It was three in the morning and Mieko finally spotted the text from her baby sister. By the time Mieko replied to Reina's text, it would have been a couple hours since Reina left. The performer slipped her phone back into her clutch, ready to hear more about Yuki's life.
The women relocated from the dingy rooftop building to a fancy lounge. They secured a private area. Various finger foods and beverages scattered about on their small table.
Mieko curled into a ball on the sofa next to Yuki. Their shoes mixed together underneath their table. They were ridiculously close.
Yet the time to seal the deal was not yet right.
"Say Yuki," Mieko trailed her nails along the fighter's toned arms, "what do you dream of the most?" Mieko's lips curled upwards, the stain of lipstick leftover made her all the more tempting.
Yuki sighed, "do you want the big answer or the little one?"
"Big answer."
Yuki smiled earnestly, "a curse free world."
Impossible, "what would that look like?" Mieko tried to keep the upward curl of her lips from dropping.
"I've explored it all. My friend thought it was to overrun the world with curse users, which led to his demise. Eliminating all the curses with force- well, there's too many of them. I feel like I'm missing something, searching for some answer that doesn't even exist. My hesitation, my perversions around this big question is only leading to more deaths."
"That's a big dream." Mieko muttered. "In a way, curses need to exist for the balance of the world, don't you think?"
Mieko trailed her manicured tips on Yuki's jawline, slowly moving to straddling Yuki's lap. Mieko buried her nails into Yuki's hair, still a little damp from the fight. Their eyes met, the grey eyes of a priestess, and peridot green of a cursed user- inches apart.
"But everyone suffers." Yuki lost her tone at the last word as Mieko trailed her lips down Yuki's long neck.
Yuki grabbed Mieko's waist and pinned her down on the sofa.
"Tell me, what kind of girls are you into?"
Mieko chuckled, "you."
...
Reina woke up to text messages of Mieko gushing. Good for her. It seemed like she was planning this for a while. Whether they'd last? That would be a different question.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling until stars came. Reina remembered Nanami's offer for work all the sudden. To do what? Kill those curse-human beings? What happened to do no harm?
Ever since Sukuna's revival, Reina questioned the value she brought being a regular human. She planned to live normally and fade like a mortal. No crazy legacies, have a few friends, take care of a few things, eat, sleep, shit. No doubt there was potential to make an impact, but was it her place? Did she deserve it?
Then again, those poor people don't deserve to suffer.
Grandmother mentioned spells, the canters inscribed in a temple deep in the mountains. How would these be different from curse user spells? Was she even willing to go Kill Bill in some temple?
Kill Bill was some American movie Gojo introduced to her. She lay on her side, hugging a pillow and giggled at the thought. She quickly shook off the frivolities.
No, she had responsibilities. A nurse. A coach. A sister. A friend.
But- The responsibilities were deferred for another week. And the temple grandmother talked about had a nice spa nearby...
She gambled last night, ending up in some bookie's lair. Going to the mountains for a vacation was not at all unusual.
And so- she found herself on a train. She glanced at herself in the glass of her cabin window. There was some color in her cheeks, and she felt brighter. Going to less populated areas was more enjoyable, since the spiritual pressure lessened as well.
She was born to be a hermit in a cabin. Just like her mother. Or a hermit in some long lost seal item- that was a jab at Grandmother.
How she and Mieko broke the molds were beyond the two of them. Having cursed energy techniques did make tolerating curses easier since they were forced to find a way to control the curses within them. Purification was still impactful on their minds and bodies, but it was more a choice for them than that of previous generations.
She arrived at her lodge. As soon as she got her keys she made it her mission to strip off her well worn travelling outfit, and soak. She faced out of the pool, resting her forearms on the edge, making a pillow for her chin and cheek. Her lower body still basking in warmth. She drifted into a nap, the warmth of her lower half seemed to pulse up to the exposed upper half. It was perfect. Reina took all her chances to sleep.
