Special Grades and the Commissioners of Ginza
RENDER PART 1
Author's Note:
Another loooooong chapter done! Again, sorry but not really lol.
Had a blast and a bit of a challenge writing this one, not gonna lie but it's really worth it.
THANK YOU TO elz on twitter: /ellies_art_
For this chapter's artwork!
I can't express how happy I was when she accepted my comm and voila, we have Sachiko, Suguru and Satoru inside a gallery looking all glam! I gotta say a lot of the details here were from the artist's suggestion like the background. I felt like she read my mind seriously.
The chapter title "RENDER," came from the term that artists use to create finishing touches on an artpiece.
Many easter eggs too! Notice the items they each hold hehe.
Hope you guys enjoy!
Summary:
Sachiko and Satoru successfully infiltrate the Scrybe's club and begins searching for Suguru.
Suguru finally escapes from the time-lapse domain and assists Jan in rescuing his mother.
The three momentarily reunite in the infinite staircase but end up opening three different doors to three different seers.
Saya, the future seer.
Jinx, the present seer.
Tsukasa, the past seer.
Three former sorcerers trapped by the Scrybe recruited to give the three special grades very important and life-altering tests.
1 Week Ago, Divination Room
Suguru's disguise wasn't as exemplary as his other two friends. He wasn't gifted with any glamours, so he had to make do with the ensemble that Mei-mei had picked out for him. His name didn't bear the same weight as the other special grades as he did not belong to a large clan, however, his cursed technique and experience with countless high-profile missions allowed him to make a name for himself.
Still, he was just a faceless sorcerer to most.
He came into the mission bearing nothing but the desire to distract himself from the previous conversation he had with Yuki Tsukomo. It didn't make much difference though.
Despite spending majority of the time evading his friends, he had missed them especially now that he was left to go on a solo mission. The tactless ventures of mingling wasn't to his liking.
He caught his reflection on one of the glass windows he walked past, a few blocks away from the club.
Suguru donned a red, flashy bomber jacket which he wore over his crisp white button down shirt and cut-out dark-denim jeans. He fixed his hair in a half-bun, allowing his signature medium-length side-bang hang on the side of his face. Nothing else looked like stuff he would wear daily like the questionable brogues and expensive watch he tucked under the sleeve of his jacket. He did retain the pair of ear plugs he asked Sachiko to pick when they were at the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It was an energy dampener much like Sachiko's broken porcelain mask turned ear-cuff. An accessory made handy for moments where they needed a disguise.
Those earrings-
It gave him a sense of comfort as he recalled that Sachiko was fond of pulling on his lobes whenever she would kid around. That thought allowed him to feel less lonely on this mission. Still, he dragged his legs to continue walking towards the infamous club where curse users were already making their entrance.
A sea of strangers making him jerk forward with much apprehension.
And yet no extra voices crowed behind him to encourage his tread.
Maybe I should've asked them to come.
Either way, he was already past the first stage, there was no time to ask for help.
There were six differently colored telephone booths that were arranged in a circle inside the Divination room. Suguru was ushered inside the purple one where he hurriedly opened the glass door. The booth wasn't as spacious as he had expected. At most, it could fit two people comfortably. Looking around the old school contraption, before him was a coin-slot that operated the phone. He took out the silver coin inside his pocket. It weighed heavily as it lit up with cursed energy, connecting its aura with the cursed objects inside the room.
The Scrybe's voice had given them instructions prior to their entry, once they enter the booth, they cannot exit until the game was over. Elimination would occur during the game.
According to the Scrybe, the game was called, Sato-san, based off the old urban legend about a know-it-all boy you can summon to ask some questions. The name of the spirit made him snort inwardly. It was no mistake that the other Sato-san in his life had the same accurate description.
The game was rather simple. Drop the coin, call on the spirit, ask a question, don't look back and wait for the spirit to give an answer.
If you break any rules, you'll get eliminated.
Suguru was well versed in cursed-games as a large fraction of it required cursed spirit manipulation. He never really thought that he'd end playing in one.
"Well then, I better get started," Suguru pushed the silver coin in the slot and dialed in his number and chanted,
"Sato-san, Sato-san, are you here? Please answer me,"
The phone rang 20 seconds later making a rather unmotivated Suguru heave sigh as he lifted the phone to his ear where he was met with a crackling noise from the other side of the line. The next instruction was to hang-up and wait for the spirit to make its presence known. Problem was, the Scrybe had told them that only the spirit can decide if they were worthy enough to meet it.
How convenient.
Suguru was becoming a little impatient. He already heard a few glass doors opening and closing which either meant that the others had already passed or some of them were already eliminated. At least two times, he heard screams and a questionably loud thud making him reflexively jut towards the door but only taking a few seconds to hold back since the game had already started.
Finally, the phone began to ring. He aligned it once more in his ear and heard the static transform into a small but breathy voice of a boy.
"I am here,"
Suguru's lilac eyes shifted from the phone to the extra shadow that formed beneath his feet. The entity had finally made itself known to him enough to lift some hairs on his spine as its cursed energy registered heavily behind him.
Don't look back, he reminded himself. It was an important rule. A rule that would make or break his entry into the club. Sato-san may look like a feeble spirit but it was very dangerous.
"You are a curious player," the boy's cackle echoed through the small cubicle making Getou's face contort, "What question do you have for me today?"
Suguru respired and asked monotonously, "I would like to know if I can succeed in this mission,"
The child-like spirit hopped up and down as it clapped, "You're going to have to be more specific!" he sung.
"Alright then, can the Scrybe be defeated?"
Suguru couldn't see the face of Sato-san, but his sinister presence was enough to affirm that he leered over his back maliciously.
"Anyone can be defeated!" The spirit exclaimed.
Suguru lifted his head and relaxed his jaw. Sato-san wasn't a liar, "Good to know then," he was about to return the phone on the stand when Sato-san took a step forward, making Suguru tense at the sudden movement.
"My turn!" His small, eager voice circulated in between his shifting.
The rules didn't involve the spirit asking participants a question. All they needed was to wait for the spirit to give them a signal to leave but the spirit seemed to be breaking its own rules making Getou double back and think of a way he could effectively protect himself in case it would attack.
"What question would that be?"
Suguru felt Sato's presence breach his personal space. Sato wasn't just an average cursed spirit. It was deviating from the game purposefully as if he knew who Suguru was.
I need to be careful. This might be a trap after all.
A cold sensation found itself bruising the side of his nape as the cursed spirit leaned to question, "What is more important? Purpose? Or Alliances?"
This spirit has some nerve.
It was an irrefutable fact that Suguru had been contemplating on similar concepts.
Honestly, he didn't know if there were actually correct answers to his question.
To prioritize one's motives over one's alliances. Would one really outweigh the other?
To achieve a means to an end alone?
Or to be surrounded by comrades in an empty space?
To choose between two necessities, would one ever achieve true victory without the other?
Don't be ridiculous.
The Star Plasma Religious group had a large following but had a crooked motive, it wasn't that different with sorcerers, a seemingly solid purpose yet a flawed following-equally blemished in their machinations. It was proof that having misalignments would turn fruitless.
Suguru was growing tired of the mind games especially since the damn spirit was triggering various spaces in his mind that didn't warrant any immediate awakening. There was anger building up in his core, his muscles tightened at his jaw as he prepared to reply. Still, the intensity of the phrase made him perk up into alarm. The taunting was obviously designed for him to break the rules. This spirit could read through his depths, and it was enough to urge Suguru to turn things around, "Both," he resigned confidently.
"Both, that's my answer," he reiterated.
Sato hissed at his bland remark. He expected-no-obliged him to choose. He grew restless at Suguru's defiance that his whole aura filled up the booth, placing it in complete darkness thus eliminating the shadow that identified his position.
Suguru seemed undisturbed at the hostility growing. He merely returned the phone on its stand and crossed his arms as he waited for the spirit to disappear. But the spirit had other plans. It hated those who wouldn't answer him properly. The spirit of the boy transformed into a magnified version of a man with talons for limbs. Its dark eyes boring holes in Suguru's head through its delirious stare and its crooked mouth extending to its ears and widening as it aligned its slobbering teeth on Getou's neck.
"That is…incorrect!" it yelled.
The boy with long hair lifted the side of his mouth, "Huh, so this is what happens when you get eliminated," he gathered his own cursed energy into an orb in his palms and as soon as he heard the cursed spirit draw near enough, he turned, breaking the most important rule of the game to pierce through the spirit's chest with his blue-blaze cloaked arm, twisting it with his cursed energy until it got sucked in his orb.
Sato's screeches were muffled by the sealing that Suguru effortlessly orchestrated, the presence of the black sphere in his palm made him curve his mouth sidewards wider, "Sorry but, if you're not gonna give me a pass, I'll just have to be creative,"
Taking a deep breath before hyperextending his neck, Suguru opened his mouth and allowed the dark marble-like object to slip down his throat. His eyes screwed shut as he gulped down the last of its essence, "That was fucking disgusting," he said in between teeth, reverberations of the spreading curse pricking his insides like it was on fire.
The glass door unhinged on its own, granting Suguru a pass that he poised himself to stand. As soon as his feet left the booth, it disappeared along with the others, revealing a gruesome display of blood and muck in the shape of where a person should be. Suguru squinted his eyes as he scanned the rest of the room. It smelled like rotting flesh mixed with a freshly opened bottle of merlot, gin glasses lie on the floor like scattered frost.
