwriter wrote for her. The speech just didn't fit in her head, and so in the end it was decided that Chihiro would say the greeting in her own words. The fanfares died down, the traces of the fireworks melted into the sky, and all eyes turned to the little girl, who for some unknown reason returned to this place where she was surrounded by ghosts. However, the girl's confusion lasted only a few seconds, the guests of the party were sincerely happy for Chihiro, and each of her words was accompanied by unceasing applause.
The warm welcome touched the girl so much that she relaxed and began to speak from the heart. Then she passed the microphone to Haku, who also said a few words. Yubaba and Jiniba were not present at the party so as not to embarrass their subordinates. A video message was recorded, which was shown on the screens after Chihiro and Haku's speech. And after that, it was announced that the party was continuing. Haku gave his hand to Chihiro, and they went down the steps, which were covered with a red carpet, to the table where Chihiro's friend Llin was already waiting for her. For a while, the music died down, only the hum of voices, laughter and exclamations could be heard. Chihiro tried to remind herself that she had come here for a reason, but to ensure safety and protect everyone present from the insidious plans of the Faceless One. However, she soon relaxed too and went to lead the long round dance, in which the organizers of the evening decided to place everyone present. It was noisy and unusually fun. Chihiro, a slightly sullen and withdrawn girl in real life, was now among friends and felt genuine happiness. The girl did not even suspect that so many people, or rather, so many ghosts loved her or treated her with sympathy and concern. It was 4 o'clock in the morning when the music began to sound again. First, the corps de ballet appeared on the stage, beauties in oriental costumes were so beautiful that their appearance was met with shouts and a roar of applause. When the welcoming exit was over, the corps de ballet members froze on the proscenium, their faces turned to the audience, and their hands pointed somewhere into the depths of the stage. Suddenly it became completely quiet, the spotlights began to blink, shimmer, and then froze, forming a circle in which a woman's figure suddenly appeared. The stage received its queen, its star, its prima. The girl was so beautiful that it was impossible to tear your eyes away from her, it seemed that she could conquer the audience with just one look. However, when the girl began to sing, it became clear that, in addition to her beautiful appearance, she had another quality that could captivate the audience. She was a professional singer who, in addition to her voice, also had acting talent. Her low, velvety voice penetrated the very hearts of those who listened to her. The audience even began to breathe in time with the song that the ghost girl performed. The songs she sang were imbued with sadness, passion and carried a deep meaning. When the singer decided to congratulate Chihiro and asked the audience to come closer to the stage, no one even thought of resisting. It seemed that the ghosts, enchanted by the beautiful singing, even forgot for a moment who Chihiro was and why she needed to be congratulated. However, the memory lapse lasted no more than a few seconds, and those present burst into thunderous applause. Chihiro wanted to sleep, it was already approaching dawn, and there was no end to the holiday. Her eyes were sticking together, and the excitement gradually faded.
The girl looked around: those present, hypnotized by the singer, moved towards the stage in a single impulse, even Chihiro's friend Llin tried to push those present to get as close to the stage as possible. Only Haku and Chihiro remained sitting and a table, but this fact did not surprise anyone. Those present completely forgot in whose honor this party was organized. The singer performed three more songs. After that, she once again asked Chihiro to go up on stage to greet her personally. The sleep passed, but an unusual irritation appeared. Chihiro did not understand why this entire army of ghosts was breathing, moving and singing in time with the singer's songs. However, she could not refuse, in the crowd of ghosts there were already dissatisfied exclamations addressed to Chihiro, who for some unknown reason ignored the polite invitation of the star of this evening, this beautiful singer, who was a revelation. Chihiro decided that she would not go anywhere, but Haku quietly shook his head. Well, there was no choice. The girl did not understand why she was desperately resisting the polite invitation, she simply did not have time to think about this circumstance, the guests of the party hurried her, clapping in time to the music, and cheering her on. Chihiro went up on stage. It became quiet, the singer began to say something, and then fell silent, it seemed that something had worried the girl, she tried to congratulate Chihiro again, but suddenly she coughed and her speech suddenly became slow, and Chihiro suddenly heard a voice from the past. This voice was not the singer's voice, but it was familiar to the girl. The voice uttered several unintelligible words, the tempo of the voice began to speed up, and Chihiro suddenly heard words that surprised her very much: "We need to lower the pressure," the singer said, the girl was acting strangely, it seemed that she was on a ship and was rocking from side to side. In the light of the spotlights, it was clearly visible how dark shadows were hovering around the girl. Suddenly, the singer took a few steps towards Chihiro and began to strangle the girl. The girl began to lose consciousness, the last thing she heard were the words that the singer repeated: "Wish, wish, wish." Suddenly, someone tore the girl's hands away from Chihiro's throat, and the girl fell onto the stage. However, the singer was determined to deal with Chihiro, she was rushing towards the girl. Llyn, who was the first to react because she was closer to the stage, was able to tear the singer's hands away from Chihiro's throat. However, she herself was immediately injured, the singer with superhuman strength lifted Llyn above her head and threw the girl into the crowd.
And then she moved towards Chihiro again. This time, Haku intervened, standing in front of the enraged girl, he stretched out his hands in front of him. Haku was a strong sorcerer, but for some reason he could not restrain the singer for long. It seemed as if a whole army was crowding behind the girl and pressing on Haku. Fortunately, at that moment the ghosts came to their senses, and about twenty ghosts rushed to Haku's aid. They surrounded the raging singer. And at that time, Haku was taking Chihiro away. At that moment, the sun rose. The sun could not harm the ghosts, they were not afraid of its rays. But the singer suddenly lost consciousness. At that moment, it became clear that the Faceless One was standing behind the singer and directing all her actions. One of the ghosts jumped up to the Faceless One and pulled off his hood. The Faceless One screamed, and it seemed that the earth and sky shook from his scream. At that moment, the sorceress Jiniba descended from the sky. As you remember, she knew how to deal with the Faceless One. But that was earlier. Now the hoodless ghost was raging and pounding the ground with his fists, and the earth began to crack under his palms. It is unknown how long this would have continued if the sorceress Jiniba had not thrown the hood over the ghost again and, having pulled it up, lowered the edge of the hood over her eyes. The noise died down. The Faceless One's hands drooped like whips, and he followed Jiniba without resistance. As soon as the Faceless One was taken away, the singer came to her senses. The girl did not remember anything, her voice was hoarse, and she spoke in a whisper. However, Chihiro and Haku did not see all this, all their attention was riveted to Llin. The girl was dissolving in the air, she stretched her hands to Chihiro and tried to say something. But the disintegration was happening very quickly, Chihiro ran up close and tried to slow down the disintegration on her side, but Llin suddenly said
Llin
I remembered, I remembered my name. My name is Angellin. I came to this world to meet you someday and become your angel-savior. Now my function is done, and I'm leaving. If you want to see me again, let me say a few words to the dragon Haku.
Chihiro was crying out loud, but she only nodded in agreement and stepped aside when Haku approached Llin, who was only a shadow left. Llin said a few words and, pleadingly folding her hands, asked Haku for something, and he nodded. After that, the girl's silhouette disappeared completely.
Chihiro's eyes grew dim, and she lost consciousness.