She dreamt of playing Cat's Cradle. The strings wove between her fingers delicately, making intricate shapes. As she attempted to make a bridge, there was tension on the seemingly unlimited string. It shot her arms up. Suddenly, she was pressed against someone's body, arms raised in the air, trapped by aching fingers from the red string. She glanced upwards. Gojo smirked devilishly, pressing her closer with his free hand at her waist and the other dangling her like some puppet with the very string.
She jolted awake. Eyelids still heavy. The dream spoiled her mood. She would rather a vicarious nightmare from a purified spirit than to dream of the thorn on her side. Or rather- pinky.
Switching gears, she decided she'd get to know the mountain she planned on trekking.
The lobby was worn down, the receptionist's desk had paper scattered everywhere, chips on the wooden desk visible from a mile away. Decorations appeared untouched since its establishing. Nor dusted.
A middle aged woman sat at the desk going over papers. Or maybe worked on a puzzle. The chain of her glasses aged her. If it wasn't for her voice when she greeted her during check-in, Reina would've guessed her to be past 70.
"Is there a trail to hike up the mountain here? Or a guide? Any warnings? Any cool old structures...?" Reina trailed off, her voice going quiet as the woman seemed to ignore her.
The lead of her pencil snapped, she muttered a curse word, searching the messy desk for a sharpener, "no city girl," she replied, stuffing a candy in her mouth and going under her desk, "locals bathe here and then go back to their farms. Ain't got no time for walking in some mountain."
"I see. I heard there's a temple up there."
"News to me."
"Well, thank you... and good luck on your game."
"Yeah yeah, careful up there."
...
Grandmother just gave her the name of the mountain. She didn't even know if she was on the right side. She stared at the top, it was far. She grit her teeth, using her cursed technique to teleport to the top. The minute her lungs felt the air atop, she vomited. Her body immediately ached from using this much cursed energy. She rested for a while, contemplating whether she even had a chance at touching Sukuna.
She thought back to Yuki's show of strength. Reina had no experience in close range combat. Rather, she avoided fighting and kept her distance in the face of adversaries. Her place stayed in the shadows for a quick strike.
She quickly got used to the air, taking deep breaths as the clouds stopped spinning. She explored the apex, looking down the mountain for any sign of construction. It was all tree cover. None thinner than the rest. It could be the wrong mountain, or the temple disappeared with time.
"How ridiculous..." Reina sighed, "I'm in my late 20's, with a full time job, chasing after this make believe temple..."
A sudden chill shot through her spine. A ridiculous amount of cursed energy ebbed through a spot in the mountain. Reina felt the energy before but ignored it, believing it to be the baseline of the area. But this was as though the energy awoke.
Great. The minute she thought of close combat, some strange cursed energy appeared. She took initiative, despite the empty stomach, and ran towards it using downward momentum. Old growth and lack of shrubbery allowed for swift passage into the forest.
She slipped on mossy rock, sending her to a downward tumble. Her midsection slammed into the base of a tree, stopping her descent. She picked herself up and reoriented. One quick pat over to ensure she still had her wallet, phone, and keys. The water bottle still in hand. She lifted her palm off her forehead to reveal a smear of blood. She now had scrapes all over.
The presence of the cursed energy now much stronger. She knew she was closer. The vomiting, thin air, being winded by a tree, and the burning of her scrapes somehow cushioned the sickening reaction her body made towards the approaching cursed being.
She inched closer, using only the intensity of her gut feelings to guide her. The warmth of the sun glimmered through the canopies until it abruptly stopped. No chirping birds, no wind, nothing.
And nothing looked the same anymore.
Appearing in front of her like some horror flick, a pale face appeared in a flash in front of her. The eyes hollowed out, and mouth sewn. She screamed, pushing the thing away before it could do anything to her. The bolus of blessed energy from her palm was enough to melt the curse away in forgiveness.
The memories flooded, a victim of depression who had a ton of guilt and self esteem issues. They ended their lives here.
She began hyperventilating, then burst to tears, muttering curse words and recalling all the therapeutic techniques in her belt. No talking down or 5 sense exercise would bring her down properly in a situation like this.
Meds. She patted her pockets, quickly finding the pouch of pills she carried for situations like this. She slipped something under her tongue, and braced herself on a now dead tree in this veil.