"What the hell?" Suguru remained vigilant. Eliminating the game master may have caused him more trouble than he had expected. Initially, he thought that by doing so, he could spare some of the players from the consequences of failure only to end up in an empty room as the sole survivor.
Suguru gritted his teeth as he summoned back Sato's spirit in its true form, "What happened?"
The cursed spirit merely snarled and shook its talon-clad shoulders, "They answered incorrectly!"
"And the kid? The one who guarded the door?" Suguru couldn't find any trace of Jan, the boy who had given him valuable tips about the club. He promised that he'd help liberate him and his mother after he deals with the Scrybe, problem was, he was standing right beside the man he promised to eliminate.
The cursed spirit stood beside the young manipulator as the tattooed man made his entrance on the northmost side of the divination room. Jan's azure eyes lost its shine as he dawdled behind the Scrybe like a wagon being dragged by a horse.
Suguru's move to capture the spirit was meant to provoke the Scrybe. It was the fastest way to summon him, and it worked. What he did fail to consider was the kid's safety.
Shit. I went a little too rash on this one.
"Well, well, it seems like we found someone actually worthy of not just my seers but me," Saijo crooked a brow as he did Suguru a one-over, "I knew I sensed something different from you but I have to say, I didn't expect you to steal one of my treasured pets," he lifted his forearm and pointed towards the black space on the dorsal side near his elbow where a black smoke lifted from the outline where the image of Sato-san was inked.
"This is blatant disrespect in my house, little Jujutsu student," his crow-like eyes that looked like freshly cut onyxes zoomed in on Suguru. The Scrybe hated those that did not conform to his rules and the fact that a teenage sorcerer posed as a threat was unacceptable but knowing how much use he could get out him, he decided to ask one more question.
Suguru already changed his stance, two of his serpentine curses poised at his side, bracing for the fight that was impending however, the Scrybe just crossed his arms and tilted his head back, "You told my little helper," he gestured towards a spellbound Jan, "That you could summon the curses that you sketch, but in reality, I see no parchment or lead in your hands. All you had to do was will it and they came. I guess, you're braver than expected,"
Suguru derided, "You already know who I am so, let's not waste any more time shall we?"
"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure Jan here will make your stay very memorable," the Scrybe stared down at Suguru like he was a piece of meat. His tongue wet his lips in anxious anticipation as soon as Suguru showed him a glimpse of his cursed technique activating.
Suguru took a step forward, but the Scrybe closed in on his distance from the boy beside him.
"Right, boy?" The Scrybe lifted his hand to which Jan mimicked, he directed his cursed energy towards Suguru with muted eyes making him grasp the hand that etched the blue star that Jan stealthily placed. He felt needles pierce his skin over the outline like hard and sharp nails digging through each section, pain increasing by the second as he fell on one knee.
Suguru exhaled noisily through his pursed lips and ordered two of his serpentine captures to appear, their presence sending a signal to the Scrybe that he was going on the offensive.
"Kid! Wake-up!" Suguru forced himself to keep his eyes open and with a swift movement of his hand, he directed his curses towards the tattooed man for a clean attack. Suguru gasped and moved his hand away. Jan stood in between the beasts and the Scrybe that he had no choice but to dismiss his pets.
Without wasting anymore time, he kicked himself off his stance and began to run towards the Scrybe amid the searing pain of the star-imprint boring into his skin. He attempted to land a soft blow towards the kid just so he would break from his trance but as the curator of the club had anticipated, this decision led to his capture.
As his fist was fast approaching the Scrybe's face, his hand entered a void, bringing the rest of his body forward into the curse-filled bubble blocking all of his senses as he fell into a pit.
Quick to strategize a way for him to land safely, he released the cloud-like yokai to cushion his fall but even then, he was greeted by nothing but darkness and an unsettling soundless room that reeked of sealing runes. His eyes narrowed at the overwhelming glare of the objects inside the room. Around him were melted images of oversized pocket watches, a broken tree with a singular branch and a landscape of an unknown terrain where a round table stood in the middle.
Another domain? Shit, I got sucked in.
He dispelled his yokai as soon as he reached a safe distance to disembark. He walked around the poorly lit room until his attention was caught by the gold sheen of the knob of a door from a distance. He kept running towards the exit, but his vantage point became distorted each time he drew near that each step seemed pointless.
Frustration was clouding his reason as he continued to scan his options and a was only given a short reprieve upon catching sight of the kid with the grey hair who appeared beside him out of nowhere.
Suguru began monitoring the face of the object of sympathy that he couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut before he spoke, "Jan, where am I?" he did his best not to sound commanding but the longer he tried to remain as a player in their game, the less chances he had at success.
"I'm sorry Getou-san, but if I don't do this, they'll kill my mother…" he spoke through moistened eyes. The bluntness of his statement only made Suguru more motivated to hasten his escape.
"Then, help me get out of here kid,"
Jan's arms were slowly being ensleeved by a blue haze as he turned towards Suguru, "I'm sorry Getou-san,"
Suguru swerved in an attempt to deflect Jan's cursed energy but in the next breath, the blue star tattoo on his hand began carving itself making him fall forward. As he lifted his head, he found himself suddenly sitting in front of a round table. He tried to turn his neck to find the boy who trapped him, but all of his weight began pooling down unto his feet that every single movement away from the centerpiece, he found himself squirming in pain.
He barred his teeth, shooting Jan an angered look that made the light in his lilac eyes disappear, "You have to stop this kid or else I'll have no choice but to-" there was an audible snap from a finger that instantly made Suguru's mind drift into a stupor.
Even if Jan was the same person who activated the illusion, he felt the utter horror of how he was pushing Suguru into madness as he went into the trance of the time lapse.
For a few minutes, the cursed spirit manipulator's consciousness remained intact, but control of his body remained moot.
He witnessed his hands on the table moving, felt his fingers measure the canvass and the other meticulously carve lines with his charcoal on the blank sheets before him, the aching of his arched back and the itch from his dry eyes continued to overwhelm and give him discomfort and yet there was nothing he could do but watch himself drown in his own misery.
Suguru couldn't decipher between the now and then. Each time he blinked his eyes, he would be presented with a different work in progress. The finished ones, some framed, some remained scattered with him not having any recollection of the time he started and the moment he felt that he was done with his work.
Page after page.
Stroke after stroke.
Picking out hues, quite unsure of how it relates to the theme of his current commission.
There were times when he would drift in and out of a pseudo slumber, remembering fragments of what he drew.
He saw blurred images of different creatures, ones he had added to his own personal gallery of curses. Then, there were images of his daily nightmares-the grim smile of a man with the lip scar, the faceless crowd of applauding worshippers then, the crimson layer that colored a young girl's lifeless body and a broken woman in a maid's attire, crossed at their faces, plaguing each blink and breath with different versions of the murder.
He was putting on display his most subconscious thoughts. The buried anger, frustration and self-contempt configuring itself with each rough line and uneven blending that he began to develop splinters as he mindlessly floated through each image.
Still, despite the horrid reminder.
He felt nothing.
Maybe it was the time-lapse domain compelling him to remain cooped up in his own negative state but what else was he supposed to do?
I guess, this isn't that bad…at least here…I don't have to worry about anything…I can just let go…
After all, its darker outside. It's more complicated. Though, it's funny 'cause I also feel hollow.
Maybe, it's a good thing, me being stuck here.
I feel more at peace now than I did a few months ago.
All of the events inside the time lapse were made visible to the Seers, after all, they have co-created the prison. They would check in on him daily, take turns to examine his output, find clues as to which pattern, he was creating, trying to understand what was it that he wanted to say with his drawings only to find themselves a little more disturbed by the yins and yangs he portrayed.
The Seers were only allowed to make sure that Suguru got enough nourishment and breaks but he was always made oblivious to what has happening around him. The Scrybe told them that it wasn't smart to just dispose of the cursed-spirit manipulator without making sure that there weren't any big consequences.
Besides, he hated the thought of wasting his talent, but he never dared to ink him in a state of in between.
So, daily, they just watched and waited for him to come to on his own.
Jan spent a lot of his down time sitting beside his almost savior. Tidying the room and collecting all of his sketches in a binder until he couldn't catch-up anymore. Sometimes, he would try and talk to him, but he would only be met by a pale shade of purple looking back at him. There were days where Suguru would randomly and aggressively rip his outputs and disassemble the table which Jan thought was a sign that he was breaking the spell on his own.
In reality, it was just his mere instinct to act out whenever he would project unpleasant images he'd soon forget about.
Suguru was incredibly intimidating whenever he would lash out. The benevolence in his eyes would be so lost that Jan didn't even attempt to come near him. Even on days he waited for Suguru to calm down, he couldn't help but burry the guilt that was forcing him to wake him up from his trance at the expense of his mother.
In reality, it was also eating him up inside but as the Seers had advised, he did nothing but watch.
The young illusionist's remorse overrode his desire to run away and leave everything behind. Suguru had offered him help and yet he enchained him. Still, even if the choices were limited, he promised himself that until the day comes that he breaks free, he wouldn't leave his new friend behind.
On one of the rare occasions that he caught Suguru smiling in the trance, he would be observed to take his time with his sketches. The meticulous choices of medium, color and the careful use of technique were very different from his other work.
Jan would often marvel at his talent-the way he drew their faces, the details on each expression, the background that condensed a clean scenario almost made it seem like it was alive.
