The House Of Spirits

The manor stood over me. It was enlarged within as well, Spirits walked back and forth from their rooms. All of them were strange and obscure; some looked like creatures or animals that were possessed. Their forms were intimidating yet as time passed you had grown accustomed to them. As he led me down the hall I had asked him for his name, he wasn't sure but his mom calls him Satsuma. He then informed me to call him Satsu, to put it simply. Soon enough he led me to a room that was unlocked-It was a room down in the basement next to his. He told me that no one ever comes down here, not even the person that gave birth to him. I never really thought of asking who was this 'person' that had given birth to him and to not ask if he had a mother simply because I never grew up with one either. I was always kept away with my mentor who believed in being kept away from parents to be more in oneness with life. Whatever that he told me didn't seem true, nor right in any aspect.

Satsu told me to wait here in case if the person got mad at him. I couldn't really take it much longer, so I asked what this persons name was. He claimed it was Utma.

"Yeah... I know her name I just wanted to tell you that she gave me life. But you know now so... That's what really matters right? But yeah I must go-Let me know if you need anything. I'm usually upstairs working for Utma. But I'll get down here as fast as I can but... Don't count on it." He trotted upstairs as I went into my room. There was a mat made out of soft cloth. The imprints were interesting; there was a small pot that stood out of the wall. It was found and had a seat. I deduced that this is where you go after you eat a meal. It was rather nice, because where I lived we had to go put our waste somewhere else outside. I would rather not go into full detail for reasons, I would rather not explain.

I decided to sleep for a couple of hours; I pulled the covers over me and slept. It took a while for Satsu to come like he said. I began to worry. Where was he? What was he doing? What was Utma like? There wasn't much I could do but wait. Wait for him to come so we could talk again.

There was a large pounding at my door. I stood upward and slid open the door. No one was there. I looked over to my left. No one. Maybe it was coming from Satsus room. I knocked. There was a booming roar coming for the inside, and then a voice.

"Don't come in! Don't!" The voice was deep and fierce.

"Satsu?" I began to whimper. " Is that you? What happened?"

"Nothing!"

The voice boomed louder this time. I started to shake, but then I didn't. I decided to stand still.

"Would you like some tea? I can try to make some." I offered.

There was a slight pause.

"Like what?" He asked.

"I don't know. But something."

There was another pause. It almost grew into a moment of silence, but then he finally spoke.

"I don't know if I like tea..."

"Teas good for you. It calms you down. Helps it so you don't feel tired as much."

"I thought it was bad for you."

"Well that's not true."

"Utma and the others hardly drink tea..."

"Who are the others?"

"The Spirits."

There was another pause. I started to think that I should give up, but I didn't. I leaned my head against his door. And then I spoke.

"Satsu... I just met you. I had just met you- but... I already feel like I know you. Maybe we have met before. Maybe somewhere we have... But Satsu... Please don't give up on me. I know that I can help you. And you can help me. We can help each other... Satsu-it feels like I miss you already and your just standing inside you do not want to come out and you're just next-door. I know that... You are someone that I can't just lose. I already lost so many people... not you Satsu. I just know that deep down... Your important to me and I can't-" I started to cry. Tears formed up once again and started to seep through the paper of his door. I heard shuffling of him getting up.

"Wait Are you crying?" He called out from the other side.

"Just a little bit..." I lied a little. I was actually crying a whole lot. Everywhere below my cheeks was sopping wet.

He slowly slid the door open. I fell down into his room since I was leaning against his door. He jumped back a couple feet.

"Wooa- Um okay." He stood there until I sat up. I quickly wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

"I didn't think that I would make you cry..." He said, starting to feel a bit bad.

"Well you did."

"I'm sorry."

"Silly little dragon boy." I called him. His face jolted with ultimate curiosity.

"What did you just call me?" He asked, eager to know what I said meant.

"Dragon boy?"

"What's a dragon?" He asked me. It looked like he knew what a dragon was, but he just wanted to be reassured.

