Yubaba's Night
A short fanfiction that attempts to answer the question, "Where does Yubaba go when she flies off ?"
It takes place before the events in "Spirited Away." All characters belong to Hayao Miyazaki.
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Yubaba looked down at the water gently rippling over the railroad tracks. Night had fallen and it was time to leave. She went to the nursery and peeked in.
"Goodnight, Boh darling," she said.
He was fast asleep under his pillows. What a wonderful big baby he was! No harm, no germ must come near him.
"Watch over Boh, and my treasures," she told the headmen.
"Oi, Oi, Oi," said the rolling heads in chorus.
Once they had been three brothers, owners of this place before she came here. One of them was Boh's father; she was never sure which. She'd sworn to keep them by her and never kill them. Even when they had tried her patience by trying to interfere with her running of the bathhouse, she had kept her word...
Under her management the Abura-ya had gone from a third-rate dive to being the finest bathhouse in the spirit world. She loved it, or at least she loved the money it made for her.
Yubaba turned to her apprentice. "Haku, keep an eye on the employees. I don't want any pilfering from those no-good lazy ingrates."
Haku bowed. "Yes, Madam." His eyes were icy, which meant that her control was working well.
The compulsion to go was getting stronger. Yubaba deliberately walked slowly to the balcony where the Yu-Bird was waiting. She mustn't show weakness in front of Haku. She hoped he would never learn that her journeys were not by choice. She feared he had.
She drew her great cloak around her and willed herself to flight-form. She had done it so often she no longer needed the Yu-Bird as a focus, but it was still a good spy. She launched off from the balcony and flapped along with the bird, following the line of railroad tracks towards the north.
As soon as she got out of sight of the bathhouse she sped up her flight, streaking through the air invisibly fast. The Yu-Bird veered off and went to a tree where it would nest for the night.
Yubaba headed towards a small English-style house at the end of the railway line. Zeniba's house. She hated that unambitious goody-goody who pulled her away from her business and her baby. But it couldn't be helped.
"It was a price I paid for knowledge and power," thought Yubaba.
She landed in the yard and looked in the window. No one was there...
With a gesture she broke the magical ward on the front door and went inside.
She knew that in a secret drawer there was a strongbox with a golden seal with Zeniba's true name. It was nestled in a paper wrapping that was actually a mass of enchanted paper dolls. On one doll was a spell that embued it with Zeniba's persona. Any thief that tried to take advantage of her daily absence would get a nasty surprise, along with the death-curse attached to the seal itself.
There was no time to do anything now, as a wave of dizziness swept over her. She sat by the fire to wait for the conflict raging within her mind to pass.
"Home at last," she sighed. She stood up again.
There was so much to do before the compulsion came upon her at daybreak to fly away again. She had only faint impressions of what she did in that other life. Years ago a magical experiment to purify her spirit of avarice and malice had gone wrong. Now she lived half a life, herself by night and her "twin sister" by day.
"It was a price I paid for knowledge and power," thought Zeniba.
A short fanfiction that attempts to answer the question, "Where does Yubaba go when she flies off ?"
It takes place before the events in "Spirited Away." All characters belong to Hayao Miyazaki.
---------------------------------------------
Yubaba looked down at the water gently rippling over the railroad tracks. Night had fallen and it was time to leave. She went to the nursery and peeked in.
"Goodnight, Boh darling," she said.
He was fast asleep under his pillows. What a wonderful big baby he was! No harm, no germ must come near him.
"Watch over Boh, and my treasures," she told the headmen.
"Oi, Oi, Oi," said the rolling heads in chorus.
Once they had been three brothers, owners of this place before she came here. One of them was Boh's father; she was never sure which. She'd sworn to keep them by her and never kill them. Even when they had tried her patience by trying to interfere with her running of the bathhouse, she had kept her word...
Under her management the Abura-ya had gone from a third-rate dive to being the finest bathhouse in the spirit world. She loved it, or at least she loved the money it made for her.
Yubaba turned to her apprentice. "Haku, keep an eye on the employees. I don't want any pilfering from those no-good lazy ingrates."
Haku bowed. "Yes, Madam." His eyes were icy, which meant that her control was working well.
The compulsion to go was getting stronger. Yubaba deliberately walked slowly to the balcony where the Yu-Bird was waiting. She mustn't show weakness in front of Haku. She hoped he would never learn that her journeys were not by choice. She feared he had.
She drew her great cloak around her and willed herself to flight-form. She had done it so often she no longer needed the Yu-Bird as a focus, but it was still a good spy. She launched off from the balcony and flapped along with the bird, following the line of railroad tracks towards the north.
As soon as she got out of sight of the bathhouse she sped up her flight, streaking through the air invisibly fast. The Yu-Bird veered off and went to a tree where it would nest for the night.
Yubaba headed towards a small English-style house at the end of the railway line. Zeniba's house. She hated that unambitious goody-goody who pulled her away from her business and her baby. But it couldn't be helped.
"It was a price I paid for knowledge and power," thought Yubaba.
She landed in the yard and looked in the window. No one was there...
With a gesture she broke the magical ward on the front door and went inside.
She knew that in a secret drawer there was a strongbox with a golden seal with Zeniba's true name. It was nestled in a paper wrapping that was actually a mass of enchanted paper dolls. On one doll was a spell that embued it with Zeniba's persona. Any thief that tried to take advantage of her daily absence would get a nasty surprise, along with the death-curse attached to the seal itself.
There was no time to do anything now, as a wave of dizziness swept over her. She sat by the fire to wait for the conflict raging within her mind to pass.
"Home at last," she sighed. She stood up again.
There was so much to do before the compulsion came upon her at daybreak to fly away again. She had only faint impressions of what she did in that other life. Years ago a magical experiment to purify her spirit of avarice and malice had gone wrong. Now she lived half a life, herself by night and her "twin sister" by day.
"It was a price I paid for knowledge and power," thought Zeniba.