There were different subjects which he assumed were very precious people to Suguru.
A middle-aged looking couple in yukatas, presumably his parents, then, there were a few people in school uniforms he liked to draw over and over again. Two females and one male with the same shiny, golden button that looked like vortices. He liked drawing them in different places, mostly in what looked like a school campus, and he would always insert himself at some distance looking over them, cheerful and content.
He drew different versions of them in very memorable places that Jan felt like he was beginning to get to know them as well.
They're his friends.
During times where he felt lonely, Suguru would do portraits of Satoru and him playing games or sparring, he and Shouko smoking or eating but there was this one frame where he just drew the girl with the long hair in a solo portrait.
She was always smiling; her eyes were always colored a bright red, and she had curious markings on her skin. When he drew her hair braided hair, it was always tied in a violet lace ribbon. Despite the minor variations, it was always the most detailed subject he drew. Suguru would often stop and just trace over with his dirtied fingers the face before him, looking at her with longing eyes, seemingly looking for a connection.
I wonder who she is. He looks so broken, maybe its someone he loved?
Jan watched as he lifted the portrait of hers and just placed it on a corner where he stacked his other work then with the next sigh, the light that his eyes sparked during the previous loop left him.
What have I done? I took away his freedom. I took him away from his family and friends! I'm no better than the Scrybe.
Jan felt a hand on his shoulder tighten, making him widen the gaps on his fingers where he buried his face to view his unexpected intruder. He hoped that it was Suguru, finally awake from his abstraction but instead he was greeted by three significant entities.
"Jan," the oldest and most experienced of the Seers, Jinx, gestured for him to stand. Her almond eyes looked affectionately at him and the boy in the loop. The other two seers bore the same expression, the same quiet remorse they held on to for years as a pawn in the Scrybe's game.
Jan wiped his tear-filled eyes and took one last look at Suguru before closing the door. Suguru looked like a living nightmare that his heart sunk at the fact that it would only get worse as time passed by. It took all of his remaining energy to leave and follow the Seers to the divination room. On their way there, they spoke no words to him, partially because the hallway was filled with inanimate eyes and ears that the Scrybe had placed but the Seers didn't really fear them anymore. It was more like they preferred to keep their silence until they reached a safe space for Jan.
Jinx, the slim woman with the short black hair adjusted her red shawl over her shoulders before lifting the flowy dress she donned as she stepped on the area where her half-painted piece was. She raised her hand to signal Jan to approach.
The other two Seers were already busy on their sides so he hurried to Jinx's corner, "What can I do for you Miss?"
Jan was quite terrified of the Seers even if they did treat him kindly. He knew how powerful they were, so he never interfered with their work. It would be the first time that they called him to join them and though quite uneasy with how they maneuvered around him, he didn't have enough courage to excuse himself.
Jinx gave him a small smile, "We'd like to ask you for a commission,"
Jan's brows shot up, "Me? But I'm just-"
Tsukasa's long painted fingers drummed on the table lazily, "You're just a kid, we know Jan, but we also know that you're not ordinary,"
Jan folded his lips before he answered. Compared to them, he was a newbie and none of their styles fit his, still, he developed a curiosity as to how they used their artistic skills with their Jujutsu and so, he nodded, "What do you want me to?"
Saya raked his smokey green hair which he tucked behind his pierced ears and looked over his shoulder, "Calligraphy," he didn't sound as ecstatic as Jinx and merely pointed towards the brushes and ink.
Jinx led him towards the table and gave him instructions regarding what he was tasked to write. As soon as he dipped the brush on the blank ink, the Seers' faces changed into a calmer, more hopeful expression making Jan release some inhibitions he developed when he was inside the time lapse,
"We already have our references here but it's up to us to make it into our own. Watch," her hands floated over the wooden circular table, "Pentimento," the table unvarnished itself into its raw elements, just as the Kokkuri board's paint stripped itself and carved on the table, the brush and paint on Jan's hands covered itself with a mixture of his and Jinx's cursed energy that as soon as the elements lay flat, they began their work.
The other two Seers were busy outlining a circle with a wide array of radii on the floor gave him encouraging airs.
Jan smiled.
Are they cheering me up? I think they are.
I guess, misery loves company, then I'm glad, I can find some here.
Jan felt something inside him charge back-up, something he had lost from weeks of slavery-hope.
That's right. It's too soon to give up. I can't just be a frozen artifact in this museum. I owe it to my mother and to Getou-san to keep on moving.
While things seemed to take a slow turn at the club, Jan's fate would soon speed through after witnessing two pairs of strange eyes save him from self-destruction.
Present Day, Dali's Time Lapse
Tsukasa's mismatched eyes cautiously shifted towards the two younger ones. Inside of the Seer though, a little bit of faith and even excitement began to grow,
"Before anything else, I'll leave the task of ensuring his mother's safety to you. With our chains, there's not much we can do for her," their beady heterochromatic eyes fluttered wide under their hooked brow, "I'll take your place here in the time lapse. Just make sure you finish the task quickly. Think you can handle that?"
"Of course," he stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles before turning to Jan to lead the way. Suguru finally felt more like himself in quite a while. This is what he came for and he will not leave until he finds satisfaction in the mission he was sent to finish.
As they approached the hallway where Jan's mother was kept captive, he took the initiative and apologized to Suguru for tricking him into captivity. Suguru reassured Jan that it wasn't his fault and he understood that he didn't have a choice for that matter.
"I'm actually thankful to you for bringing me this far and bringing my friends with you,"
Jan gave him a small smile, "I wasn't sure if they'd believe me but they were so worried about you,"
Suguru gave him a broad grin, "That's kind of a bad habit of ours, worrying about each other,"
At least none of us has changed in the past, week, was it?
"They really want to see you. Once my mom is okay, I'll make sure that you'll reunite with them,"
"Deal,"
"There!" Jan pointed towards another red-curtained door where tassels hung low. When they entered the cinema, the film was already rolling, showing a scene on loop of a woman trapped in a tower, being howled on by a beast sitting in front of the exit and every time she was able to run past it, she'd find herself back at the starting line.
"That's my mom Getou-san. She's inside the reel, I tried everything with my technique, but nothing worked," he said, despondent.
Suguru examined the film reel that reeked of a thick cloud of cursed energy, it didn't look like a cursed object. When he squinted his eyes, he finally caught sight of the true form of the reel-it was a in fact a curse itself. Grabbing the long table forcibly, he swiftly destroyed the item with his curse-clad hands, allowing Jan's mother to free herself from the film. The wolf-life creature that guarded her though also appeared before them making Jan reflexively stand in between his mother and the beast. Suguru though was already one step ahead as he sent the Nogitsune he captured to bite the wolf's head off before it could catch up to the two, effectively destroying the curse.
"Are you alright?" he asked Jan and his mother who gave him a shaken nod.
"Yes, thank you…" she uttered.
Jan hugged his mother tight before helping her up, his face finally brought out a healthy color on his skin which made Getou relax a little, "Thank you, Getou-san,"
Suguru escorted Jan and mother back to the Time lapse room so that Tsukasa could keep an eye on them. Jan drew him a key to the viewing room so he could confirm the safety of his fiends but also tells him that once he leaves the viewing room, he'd have to go through the illusion he drew in order for them to reunite.
Suguru was given access to oversee the club, it was probably where the Scrybe liked to scout his prospects but even with the clear glass, it was hard to spot his two friends from the very crowded room.
But then, something shiny and blue caught his attention. The gem that refracted a prism of color as it danced under the bright lights made Getou dart his attention on the source. His lilac eyes dilated at the figure who owned the earrings that was followed by small crack from his lips. He had to look closely to make sure that it was her but with the way her long raven hair was colored-a mixture of silver in between-and the way she curved her lips when she greeted someone, he knew, it was her.
She always had this power over him, the simplest of things would make him so unguarded that it felt like he was back in the loop. He wanted to send her some sort of signal to make her look up but of course, Six-eyes was already on the move.
Gojo whistled which made Suguru turn to the white-haired boy at his periphery. He scoffed as Gojo tilted his head towards Sachiko's direction making it known that he tried to say take a picture, it'll last longer with his gesture. Gojo waved at her and pursed his lips forward to slyly tell her to look-up. Her newly colored eyes fluttered open as she searched through Suguru's tired, baggy ones. Her painted lips slightly opened as she mouthed hey which was enough to make his heart thump for a split second before he they broke their stares.
Gojo was relieved that his best friend, despite his roughed-up appearance, was fine. Days of muteness from the cursed-spirit manipulator's end made him and his friends very anxious. And the girl he was seeing was right-he missed his brother and if he was being honest, he was worried that he was becoming distant that it even scared him a little that he might be going through something grave.
Gotta probe on that when we get back.
Suguru was always a good friend to him, and it felt unfair that he was being neglected even as he felt a little apprehensive about the other thing, he had to break gently to him. For now, all he had to do was concentrate on getting out of the Scrybe's club.
Suguru pointed towards their rendezvous area and waited for the two to affirm his message. He left the balcony and went straight to the back room as Jan had instructed. Suguru recovered the rakugaki of an illusion staircase and plastered it on the door. Making a quick but careful sweep with his eyes for any of the Scrybe's allies, as soon as he was on the clear he opened the door and took his first step inside the illusion.
The next to enter was Satoru and the last was Sachiko. They didn't really know what to expect but as soon as they were made visible to each other, they found themselves floating on different sides of the staircase.