"Um... Dragons are kind of like spirits. But they are really super strong. You know- and I guess that they are really wise and they fly. Sometimes they have horns. And sometimes they have really big wings or small wings. All of them are different, unique, and special. And you remind me of a dragon. Because you're quiet, sometimes you look mad or sad or sometimes really intense... But inside you are strong and your intentions are good. So that's why I probably called you dragon boy." I explained. He looked so surprised, and he seemed to be feeling better about himself now. It was a bit sad to see him act so depressed... But now it was good to see him better again.

"Oh okay." He looked down at his feet. His hair was a mess, and his clothes were torn. He also had slight smudges on his cheeks from some kind of dirt. I chuckled and stood up and leaned in to fix a strand of his hair, his head moved away from me and he looked at me as if he had never been touched or ever had a sense of affection.

"Why are you doing that?" He asked me. I started to wonder why I did that. I didn't really know why.

"I don't know..." I answered. He looked at me oddly. And then he just brushed it off and shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmmm..." He thought. I stood there wondering on what to do next, until he gave in and told me something.

"'Maybe you can help me fix my hair and clothes."

"Sure."

"Thanks... But I don't know if I have anymore clothes but the ones that I'm wearing..."

"Wait- Really?" I said in surprise. Why did he have just one change of clothes especially in a large spirit house? I was just a girl from the human world, and we only wore our clothes out of cloth and tattered leather and raspy leaves. His outfit was nice, it was a silk robe that was knitted with dark stripes. But now it was worn out and torn as if he was out in a war with spirits that were came to be gods and he was fighting them. I wondered if he really was in battle.

"Yeah... Sorry." He apologized. He looked down at his feet again, making no eye contact. I had wondered why he looks down so much, but then something told me to not say anything, so I didn't. Although I wondered what was going inside his head. He was mysterious, and hard to read. So I offered that we could look through some closets through multiple rooms of the spirits. He began to look unsure of the idea, yet he thought about it.

Finally we decided on a plan.

"Yeah that does sound like a good idea... We just need to avoid Utma." Satsu said. He looked out of the door and figured out on which rooms were the easiest to get inside. We would have to avoid and watch out spirits, for they if they ever caught us doing something that we weren't supposed to do, they would report us to Utma. Who knows what she would do... But Satsu said that she is very strict. She puts a lot of spells on things, so it makes it harder for Satsu to get to other places within the realm. We thought it out for a moment.

After a brief moment of always quietly thinking and feeling awkward, Satsu motioned me to come. We quietly slid open the door. The door was a thin paperweight. You had to slid it open to the right instead of opening it. It didn't have a knob but a slit to put your fingers through. He quietly slid the door open, and walked up the stairs. It was a long way up. The flooring was hard, but soft like straw. We finally reached to the opening where we smelled something that was cooking. Steam had come up through the head of the door, which made Satsu and I hungry. It seemed to be that it was a meal similar to Dim Sum or Sweet Buns. We could tell, because a large spirit who had a large tail and large eyes and snout, was working in a kitchen that was in front of the door of the basement. The spirit cooked, his vehemence and fierce outward countenance alarmed us both.He began his sudden discourse by shouting at the other spirits with powerful fervor and would work them to death if they failed to work any faster. The spirit looked like an elk, but swift like an eel. He also looked like a Ram, his large horns picked the ingredients up from inside the cabinet and placed them inside the dishes as if he worked on his own.

"Get working! Or else I will turn you into stool, and make a poisonous remedy for Utma. Work! Work! Work!!" He roared. Saliva spewed from the bottom of his jaw, and his tongue whipped back and forth. Satsu and I shivered as we walked past, ignoring that we had ever acknowledged a spirit like him.

There were multiple rooms. There were large ones; some had signs of names right above each door of the rooms. Again it was unreadable, but I could tell that each of the spirits had been assigned to their own rooms. Satsu grabbed my hand and pulled me into an open room where a spirit had walked out to go, get or do something.

