| “ | You'll come for me, Yae... I know you will... | „ |
| ~ Sae |
Sae Kurosawa is the main antagonist of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly. The twin sister of Yae Kurosawa, she was meant to be killed by her sister in the Crimson Sacrifice ritual, but they attempted to escape their fate, only for Sae to be sacrificed alone, plunging All God's Village into the Darkness and the evil of the Repentance. Sae is voiced by Kim Mai Guest in the English version.
Role in the game
Sacrifice
Daughters of the village elder, Ryokan Kurosawa, Yae and Sae were chosen by their father as the new Twin Shrine Maidens to take part in the Crimson Ritual, to create a new Crimson Butterfly in order to protect the village, Sae being the one meant to be sacrificed by her sister. The village was, at the time, being visited by a folklorist named Seijiro Makabe and his apprentice Ryozo Munakata, who wanted to perform studies on the rituals performed in the area, most noticeably the Hidden Ceremony. Yae is hinted to have developed a liking for Ryozo, while Sae was attracted to a fellow villager, Itsuki Tachibana, who sacrificed his own twin in the ritual, becoming a Remaining.
===Ritual failure===
Sae in the Great Hall of Kurosawa Manor, during the Repentance.
As Sae and Yae learned of their purpose, Yae grew frightened of it, while Sae accepted it calmly and willed it to come. While also learning Seijiro's incoming fate in the Hidden Ceremony (which uses outsiders as sacrifice), Yae warned him beforehand, having him send Ryozo away before the villagers got him as well. Itsuki heard of their attempt and helped the twins escape the village in the night, but stayed behind to distract the villagers. Along the way, Sae fell down a slope and hurt her leg, but Yae failed to notice it and kept going. The villagers eventually caught up with Sae and led her back into the village, where she vainly waited for Yae to return for her. While back in the village, she went to see Itsuki once more before the ritual date, at the Tachibana storehouse where he was being kept as punishment. All that Sae found was his dead body hanging from a noose, having committed suicide to escape more bitter punishments.
Getting desperate after the Hidden Ceremony calmed the Hellish Abyss too little, Ryokan decided to carry out the Crimson Sacrifice with Sae alone, having the Veiled Priests hang her before the abyss. This only served to break the seal, causing a flood of darkness to spill, the now-corrupt spirit of Sae emerging from the abyss along with the Kusabi form of Makabe's spirit, laughing evily as they went on a killing spree throughout the village, leaving no survivors behind in the Repentance, also erasing the village from the map.
After some time, Yae did return for Sae, in hopes of seeing her again, but all she encountered when she returned was a large empty area.
Crimson Butterfly
Years later, the Amakura twins Mio and Mayu stumble upon All God's Village, trapping themselves inside due to the curse laid upon it after the failed ritual. As they wandered, Sae's spirit possessed Mayu, leading Mio throughout the village and calling her "Yae", having her see the story of the village and fighting the spirits trapped in it with the aid of Makabe's Camera Obscura which she found at the Osaka House. As she chases Mayu, Mio has some encounters with Sae herself, one of which that happens in the Tachibana house nearly killing her, as the crazed woman chases her through the halls after disarming her from the Camera, which Mio later recovers. After reuniting with Mayu, the Amakura Twins attempt to escape through a secret passage, but Mayu ends up captured by the spirits of the villagers, Sae leading her further inside the Kurosawa Manor and into the Hellish Abyss.
Mio chases her into the manor and defeats the spirit of Ryokan Kurosawa, following Mayu into the ceremony altar, and finally into the Abyss, where the final battle occurs. Depending on the difficulty level, the ending and final boss varies.
Normal Ending
Mio defeats the Kusabi and meets Mayu, possessed by Sae, in the Hellish Abyss. The strong influence of the Kurosawa Twins makes her sacrifice her own sister in the ritual, which calms the abyss and releases the spirits from their torment, at the cost of Mayu's life, her spirit becoming a butterfly which flies away. This ending is carried into the third game as the canon ending.
Hellish Abyss Ending
Mio defeats the Kusabi and meets Mayu, possessed by Sae, in the Hellish Abyss. Sae surfaces and attacks Mio straightly, fully corrupted, but Mio frees Mayu from her influence, casting Sae into the Abyss and saving her sister at the cost of her vision as she looks into the Abyss.
Personality
Before death, Sae was quiet and reserved, and after learning of her fate, she was very accepting and even willing of it, wishing to be part of it as her own interpretation of making part of something big. After the failure of her ritual, Sae became crazed and corrupt, laughing in madness as she killed all in her way, and corrupting the village as she walked through it. Sae is one of the most notorious villains in the series for becoming completely insane and crazy after her corruption, unlike the other antagonist maidens who become emotionless and quiet.