It was similar to how MC Escher's Ascending and Descending painting was designed.
They always tried to meet half-way but ended up on different corners further away from each other. Suguru shook his head slightly and pointed towards the doors in front of them. They all exchanged glances and nodded as their hands reached for the knob and with one turn, the door had cracked open, a very bright light absorbing every inch of the form as they settled in to three very different galleries, confronting three very different people.
Gallery of Today
Satoru entered a wide room that chimed as his hands curtained through the bells that decorated her low hanging ceiling. The whole gallery was filled with neatly framed Degas like artwork and at the center he found a slim looking woman, presumably in her thirties, looking at him with curious eyes. Gojo reluctantly approached, keeping focus on the Seer with the almond shaped eyes and pitch-black shoulder-length hair. She looked like a painting herself, one of those portraits drawn in Museums.
The boy with the six-eyes was able to decipher the odd pattern of her cursed energy as it scattered around the room but he waited for her to speak.
As if she was reading his mind, the Seer took a step forward, "Welcome to my gallery, Gojo Satoru,"
"You know me Ms. Seer?"
She held her head high and grimaced, "Of course, it is my prime duty to stay updated, after all, I am the Seer of the Present, Jinx,"
Satoru snorted and dug his hands inside his jacket pockets, "Jinx? Cool name,"
She giggled, "Thank you, won't you take a seat?"
Satoru lifted his shoulders and accepted her offer. She didn't seem threatening, but the potential was there. He was able to detect the Scrybe's seals on her wrists right away so if she showed any hostility towards him, he'd know why. Still, she seemed rather calm for a person under detention, "So, Jinx-san, what am I doing here? I'm kind of in a tight schedule you see,"
"I am quite aware dear, unfortunately, if you wish to meet the Scrybe-" her smile grew as she crossed her arms.
"I'm gonna have to defeat the mini-bosses first?" he interrupted.
She gave him two thoughtful nods, "Something of the sort. Not to worry, my test is rather simple," Jinx lifted her right index finger and grinned, "It only has one question,"
The six-eyes wielder slumped back on his chair and fixed his glasses, "I dunno, I'm not too comfortable with people pryin' on my life if I don't know them,"
"I see, then how should we remedy this?"
He crooked a brow and decided to challenge the Seer, "I'd like to know who you really are? Heck, not even sure if whatever you'll scry is just some trick,"
Jinx let her fingers dance on the table as she shifted her tone into a more solemn one, "I assure you; my clairvoyance is a hundred percent authentic and my own. The Scrybe holds no responsibility in whatever I read from you,"
She assessed Gojo's rather astute glare and heaved, "Still, I guess it's only fair that I tell you my story,"
The purpose of his questioning was meant for him to gauge how strong her cursed energy would register and by narrating her story, she would be able to overcome a part of her restriction. Satoru became critical of his surroundings, as the atmosphere around him changed every time Jinx changed her position around the table.
This Seer is changing the ambience of the room that suits her mood. I wonder if this is part of her technique.
Satoru smoothened his temple as he listened in, giving Jinx the go-signal to proceed with her story,
"I was the first Seer Saijo captured. At that time, I didn't even know that seers existed nor did the concept of Jujutsu had any meaning to me. I had to learn about it the hard way," She wrinkled her nose, "I was just a painting restorationist 20 or so years ago,"
Gojo blinked rapidly as he observed more closely. She didn't look like a 50-year-old woman making him conclude that what they looked like when they were captured would be the last form they took. Still, the fact that Jinx looked glitchy in some movements also strengthened the thought that her physical body may be gone.
"I had a stable job and I even had, for a lack of a better term, a cult following for my work outside of the museum. They called me Monet's incarnate," she sniggered as she reminisced on her glory days,
"At that time, I thought I was unstoppable. I had support from my boss and my fiancé to kick start my career, but I didn't want my career to invade my private life," her expression mocked of the joy she wanted to feel but she continued, "So I decided to use a pseudonym and what better to name myself than center on the premise of luck?"
"Jinx," Satoru quipped, part of him amused at her clever play of alias.
Jinx smirked and placed one hand on her waist, "That's right. I always told myself that I would always be grateful for my blessings in life but I would never greet them so they would all come true. I didn't have it easy at first you see. I had to work really hard,"
"How does Saijo play a part in this?"
She gave an exasperated groan as she shut her eyes before speaking, "Greed," she enunciated, "I got greedy. It's something the three of us Seers are guilty of,"
"He bought you off?" he was genuinely curious. If she wasn't adept to sorcery before, it was hard to connect her to the Scrybe.
Jinx's mouth dropped as she looked at the distance as if her memories were physically thrown in that direction and locked away without a key to open it. She looked very down making Gojo a little hesitant to push her into continuing her story, but she did anyway,
"If only it were that simple. You see, I got caught at the height of it all. Saijo was looking for someone to paint a photo of his wife and looked for me. When I met him, he seemed like a decent fellow, and he even paid for deposits and all. When we talked on the phone, I didn't get any hint that there was something strange about him, so I agreed to deliver the finished piece myself. That's when I made the biggest mistake of entering his house. I already felt it, in my gut, that I had to get out but there was something pulling me back,"
"When I finally met him in person, I asked if I could also meet his wife, but he said that she wasn't feeling well. When I left his place and turned on the news, his face was all over it. He was being hunted for murder. Of course, I did the next best thing and called my fiancé, packed my bags, and left. But my last living memory was standing on the platform on the train station, next thing I knew, I was being transported into this place…"
Living memory. Those words hit him like an avalanche that his cyan eyes grew wide behind his shades, his mouth creased open at the confirmation that Jinx was no longer presently human.
His fingers clamped over his mouth to hide his expression, but he couldn't help but probe further, "Did he know that you were a sorcerer? Why was he so interested in you? I mean, no offense, but the logical thing would've been to get rid of you and yet he kept you alive. Why?"
"He saw remnants of my cursed energy in the commission I made for him allowing him to trace me. Then he made me draw on his skin. He barked the basics of tattoo illustration and made me use his tools. During the process he told me that I was a sorcerer and with my skill, I could keep his wife alive and when I asked him how I was going to do that, he just made me continue painting a skull on his back of course he only made the stark revelation that the ink I was using came from his wife's blood and bones when I was done,"
Gojo's hand smacked the topside of the table making Jinx leer towards his horrified face.
Jinx's eyes flocked down to her tired hands, "I wanted to run but the Scrybe made sure that I would finish his commission or else he'd kill my fiancé. You see, he knew about my technique well before I admitted that I had a skill that made my restorations easy. I didn't know that it was jujutsu, but I was aware that I had a special skill. It's called open time, I can sort of unfreeze a still moment whether it was a painting, a photo, a mural, you get it? I can continue working on it like it was a fresh piece giving me the liberty to manipulate the output and undo mistakes. Which was important to the one he was trying to complete,"
He chewed on the side of his cheek and clicked his tongue, "What's so special about this Saijo that he needs three Seers to give him tattoos?"
"He is a human canvass and the images on his skin are more sinister than they look. Had I known that I was painting the Kusozu, I should've stopped,"
"Kusozu?!" Gojo rose from his seat, beads of sweat forming all over his body as he demanded more information from the Seer.
"Ah, so you've heard of it. What the three of us completed on his back was the 8th depiction of death," her voice grew low as she watched Gojo slowly return to his position on the chair.
The Kusozu wasn't something that could be easily missed by any decent Jujutsu sorcerer. Gojo had heard stories of cursed wombs being kept by the higher-ups. He knew about the basics; they were cursed objects created by mixing human and cursed-spirit blood birthing potentially high-level cursed spirits making Saijo a potential vessel of such if he hasn't successfully merged with it already.
"If he's potentially dangerous on his own, why does he need you three?" he blurted out.
"He hasn't merged properly with the womb because he created his own depiction. According to our research, he never had any access to any of them, so he improvised. His technique involves trapping souls and tying it with his own through the patchwork we helped create giving him access to their powers,"
Blood magic.
"So, he forces a binding vow?"
"Yes. All those faces you saw, the body parts, every single thing drawn on his skin belonged to people he imprisoned. He can do that once he makes his mark on you and he's very crafty. The more he imprisons the easier it is,"
"But if each binding vow is broken each time he uses the borrowed powers, then how come his whole body is still covered in tattoos?"
"As long as he has us, the Seers, he regenerates. We are fate weavers of the past, present, and future making him impenetrable inside his domain. Worst case scenario, he can just collect more,"
"Can't you just draw yourselves out of this mess?"
She pointed towards her wrists, "Unfortunately, the Scrybe exhausted all of his wife's remnants to engrave our chains so that we'll never fade. For so long as he's alive, we're under his control,"
Gojo flicked his glasses upward, "But, evidently, not totally,"
"Yes, but he can be very convincing," she warned.
"What can we do to getcha outta here?"
"First, you have to fulfill the purpose you came into my gallery before I let you pass. Otherwise, the door to the Scrybe will not open,"
"What do I do?"
She took her place in front of the boy with the curious eyes and faced forward, "You consent to me reading into your prophecy and I will handle the rest,"
Gojo stifled a grin as he put his nose up in the air, "You should know that I'm a sceptic,"
Jinx laughed at his remark. It was part of his character that made the boy more intriguing, "Of course, I do, it's my business to know who and what I invite to my table but, that should not be a hindrance, who knows, you might just find our little exercise might open your mind,"
He gave a rather uneventful sigh, "Maybe,"
Jinx lifted her palm, "So, tell me, what does Gojo Satoru wish to confirm of the present? Tell me, what is it that you desire? And what are your questions about it?"
