Chapter Six

Lin paced about her quarters. As she had recently been promoted, not that it meant she got paid that much more than she used to, she had her own room. Yubaba had always been shifty when it came to promoting her workers - or, rather, slaves - so she had been pleasantly surprised when she found out. After the bathhouse's loss of its most useful minion, Haku, Yubaba hadn't quite been herself. More.. influencable.. a bit kinder too, but only by the slightest, tiniest bit. Lin had been amused by this previously, the cause obviously being Sen. The great hag had been changed by a mere human being. But now was not the time to chuckle over her boss' affairs.

Her feet tapped lightly across the floorboards as her playful ponytail flicked behind her. She was agitated. Restless. She didn't like it. Memories stung her and followed her wherever she went, however hard she tried to black them out. She had gotten over this, she had thought. His face flashed in her mind.

"Go away." She muttered. "I'm done with this. It's over, that was ages ago."

Sighing she put her face in her hands, massaging her forehead.

"Damn."

Suddenly there was a loud noise from above. Lin's head jerked upright. She frowned. Normally she would have just shrugged it off, as loud noises weren't uncommon when you had an immature, giant baby living just upstairs from you. But this time, she could smell burning. Fire.

"Bo? Is everything ok?" She hollered at the ceiling. Silence.

With a mix of tomboyish flair, and professional skill, she hoisted herself out the balcony and began to climb. It didn't take her long to scale the wall and she was up in a matter of minutes - thanks to the help of a trusty pipe. She poked her head into Bo's room.

"What going on? You know Yubaba doesn't like it when you get hurt."

She looked around briefly trying to find the source of the fire, frowning slightly at the pile of pillows and toys that lay stacked in a giant pile. She couldn't understand why a spirit of his age would want to be a baby and never did quite get it. Not that she was that bothered by it though, while the past few months had lead to them becoming greater acquainted as a result of the promotion and change in lodgings, she had no right to tell him what was what.

"Bo..? Is everything okay-!" She hurried over to where he sat, puzzled on the floor. "What happened?"

His brow wrinkled, and an expression of extreme contemplation rested in his face, a disturbing look on a baby.

"Something.. interesting." He rested his gaze on a charred patch of the tatami mat.

Lin sniffed the air once more, curiously. "I thought Yubaba didn't let you near matches?"

"Nope, mama doesn't let me. It was Aika."

She scratched her neck, irritatedly, in confusion. Had he invited a friend round to play without the hag's permission? If so she should probably get out of here before Yubaba showed up and turned her into a beetle.

"Who is Aika? Some kind of imp or fire spirit?"

He shook his head. "No.. she seemed human enough to me."

Her mind flashed back to the human girl she had taken to the boss on Haku's orders. She hadn't had to obey him, seeing as he was free now, after Sen gave him his name back, but he at least seemed to know what he was doing. He was too powerful to disagree with anyway.

"The human. Guess that's what the damn witch did to her."

Bo looked at her dumbly. "What?"

"She's half-human half-spirit now, Bo. Yubaba needed a new henchman to replace Haku, so she's using that girl instead. She must have taken her name." Lin bit her lip. Brilliant. Yubaba was gaining power again. The witch's head was big enough as it is, she didn't need another swell in her ego.

"Where is Aika?"

Bo shrugged.

"Mama took her somewhere. Said something about her being unstable."

Lin groaned inwardly. Well isn't this just wonderful. I bet the hag didn't even fully know what she was doing. Haku.. well.. he wasn't exactly going to be delighted to find out about this..

"Hey Bo..? Why does your mother always have to complicate things..?"

Bo shrugged again.

"She likes the drama I guess. Besides, it makes life more interesting. Things start to get a bit dreary after a while. I suppose that's why the tunnel opens every now and then."

Lin paused for a second.

"But it's not like the tunnel has a conscience or anything, right? It just happens to open randomly from time to time."

A childish grin took over his face. "Wouldn't you like to know."