"We have to hurry. Or else the spirit will eventually come back into his room, and we will get caught or have to hide and sneak out. Just hurry." He warned. We quickly looked all over to find a wardrobe. Satsu was beginning to look awful. Again his hair was a mess, and his eyes drooped and fatigued. I quickly scanned the room to find a wardrobe or anything of the sort, and alas! There it was, It was bold and wide. It was made out of agony wood, and it had also been painted on with golden paint it shimmered with the light. It also had dragons surrounding all around on the wardrobe, each lightly and carefully painted under plaster. Satsu and I opened the doors, our eyes widened at the sudden aspect. Here were too many clothes. Majority were not anywhere near his size but Satsu did not give up. He insisted on looking. One by one he would crawl through large robes, furry ones, and shawls that had thick threading that was tough against your skin. He was starting to pant, trying to hide his sudden disdain. I crawled inside, towards the other right side of within the wardrobe. My head bonked on a large hanger, and I looked up. It was the most beautiful Yukata I had ever seen. It was the lightest shade of ivory; it almost looked like it was made from some sort of master of threading. It had two slits on the shoulders, showing a dark blue undershirt right under. It looked as if it were made for Satsu.

"Satsu!" I called out. I was trying to get his attention, but he was still trying on clothes that didn't suit him. Until I tugged on his sleeve, he looked over alarmed.

"What?" He said. I pointed to the Yukata in the upright corner. It looked like it was glowing from inside the darkest corners within the wardrobe. He seemed pleased.

"That looks really good." He grimaced, looking up as if he found the outfit of a spirit god. I agreed, by slowly bobbing my head up and down. He crawled on top of the robes and other big outfits of the spirits, until we heard a loud bang from outside the wardrobe. Satsu jumped, turning his head over his shoulder. I shook, as a voice boomed from the outside.

"What do you mean you cannot help with the ceremony?" The voice was ear-splitting; like a screech. Satsu and I  listened with clear and uttermost coherence.

"I don't know why," another scared voice had tried to explain. He was gasping for air, finding words to explain why he wasn't doing what he had been assigned. It was low and ample. The other voice that had replied back sounded like a woman, and she sounded indignant each time the other voice tried to respond to relieve her empowerment.

"The master of the land will be here any moment! He is our emperor or, whichever it is he is called. And he's important. But you cannot help? Then why are you living under this roof? Why? I demand for an answer!" The wardrobe shook, causing some of the clothes within the wardrobe to violently shake as well as I leaned in on one, shaking both me and Satsu as we tried to cling on. I looked up at Satsu as the voices continued to boom and shake the room and the wardrobe. He looked at me as if he knew exactly who was talking. He knew exactly who it was.

"Utma." His lips parted and motioned the name at me. Chills swiveled all around my back and rammed up against my spine, and into my neck and all over. This was Utma, and something told me that I will know her for a very long time, and I may have to deal with her just like Satsu.

The voices continued to snap back at one another. Utma started to scream. I quickly crawled up to Satsu, and clanged on to him and I never wanted to let go. We slowly slide the robes over us so we couldn't be visible. On and on the voices went, until something scratched against the doors of the wardrobe. Someone had opened it. Light had come through the opening of the door. Satsu pulled the robe closer against us, shielding the both of us from light and from Utma or whoever had opened the wardrobe. A hand was going through one by one of the clothes, and they continued to talk back at one another. It was a grimy hand. Warts were all over the tips of his hands and everywhere. It was colored an unpleasant shade of green, almost like a disease waiting to be cured from within a swamp full of river people. Satsu whispered that it wasn't Utma, but it was just another spirit that was living here. Yet we were still warned.