At the mention of desire, his mind automatically soared with images of the sweet smile of the girl with the red eyes only it wasn't just about her features, it was about the moments that they had shared and the mere thought of wanting extensions of jumping into periods of time with that girl was enough to form a few straightforward inquiries about the grim thought that he kept buried at the back of his head.
Will death continue to chase her?
Satoru unclenched his jaw and spoke softly now, he retracted his gaze from the seer so that he was looking at his reflection on the glass table, "Can I ask about someone else?"
Jinx weaved her brows together as her worry for the boy sulking in front of her wouldn't be comforted by her next set of words, "Sorry dear, my divinations are limited to my clients at present. But, if that person you're concerned about is directly connected to your own yearnings, then, perhaps we can work around that," she winked.
Satoru folded his lips together and rested his elbows on the cold transparent table, "Then, if that's the case, I'll play,"
Jinx tilted her head sideways, her chestnut eyes etching a motherly yet inquisitive air, "Does this concern a lady perhaps?"
Gojo merely blinked but decided not to answer.
Jinx snarled but instantly knew his answer that was so very well written in his sky-like eyes hidden behind the glamour, "Hm, well then I guess I'll find out soon enough,"
Gojo laughed at her statement and quipped, "Nope, I'll be asking something personal,"
Jinx exhaled, not quite convinced with his evasive tone, "Very well, so, let's begin, shall we?" She began instructing him, "Hold out your palms and rest them on the table," Gojo followed her instructions and allowed his spectacles to roll off to the tip of his nose,
"Now, look into my eyes and think of nothing but this, your desires, your wishes, your vision of yourself in the present, once you are able to let go and just immerse yourself in those thoughts, let me do the rest."
Images danced vividly inside Gojo's mind entwined with questions about himself and his real motive behind his current actions. Faces of Getou, Shouko, Sachi and even the higher-ups animating before him that they all condensed into a singular model-death.
Satoru felt cold under Jinx's grasp, his fingers began to tremble and the hair on his back rose in unison with his unsteady breathing. Satoru looked very distraught that Jinx sensed his cursed energy waver as if it was fighting against the pull of her own activation.
"Your positive space, is very filled…." She began, "But I sense…fear? And fragility? Hm…" she gave Gojo a tight squeeze as she affixed her dark eyes over his glamoured red making him glare through her in annoyance, "That is what you contemplate about? You? The most powerful sorcerer?"
Satoru felt vexed at her condescension that the rigid cords on his neck became prominent. His lips parted ever so slightly and with his controlled temper, he corrected, "No. Control. That is what I'm thinking about."
"Control?" her pitch rose.
Gojo nodded, "Yes, I want to be the strongest. I want to be able to have a say in things especially those that are deemed impossible," he spoke without hesitation, convincing the Present Seer to take his inquiry seriously.
She knew that his veracity reflected in his actions, but it would wrong to deny him any means to clarify what he truly meant, "You want to be the sanctified one."
It wasn't a question but the boy with the six-eyes affirmed it anyway, "Yes."
"This is the present you wish to confirm? If this is what you are?"
Satoru had never wanted a direct answer more so than now. It was a critical chance for him to reinstate his real purpose as a glorified sorcerer that he couldn't help but let some of his emotions tangle up in his words,
"I need to confirm that I am who I need to be so that I can be what everyone around me needs,"
She winced initially but painted her face with a rather hopeful beam. Gojo Satoru was a rumored self-serving sorcerer and while he put up confident egotisms, it seems that his title was worth more than just a one way ticket to salvation. This young man had true merit in his heart,
"I thought you said that yours is a selfish inquiry?" She ruminated, not receiving a response, "You're a curious one, aren't you?" she cocked a brow and sighed, "Well then, allow me give you some closure,"
Jinx grasped his wrists with her curse cloaked hands and recited, "Memento Mori…"
She traced the lines on his palms, following each curvature that appeared at birth leaving behind sharp incisions making Gojo fidget at the sudden pain that made him withdraw his hands.
Jinx collected the blood she drew and placed it on the empty glass ink bottle on her right where she then proceeded to dip her paintbrush. Gojo covered his bleeding hand with the handkerchief that Sachiko had provided and wrapped it neatly as he continued to observe the Seer who was focused on her divining.
She tilted her head to the side as water suddenly flowed seamlessly down her face. Her palms collected the tears into a small bubble which she pierced with her blood-tinged brush, "You are very complicated young man…I sense a struggle within you…the images I see surely built up who you are now…" it felt like Jinx was crying for him, for whatever she saw in him anyway and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing. Perhaps she was moved by what she saw and he sincerely hoped that that was the case because the alternative might be too much for him to handle.
His legs shook in anticipation that he jerked forward, "What do you see?"
"Patience dear boy, once you are done with the Scrybe, I shall answer your question," she didn't mind much of his actions as soon as she began hovering her brush over the blank canvass that Gojo clicked his tongue.
"Heh, so much for mutual gratitude,"
She giggled, "Every masterpiece requires time. Now, go, Gojo Satoru, face your present,"
Gallery of Reminiscence
"Back so soon?" Tsukasa had their legs up the table in the center of the room where flash-hoods and soft-boxes were perched on different corners of his gallery.
Suguru walked leisurely towards the Seer with the bi-colored eyes and crossed his arms, "Shouldn't you be at the Time Lapse room?"
Tsukasa combed through their paper-white hair and raised their shoulders, "That room is occupied by a different host now but don't worry, mother and child are safe,"
"Hm,"
"I thought we'd meet the Scrybe by now, why am I back?"
Tsukasa allowed their legs to fall on the floor but repositioned themselves on their throne-like chair in such a way that their face was pressed on one side of their knuckle, "You will. But not until you get past me first," they winked.
"You want me to fight you?"
Tsukasa pressed on their stomach as they boomed out a cackle, "Heavens no, not at all, I'm here to play another game with you,"
Getou frowned, "What kind of game?"
Tsukasa squinted their eyes at him, "The best one, a life gamble,"
Getou scratched the side of his face with his stiff fingers. He was still so exhausted from his stint inside the time lapse and frankly, the last time he played a game, he almost died. Still, he needed to advance. He occupied the chair beside the Seer and ground his teeth,
"You seers sure do love your theatrics, now, tell me Tsukasa-san, what are the rules?"
Tsukasa laced their fingers together and rested the tip on their mouth, "It's pretty simple, I just need your consent, a tiny bit of your blood and let me do the rest,"
Getou rubbed his eyes and hid his yawn with the back of his hand, "Okay but what can the seer of yesterday tell me that I don't already know?"
Tsukasa stood now scrutinizing Getou's lack of tact but also allowed him to a bit of repose from the ordeal they made him go through,
"You'd be surprised how many people line up to ask me that very question. You see, my visions of the past tell me of a certain period that could either depict the inevitable past of your future actions making it undoable, or I can pinpoint a past moment with which you can change the implications you would inevitably face in the future,"
"What's the difference with the other seers' abilities?"
"The future seer can only give you an image of what is to come but he won't be able to tell you if it's something that you can change. His depictions are definite. The present seer will only tell you of the truth of the now. Mine? Well, it is a very valuable guide to the two the two concepts in between time."
"So, you're telling me, whatever you see in mine, I can still change it, even if it's done?"
Suguru was now wide awake. The fatigue had peeled away as soon as Tsukasa mentioned the term change. He wanted to know what his life would turn out to be and what parts of his choices in the past could affect his future. In his state of the in between-questioning his morals and motives, this was a person who could actually turn things around.
Tsukasa sensed that they finally caught the young sorcerer's attention. As soon as they met Getou, Tsukasa could already read through his erratic aura that it made them a little uneasy that he would be the one he would have to divine, still, this boy actually looked like he was begging for answers that Tsukasa kind of felt for sorry for the kid.
He cleared his throat before he continued, "The past is the past, but question is, will it remain as so? Of course, I can only show you the image, the rest is up to you."
"Color me intrigued. Alright, I'll cooperate," he answered sternly making the Seer grin.
"Very well. Well, while I set-up, you wouldn't mind a middle-aged man's tale, do you?"
Suguru followed Tsukasa's movements, carefully assessing his features that defined his youth. He looked like he was in his mid-20s in the least, but he sure didn't sound like a young man despite his musings.
Tsukasa began to assemble an accordion like contraption in front of Suguru and propped it over a long stand, "Let's see, it's probably been 10 no, maybe 15 years ago since I was last seen alive…"
Alive?
Suguru winced.
Tsukasa brought out a square box where he unwrapped a pair of spherical lenses, "Don't be too surprised. Right now, what you see is just a fraction of who-no what I've become," Tsukasa gestured towards himself and continued arranging the contraptions,
"Anyway, I used to be a successful photographer and artist. When I hit my early thirties that's when my business had boomed. They said I had the knack to capture people's faces-" Tsukasa formed a frame with his hands over his forehead and chin, "And well, they were right. Each detailed expression at the very rare exact moments, I captured. My sketches were the same, quite life-like. And I loved what I did. I had a lot of clienteles so when a very rich businessman came in and asked for a portrait of course I obliged," he said proudly.