"For the heavens and all of the spirit gods..." The voice of Utma had boomed again, and sounded raspy yet strongly feminine, " Do something. I need to feed my babies. And this ceremony is to celebrate for their occasion, and for me and for all of us. And the emperor may help with our funding so we can live! You stupid frog wart of a spirit. Oh god for the heavens and the highest powers of this land give me mercy... Oh goodness of all of the holiest beings woe is I. Bless thee spirits..." It sounded like she was trying to calm down herself but it didn't seem to be working. Satsu closed his eyes. He looked distressed. Utma continued to speak, but then the voice of the other spirit had added something to her say.

"But what about Satsu?" He asked nervously. Satsu looked up in surprise. Almost out of shock. Someone was saying something about him. He listened closely as his eyes widened, conveying a soul that was at complete unrest.

"What about him? He's growing up. And he's becoming old enough that he needs to help out. He cannot leave here without helping me... It's a burden not to!" Utma replied. Satsus eyes looked back down again. He looked stressed and his expression was becoming even more solemn. I felt like I had to do something. This was not right for Satsu to feel this way on his own.

"Put on your outfit," I whispered. Satsu looked up at me, again snapped back into reality from under his imaginary world filled of overbearing silence and sadness.

"What- Why? No!" Satsu called, but it was too late for him to catch my attention. I jumped out of the wardrobe and out into the scene.

Utma stood there, again talking to the spirit and standing right in front.  She looked at me in agitation.

"Who are you? No it cannot be. A human? How did you get here? Speak." Utma ordered. I breathed in and out slowly, trying to process the words within my head.

"I had been told to come to the spirit world. I had no choice." I explained, as Utma looked at me and had a sudden outburst of laughter. She was mocking me. I looked down at my feet, not listening to her tone of voice.

"A human coming into the spirit world? What a joke!" She cried. "You'll have to work here then. Work yourself until you possibly can't anymore! That's what we are here for after all. First you die and then you come into this world, and everyone works to find enlightenment. But what a show! My dear, you are not welcome here not only as a human, but as a peasant." Tears were dripping from her eyelids from laughing so hard. Satsu jumped out from the wardrobe and into the scene. He had become tired of Utma. Finally he was standing up for himself.

"Satsu?" Utma exclaimed. Satsu looks down at his feet, and then up at her.

"Utma, I cannot allow you to talk to her that way." He ordered. Utma gasped. Her eyelashes flapped as she looked at him intently. I could tell this was a big surprise. The spirit, the one who was being lashed out on by Utma looked like a Ram with wide eyes and had a goatee and also wore a workers hand me down robe. He was also in shock, and in complete surprise. Satsu scowled at his own birth mother.

"Satsu, you do realize she is a human?" She informed him. Satsu looked up, with a glistening of realization in his blue eyes. I was starting to doubt myself, but then Satsu proved all of us wrong.

"Yes I do." He went on, "But she's different. She came here for a reason. And that was to help us. All of us and I know. Because... She helped me." Satsu looked over at me, beamed a bit as I did too. Utma looked at the two of us and interrupted the moment.

"I can tell the two of you have a bond." Utma observed. Satsu looked up in revelation.  "Fine. She can stay. As long as she works with you, it is your duty to keep this roof over your heads until she proves herself worthy, and you prove me wrong." She proposed a deal. Satsus eyes widened again. I can tell that Utma was being completely and overly nice than what Satsu was used to. We both agreed.

"Fine then." Utma grabbed two wrist bracelets made with beads. One was light blue while the other was pink. Utma gave the blue one to Satsu, and gave me the pink one. They flashed, as they felt warm against our skin.

"With these I can track you. With Satsus I will know where your going, and with yours I can see how your are influencing my boy." Utma explained. But as she explained she noticed something. She thought for a moment and then looked up.

"Your name is Eyra, am I correct?" Utma asked. I looked down and then up and her. I never thought of sharing my name. I also didn't know it. Where I was from my mentor had never mentioned any names. This was all new to me, so I went along with it.

"Alright Eyra and Satsu. Look out for each other, and work hard or else you will be turned and made into soot." She coughed. She walked out. The spirit looked at us and asked us to leave. So we did, since it was his room after all. We lived downstairs, and that's where we went for the time being.