Tsukasa covered the body of the camera with a dark cloth that left the lenses open, "Right off the bat, I knew there was something off about him. You could say that his cursed energy reeked of evil the moment he stepped in."
Suguru watched as he adjusted the focus pointed towards him, "Were you a sorcerer before all this?"
Tsukasa nodded, "But, I didn't go to any of the institutes, most of what I know came from my window-parents. I went to art school instead," their side remark regarding their family made them a little melancholic that they had to wipe away their expression with their hands.
Tsukasa stood behind the camera and peeped through the whole in the lenses to check if the aperture and metering was correct. Though it looked like a very old camera, it worked like any other standard SLR, "Anyway, Saijo asked me to take photos of his ink-clad body, each frame that I took developed photos that portrayed disturbing images. You see, my technique allows me to view a reel of a person's past allowing me to discern pivotal moments that can define his character, so of course, I saw everything,"
"Why didn't you do anything then?" he asked curiously.
They threw the cloth back over the lenses and fixed their hair, "I didn't want to die Getou. I was no match for him, so I played dumb," they stopped speaking upon seeing Getou wrinkle his nose out of disbelief at his crass statement, "Oh don't look at me like that. I did try trapping him in a loop, but I wasn't strong enough,"
"Long story short, I got tricked and now I'm here," Tsukasa shrugged.
Suguru still didn't know if he was indeed trustworthy. For one, Tsukasa's narration was sure a means for him to increase the amount of cursed energy he could project but still, there was no other way through but him, "Hm, so, now, after we play your game, we can grant you freedom?"
"In a sense, well, that's if you can kill the bastard who trapped us here,"
"Shall we start then?"
Tsukasa asked him to sit on the stool with the blank background. They fixed Suguru's posture and told him to sit still. Tsukasa's hands dug inside their silk sleeve and withdrew a film cutter that made Suguru shift in his position with cautious eyes. Tsukasa's lips curled up, "Relax Getou, I'll just graze it over your palm for one second,"
Suguru offered his palm willingly and snarled as Tsukasa cut over his lifeline and collected a few drops of his blood on his blade before proceeding to the camera obscura. He dropped the blood in front of the lens which converted into cursed energy fragments that coated the film.
Tsukasa stretched his arms and created a cloak around him and the camera which projected light towards Suguru. His heterochromatic eyes set aglow as he pressed on the clicker to take a shot, "Long Exposure," Tsukasa said.
Suguru was met with several flashes of light that it was hard not to shield his eyes to halt his blinking as Tsukasa explicitly said that he cannot cover his face. The Seer took several frames which instantly developed multiple blank polaroids which Tsukasa motioned to stick on the other side of the wall. Tsukasa walked towards his accumulated photographs and began to work on his mosaic.
Suguru's eyes were still blurry from the harsh light that he couldn't make out the forming image that Tsukasa was arranging. He did receive a go-signal from the Seer to proceed outside of the room, but he was too curious as to what Tsukasa would be able to reveal.
"Don't worry, I'll be done when you return, hopefully in one piece," he joked.
Suguru already had one hand on the knob when Tsukasa looked over his shoulder,
"Hey, Getou, regarding the Scrybe,"
"Hm?"
Tsukasa gave him a confident nod, "Make him a thing of our past,".
Gallery of Tomorrow
Sachiko merged with the shadows inside the room, taking small, careful steps as she followed the singular source of light. A few feet away she could make out a silhouette of a tall figure that stood, poised and unalarmed by his visitor.
As he began to meet her halfway, a spotlight followed his movements but cast shadows over his face. When they were close enough, he greeted, "I was waiting for you, Six-tailed Kitsune,"
Sachiko immediately activated her Kitsune vision to take a closer look at his face, but the Seer cleverly manipulated the lighting inside the room to evade her attempts.
"You're a seer?" she tilted her head sideways as they paced from across each other, keeping her guard as his registry grew strong as their distance closed in.
The seer's voice sounded very pristine and calm almost as if he knew Sachiko personally, "Yes, I am. Might I say, I was looking forward to the day that we'd meet,"
"You know who I am?"
The seer snickered, "You have quite the reputation, Miura Sachiko, please take a seat," he shone light over the other end of the table where a cushioned chair remained vacant.
"Too bad, I don't think I have one," she said, monotonously.
His laughter rose an octave higher, "Forgive me, but I believe, that's utter nonsense, everyone has a future, no matter how short it may be,"
Short. Of course, he knows about my restriction. But, maybe, it just might be worth it to hear him out.
The seer placed his hands behind his back and continued to move towards his chair, his focus not leaving the girl with the Kitsune sight, "I know what your question is, who am I really? And what am I doing with the Scrybe? Of course, who would entrust someone's future with a stranger?"
"Maybe it could help if you'd show me your face first?"
He raised his hand and gestured towards the chair, "Very well, please take a seat,"
Sachi was just about to turn when she suddenly found herself already sitting across the seer from the other end of the round divination table. The spotlight transferred on her now, revealing her true self under the glamour making the seer etch a mollified grin as he went to her side.
He whispered beside her, "Chiaroscuro,"
His cursed technique enabled him to manipulate the light inside the room. He gathered a moderate amount of his cursed energy and directed the light towards the center before he finally stepped towards the light to reveal his incomplete face.
The seer had very beautiful, short, texturized smokey emerald hair that lie close to this hairline. His eyes were that of a freshly bloomed lavender bud. His skin shone like ivory. His facial features were very defined. The lines that demarcated his jaw and his nose were very symmetrical that he looked almost unreal. He wore very muted clothing but the way he poised himself with the many piercings that glinted on his right earlobe that danced upward his pinna, the markings on his wrists that were painted heavily that matched the rings on his slender fingers could easily make him a popular figure.
The more she looked at him, the more she was mesmerized by his features.
He approached her with a mellow bearing. His aura exuded of grace that for a moment she was just lost in his stare.
She weaved her brows together. She didn't know why the Seer wanted to hide behind the shadows. His face was meant to be seen. He was a piece to behold which made her wonder even more why he had such sadness in his pretty flower-for-eyes.
When he gave her a small nod in greeting, for a moment, Sachiko blinked at the distorted mask that flickered in his right eye and ear that in some angles, she swore they disappeared.
A glamour?
"I am Saya, the future Seer," he jeered idly as he offered his hand towards her as he bowed. Sachiko casually shook his very soft yet cold hands and waited for him take his place across from where she was positioned.
Sachiko retained her crescent eyes and watched as Saya adjusted the choker on his neck and swung his left arm to hook on the chair's head rest and spoke the same words, an incantation, in the next breath, "Chiaroscuro," the lights hovered over them now, eliminating the haze that surrounded the Seer.
Saya quickly noticed that the young sorcerer was stunned by his presence. With her affinity to see beyond glamours, Saya knew that his missing ear and eye, replaced by hollowed out-pouchings were made visible to her despite Jan's glamour, still, he no longer manipulated the lighting and instead gave her a contrite expression, "I do hope seeing beyond my mask doesn't cause you too much discomfort, as you can see, I am very limited as to what I can do with what I am left with,"
Sachiko wasn't at all appalled by what she saw, in fact she was more sympathetic towards Saya. For years, she also had to yield to conformities for the way she looked. What saddened her was the fact that despite having no desire to discard his natural self, he was also forced to put on a façade.
"Saya-san, what am I doing here?"
"I believe you are here to put an end to all of this, correct? I'm an instrument to that though, what happens beyond the door behind me is out of my hands,"
"But as the future Seer, shouldn't you know that already? What's gonna happen?"
Saya laughed at the irony. While he had tried countless times to use his technique to plan something against the Scrybe only to experience a cycle of failures, "If only it were that easy. Seers are never allowed to divine their own fates,"
"What happened to you? If I may be bold to ask?" she was sincere in her request to understand. Saya was a prisoner much like she was when she was a child and being born with much power yet unable to make use of it for self-exoneration was a fate worse than death.
Saya closed his eyes and went to contemplate, "It's quite a long story and frankly, it's a bit humiliating," he paused to edit, "But I guess, telling you about me is the only way that I could gain your trust,"
"I really want to help you. All of you, but help me understand,"
"Very well," he hooked two fingers at the hem of his shirt collar and tugged on it so that the skin just below his midclavicular line and above his left chest was exposed where "0XXII," was tattooed.
"It all started when this fool," he raised his arms to refer to himself, "-became too greedy," he stood now and began pacing around the room where the light continued to bounce off him, "I was once like you, a student. An innocent child who thought that crafting something with my own two hands was enough for me to feel contentment. Which was true at first of course. And then, I won an award,"
"I was only 12 when I got recognition. That trophy and that title earned me a full ride to a very prestigious and expensive college. I was ecstatic of course and grateful but there was a time when I felt that joy had left my form. I had trouble finding muses and people with the same interests as I but when I started college, that's where everything changed. Learning to me was the same as breathing. I progressed and continued to gain success even as a trainee. Soon, I even had a following,"
"The university had certain rules of course. I couldn't accept clients that weren't pre-approved by them but since I liked the income that came from underground commissions, I took them anyway,"
"The first high-profile sale was for an exhibit. I was asked to create my own magnified version of the Arcana card, The Magician. It did well during the auction and the Scrybe took a liking to it. Mostly because he saw remnants of my cursed energy. I was in my senior year then when he contacted me to draw a fresh set of cards for him in my style. He sent me an offer, a very good one, so, I met him at the club. I knew who he was the moment we met. He was a known artist himself. He inked a lot of famous people and quite frankly, I was a bit of a fan myself,"
A hand went to his temple and his lavender eyes flocked downwards as if the memory of his encounter was nothing but a blunder he wanted to keep hidden.
"He offered me an art-exchange. The tarot cards, for a custom tattoo. Seemed like a pretty sweet deal to me. He always preferred that we meet after hours so he could watch me work, I didn't mind it. I had a lot of freebies, and I even met a lot of influential people and became one of the very first members of his group. When I finally finished his commission, he told me that he was very satisfied and called me over so I could get inked. At first, I noticed something very different about the ink he used," his nose wrinkled and his face contorted in distaste, "Its smell, its consistency and even the way it felt on my skin made me cringe but who was I to question his method?"
Sachiko leered forward, "Did you see any traces of cursed energy in the instruments he used?"
Saya shook his head, "I'm not sure. I don't quite remember. I honestly didn't even know about curses and users until my capture…"
Sachiko listened in.
"Anyway, he began outlining an image on my arm. At first, it looked very elegant and precise. He drew an image of a man in very colorful clothing with feathers in his head. I was very satisfied with it," he began lifting his sleeve to reveal the finished illustration on his toned arm, "This looks like a masterpiece, doesn't it? Well, if only I remained oblivious to the reference," he rolled back his sleeve and covered the tattoo,
"When he began carving his signature and began adding the roman numerals that's when I realized where I had seen the image before.
It was ironic. I've been working with Arcana cards for months only to have myself branded as the zero card or the twenty-second card-"
"The Fool," Sachiko completed.
He nodded, "I imprisoned myself willingly and have spent 15 years and counting in his servitude…"
"I'm sorry,"
Saya gave a long, tired sigh, "Don't be. It was my own thoughtlessness that led to this. I can only blame myself but, it's what he does to the others that bothers me. It's about time that this stopped," he looked more serious now.
His nails dug on the table making a screeching noise that made Sachiko's ears ring. He was very angry that the softness she saw earlier in his pretty face washed away, "The longer I stay here, the more I feel like I'm being erased. Funny, no? All that achievement, just to end up as dust in the shelves,"
Something clicked inside Sachiko's mind. There was an invite given to her aunt a few years ago to a local museum where she had read his name. She couldn't forget it since it was the first time, she was allowed to join her foster family for an outing. She recalled one of the exhibitions which featured his work that earned him an award, "Saya. Fujimoto Saya, you won the Taro Okamoto Award, am I right?"
Saya beamed at her like she had just wished him a happy birthday. It was very rare for him to feel elated about anything lately but the mention of his former self which he talked so little about with his peers was enough to give him a little nudge, "You are the very first person who ever recognized my name well, my pen name anyway. How very interesting, never thought I'd have a client at this age who'll know my name,"
Sachiko relaxed expression, "I saw your painting, The Magician, it's on display at the Museum of Modern Art and there's a memoriam of you there except, you didn't have any pictures," her voice trailed off, "-just details of your life as an artist,"
Saya's cheeks colored a little as he managed to say, "What do you know, I guess I'm not completely wiped out of existence"
"You can still go back to that life after we get you out of here,"
Saya's eyes herded downwards, "If only,"
He shook his head and blinked, "Anyway, thank you Miura-san, for at least telling me that I wasn't irrelevant. I guess, it's no mistake that I was matched with you,"
Relevance and existence…he's just like me.
Sachiko couldn't help but give the seer a compassionate look as she placed one hand over her heart, "Saya, what can I do to help?"
"First, we play by his rules and then after, we fight," though he looked somber, the light on his flower-colored eyes glinted a little more than a few moments ago. He straightened on his seat,
"Beating the Scrybe won't be easy," his fingers trailed over his glamoured eye and ear and then he pointed towards his choker, "Believe me I tried…many times,"
Sachiko couldn't control the grimace that appeared on her face as she looked at his chained wrists but still remained composed as she listened in, "The Scrybe literally sucks out souls and uses that bind to control us. Its only us Seers who have some form of liberty and yet even with our powers, we can't deal with him on our own but now that we have you three, we just might have a chance,"
"The rule of this stage is very simple, I read your fortune then you meet the Scrybe, whatever happens in between is out of my hands. Simple,"
"Then, what are we waiting for?"
He grinned, "Nothing, nothing at all,"
He gestured towards the deck beside him and with a flick of his wrist, they levitated before them and spread neatly on Sachiko's side of the table.
The area was smaller than the one in the divination room, so, they were at arm's reach from each other. Saya splayed out his long arms and placed his palms forward to request for her to do the same. Sachiko positioned her palms over his and then locked her glamourless scarlet eyes over his twinkling lavender.
His mouth gaped open slightly as her features became more detailed at their distance, "You are a very delicate lady, aren't you? Tell me, Sachiko, what is that you yearn for? What occupies your thoughts about your future?"
Her lips quivered at his difficult question but in her heart, she only knew of one important thing to ask, "I wonder…if I have even one,"
He raised his chin and looked at her apologetically, swiping his thumb over her hand to provide some sort of comfort, "I am not unaware of your restriction as a Kitsune, but I am quite confused as to how you still view this day, yesterday's tomorrow, as not part of an ongoing life cycle,"
She looked towards their linked hands and frowned, "In the future I have left, what does it look like?"
He squeezed her hand, "Let's start answering that question now,"
One of his rings had a sharp talon on its attachment. He took her right palm and drove the small blade across her lifeline. As she bled, he covered the incision with a flare of blue and black from his own energy and guided her palm over the blank tarots on the table,
"Imprimatura," he whispered as soon as the first drop of blood landed on a card. He then took the body of the pen and attached the head of the talon ring, effectively absorbing the rest of her blood.
He raised his hand to shuffle the cards mid-air until they fell on a solid deck in front of him. He aligned the tip of the pen on the glowing cards and continued to hold unto Sachiko's palm until the bleeding stopped.
He inhaled sharply but kept his eyes sewed shut, movement behind his lids began as fragments of her future commenced its movie. There were different pictures that filled his senses-
Blood. Chaos.
Subtle beginnings of peace and even calm.
But those descriptions would remain meaningless until he finished creating her card.
Saya felt a little bit of worry crawl through his chest that the sensation of a fast-beating heart remained steady as he spoke,
"Miura Sachiko, your fortune will be hard to predict but I will definitely provide you answers. Now, if you please, direct yourself to the Scrybe, I would appreciate it if you gave me a few moments of silence,"
Sachiko took a few more seconds to witness the Scrybe at work. It concerned her that Saya looked a little distressed by his divination that it took a lot of her will to get up from her seat.
As she finally found herself a few feet away from the exit, Saya's voice trailed from behind,
"And Miura? Make sure you come back, remember, your future awaits,"
As soon as the door behind the galleries closed, the voices of the seers amplified in their heads to give one last warning to the special grades,
The result of our final divination will appear after you exorcise the Scrybe.
We'll be waiting.
END OF RENDER PART 1
MC'S JJK FACTOIDS AND OC INFORMATION SHEET
The tattoo inscribed on Saijo's back is inspired by the real Kusozu (Death Paintings), particularly the 8th image-Phrenology. I think I may have given it away with the stitches hehe, but feel free to search the art that inspired the special grade cursed spirit brothers of Choso.
Suguru played the Satoru Game, which is like séance using a cellular phone. I changed the name to avoid confusion to Sato-san.
OC Feature: Tsukasa Hasaba
"Past Seer"
Physical description: tall, slim male with paper-white neck-length hair Born with heterochromia (Tsukasa's irises have different colors on each eye; Right: Blue, Left: Green)
Long slender hands, nails are always painted with dark colors which changes depending on their mood
Gender: Bi
Pronouns: They/Them
Position on the Wheel: Purple (Complement)
Primary: Suguru Getou
Classification: Former Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer turned Cursed Spirit
Cursed Object: Camera Obscura, Kokkuri board
Borrowed Elements inked on the Scrybe's Skin: Mouth
Answers to the divination question: What could've been?
Tsukasa used to be well known photographer and multi-media artist. They are known for their portraits and skillful way of highlighting peoples' expressions whether in photographs or in sketches especially women.
Tsukasa has been in captivity for 10 years.
They first met the Scrybe when he visited his studio to get a portrait done. Tsukasa sensed something strange about the man as soon as he arrived. When the Scrybe asked for Tsukasa to take photos of his tattooed body, they immediately saw the cursed images he inked on himself animate and cry out for help. This made Tsukasa fall back and feel disturbed but proceeded to take his photos. Tsukasa ignored what he witnessed since the Scrybe looked dangerous. Days later, the Scrybe offered Tsukasa a job.
Tsukasa was commissioned to draw in a face as described on the spot by the Scrybe. Later they realized that it was their own face being described. Since Tsukasa used the ink from the Scrybe, his sketch was transferred to the Scrybe's skin after he took the photo thus sealing Tsukasa within the Scrybe's body.
The Scrybe inked Tsukasa's mouth on his arm to remove his ability to speak. He also engraved chains on his arms to compel him to serve under his domain.
In the 10 years that Tsukasa has been detained, they and the other seers have helped him collect and ensnare other sorcerers and curse users.
Innate technique:
Exposure: Able to see a reel of a person's past and decipher if moments of the past can still be changed or if those moments would heavily influence their future. Most of what Tsukasa can see involves a person's real desires and attitudes. They can define who and what a person is through visions of one's past when they take photos. Long Exposure:For the Scrybe's clients, Tsukasa takes multiple photos of a person with the camera obscura which usually develops blank films. Tsukasa rearranges the photos in a mosaic and then after develops the image. Clients are able to see a depiction of their past and Tsukasa will tell them if it is a past of their future selves or a given past that they could change. Time lapse: Tsukasa can stitch certain images together and create a loop that defies time and space. This innate ability is common among artist-sorcerers but has its variation and has been utilized cleverly to trap Suguru Getou in Salvador Dali's painting, Persistence of Memory.
OC Feature: Saya / Saya Fujimoto
Real name Itsuki
The Future Seer, The Tomorrow Seer
Physical description: Male, well-built, tall
Smokey Emerald Green Short Texturized hair
He also has a lot of ear piercings. His right ear piercings span his pinna, down to his lobes
He has the same chain tattoo on his wrists as the other Seers
Expressive deep-set lavender eyes
Noted to have "0XXII" tattooed on his left chest.
He wears a velvet choker to hide the scar he got from the Scrybe
The Scrybe told Saya that he has one of the most symmetrical and beautiful faces he has ever seen and sans his technique, he would consider Saya as a masterpiece
The Scrybe sometimes calls Saya as Midori
Position on the Wheel: Green (Complement)
Primary: Miura Sachiko
Classification: Former Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer turned Cursed Spirit
Cursed Object: Tarot Cards
Medium: Pencils
Borrowed Elements inked on the Scrybe's Skin: Left Ear and Right Eye
Saya asked Jan to give him a glamour for both.
Answers to the divination question: What could be?
Saya was an art student who got admitted to a prestigious university for being a finalist of the Taro Okamoto Award when he was just 12 years old. Saya struggled initially as a young artist as he had difficulty finding muses and mutuals with the same interest. When he won the award, his whole demeanor changed, and he became more confident and very satisfied with his progress. Even as a student, he gained recognition for his works.
Saya was very good with creating riveting and detailed concepts earning him accolades for his intelligent use of color theory, background, and mastery of both human and animal anatomy. Titles of his artworks were also very catchy and up to date earning him accolades from young audiences.
He had a large underground clientele who commissioned him for supernatural-themed outputs.
The Scrybe's interest grew when he bought an illustration of Saya's rendition of The Magician from the Arcana deck of Tarot cards.
When he was in his senior year, the Scrybe commissioned him to create a brand-new deck for him in his style.
He invited Saya in his club to finish the commission where they finally met in person. He recognizes him as Saijo, a famous tattoo artist. Saijo proposes an art-exchange, the tarot cards for a custom tattoo.
Saya became a member of his club and eventually finished the deck. When it was finally time for him to receive his payment, he noticed something different about the ink he was using. The Scrybe outlined a man in colorful clothing with feathers in his head. Finishing the piece with his signature and the numbers 0XXII.
Saya quickly realized that he referenced The Fool in the Arcana. Saya fought for his freedom but could no longer remove the mark of the Scrybe thus ending up 15 years in servitude.
His sudden disappearance was among the art community's greatest mysteries. His work remains to be one of the most successful and revered pieces in modern art labeling him as the boy who transcended modern art.
Along with the other two Seers, he helped in the completion of the Phrenology skeleton which is the 8th image of the Death Paintings. The sealing and activation of the painting was made possible due to a human sacrifice. The Scrybe's/Saijo's wife's ashes and blood were used as the medium.
Innate Techniques:
Action Line
Saya can create imaginary (ideally curved) lines in a figure where the person he uses it on would be forced to remain in a dynamic pose. He usually follows the linearity of the person's spine or limbs. This technique seemingly stops all movement and stills time so he could capture the subjects in better detail. He used it on the Scrybe to buy him time to escape.
Actual definition: Also Gesture Line. An imaginary (ideally curved) line in figure/gesture drawing used to create more dynamic poses. The line usually follows a character's spine and limbs and may be drawn thinly on paper in order to model the pose onto it.
Chiaroscuro
As a master of contrasts, Saya can shift lighting of both actual places and people and subjects in his pieces. This technique allows him to influence the mood of his patrons during divination. It is also his way to hide the missing articles on his face (one eye and ear). The Scrybe also makes him use this technique to trap sorcerers.
Actual Definition: Using very strong contrasts between light and dark, to create a more dramatic composition. That's usually a lit area somewhere in the subject (such as a person) and a shadowed, almost black, background.
Imprimatura
Divination technique he uses when fortune telling. Saya lays out a blank deck of cards in front of the client.
Generally, all of the Seers will use the first blood that drops from the incision they made on the client's lifeline as their ink/base color to establish a connection with their life force.
Saya uses a special type of pen that absorbs the blood and draws on the cards the images he sees in his head.
The finished deck will be used to tell the client's future.
His predictions have proven to be 100% accurate making him the most sought-after seer.
Actual definition: A ground layer of paint that covers the white canvas, onto which then the actual artwork is painted.
OC Feature: Jinx
"Present/Today Seer" / "Seer of the Near Present" / "Seer of the Now"
Physical description: Female, slim
Black, shoulder length hair
Hazel colored almond-shaped eyes
Position on the Wheel: Orange (Complement)
Primary: Gojo Satoru
Classification: Former Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer turned Cursed Spirit
Cursed Object:
Medium: Brush, Water colour
Borrowed Elements inked on the Scrybe's Skin:
Answers the divination question: What you want it to be in the present?
Jinx was a painting restorationist. Though already successful with her job, she produced a lot of pieces under her pseudonym "Jinx." Her work was very popular in auctions and was dubbed the modern face of Claude Monet.
Before the Scrybe's wife was murdered, he had asked her to restore an old photograph of the couple but upon telling the Scrybe that it would be difficult, he asked her to recreate the photo in her style instead.
When Jinx was done with the commission, she personally delivered the piece to Saijo's home and when she asked if she could meet his wife, he tells her that she had just died. Sensing that he wasn't the least bit sad about it, Jinx excused herself from her client.
Later, she watches the news and finds out about the murder. She quickly calls on her fiancé to ask for help but when the fiancé arrives, Jinx was already taken from her home.
Jinx was the first artist he detained and has served him for 20 years.
Innate Techniques:
1. Memento Mori
As the present seer, she first looks through the a person's aura (which she calls positive spaces) and creates shapes that conform to their personality, emotions and current wishes. She translates them into her art using her preferred medium.
This technique reminds the clients that their blood offering (incision in their lifeline used as ink) that they are mortal.
The images she produces defines something that is inevitably happening in the present or will inevitably happen in the near future. Her divination skills are able to dictate present truths that the clients have kept hidden making her a popular choice among businessmen and lovers.
Actual definition: A traditional type of artwork meant to remind the viewer of their own mortality. It usually uses symbols, such as skulls, clocks or persons
2. Open time
As a restorationist, her ability to retain fresh elements (such as paint) of her work allows the Scrybe to perfect the death painting inked on his skin. This is the main reason why the Scrybe imprisoned her.
The time that fresh paint (acrylic, oil...) remains wet enough to work it with a brush. This time can be extended or shortened by mixing the paints with certain chemicals.
3. Pentimento
This technique allowed the Scrybes to alter the Kokkuri board and the Divination table. By retaining original elements of the piece, she can overlap and rearrange how it projects when activating.
Actual definition: An alteration to a painting, where traces of the previous work still remain. This includes only changes to the subject itself, like fixing proportions or slightly altering the position of something, but not entirely new work painted on top of an unrelated older piece. This can sometimes be seen in artwork in museums where certain scanning-techniques are used on the paintings that can reveal such changes.
Seers' Shared Techniques:
Shared Techniques:
Rakugaki
Art-based cursed techniques includes basic illustration embedding. This ability allows sorcerers to produce rushed, incomplete, unfinished or simple outputs that are embedded with cursed energy. Depending on their medium, they could span its effects such as animating still objects, creating illusions and glamours (such as Jan's technique) or sending hidden messages.
Color Wheel Domain
The shared domain by the three seers allowed them to rig the game so that Satoru, Suguru and Sachiko would win and be granted entrance to the club.
Two principles:
The group of people in the domain would be divided into two, the Primaries and the Complements.
The primaries are pre-screened after getting references from the Scrybe and his associates which were usually high-level sorcerers or curse-users.
The primaries were originally planned to be recruited one by one as the Yellow would always have to be occupied by the Gamemaster (Kokkuri and Sato) leaving only 2 players to get a slot. Those chosen as primaries are always either on Blue or Red.
Depending on which color of the wheel they win in, they would be matched with their complementaries.
The Green, Purple and Orange represent the Seers. During the games, players positioned in the complement areas are just decoys.
The Seers can only have control over the positioning the pre-selected candidates, but the test of technique is dependent on the ones being tested themselves.
Suguru was originally a Purple but when exorcised the Gamemaster, he took its position as the Yellow primary.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for reading! Leave me a kudos or comment if you wish ^^
Let's interact on twt too! MiuraChronicler
Side note… I wanted Getou to be painted as the hero in this one hehe.
Again, thank you to all of the artists who helped me with my character study for the OCs, their names and some traits are based off some of my favorite artist friends' character descriptions. ILY all so much 3
The last part of this arc will be posted either on Sunday or Monday next week ^^
Leave your theories on my DMs, comments or twts. I'd love to read about your thoughts.