She let out a surge of blessings to deter anything else from coming near her as the medication settled into her system.
Her breathing slowed, and the stars in her vision subsided.
She surveyed the area. She didn't see the veil before. Was it for her? Clearly, the curse she just purified wasn't the creator of the veil. And she sensed the energy only getting stronger. It rivalled that of Little Girl Goner.
She heard a blood curdling scream. Reina instinctively covered her ears.
A low voice grumbled, "You've come here to end your life... Just like the rest of them."
More humanoid bodies erected. All curses. They all started crying. None of them the owner of the voice. Reina climbed the tree she used to hold herself up to get a better idea of the world she just entered. Where was the main curse? There was just a dark mist behind the rows of curses who ended their lives. No doubt these souls required blessing. But the thing that led these poor people to their demise would continue accumulating until the main curse eliminated.
Would a circle dance be most effective to deal with the decoys?
They slowly moved towards her. She felt the sting of rain on her skin. Oddly warm and soothing. A noose appeared on one of the branches. She felt- compelled.
"Okay this is fucked up." She mused, "too bad silly curse, I have a more compelling reason to live."
She jumped into the crowd, touching their cores gently, wincing at the bad memories. One by one she purified the souls. They tried to grab at her, but every time the curses came into contact with her they were purified.
Reina ran towards the area of highest cursed energy concentration. And the curse...
A body chained to a tree. Hanging by neck, wrists, and ankles.
"Wow... you suffered. But why bring so many others down?" A rhetorical question. She'd know why in a minute.
It screamed again, the force of the sound waves blew her back. Her back hit another tree, she slid down the rough bark. At that point, she likely suffered a mild concussion. She teleported behind the curse.
She muttered, "I'm sorry," and kicked the chains. One leg dangled idly, then another, then the chain at the neck, and finally the arms. It's limp body fell to the ground. It screamed again, Reina winced.
"You... you... have no idea what you did." It said.
"I think I do," she retorted, "why were you chained in the first place? Who did this to you?" She knelt down to the limp body in front of her, cradling it's head in her hands, clearing the hair out of its eyes, "you still won't be able to move. Those chains had some sort of sealing power. They must have been painful..."
"One of you damn sorcerers trapped me."
"Huh, why didn't they-"
"Kill me?" It laughed, "I killed him first."
"Good for you. It's unusual for them to seal you though." Her hands glowed with blessed energy. The spirit felt warmth.
"He wanted to do research, called me a special grade. Said I'd be great to invoke pain upon too. I made him kill himself, but it invoked this veil. I've learned to control it. Since then I've lured miserable people like you to grow stronger in hopes of getting out of the chains. No one has been able to break them until you came along."
"You're an ancient curse, how long have you been in this forest?"
"Mmm... your energy feels familiar... I've lost most of my memories, maybe forever." It chuckled.
As she purified, the curse began taking more of a human form. A young woman. Chased out of the village for being too different. She had a gift for healing people on the inside making them feel whole.
She was a priestess.
How could a priestess turn into a curse?
"Can you still see me?" Reina stroked the woman's face, "did you manage a temple here after being driven away?"
"I came here for refuge, the sorcerers came here and tried to kill us all. It's my fault. They all made it clear it was my fault. They ended themselves before the sorcerers. It's all my fault."
"No, their aggression, their greed... I can see it all. You were targeted. It's hard to escape that." Her body began shaking, bearing witness to the priests hunted by sorcerers and humans. "You're forgiven..."
"Thank you..." The young priestess cooed, her body became clothed in silks similar to Grandmother.
"Become part of life again, thank you for sharing your story." Reina smiled.
The ancient spirit glowed, fading into the air along with the veil. Reina's eyelids became heavy.
"How did you become a curse?" Reina murmured.
The trees had foliage again. The mosses and forest floor became soft and alive again. Underneath her, skeletal remains of the young woman.
Reina drowsily stood up, the Temple right in front. Remains of rope on the trees, and other skeletons on the ground. Rusty katanas near the bodies. The bodies decomposed, dust and oxygen rife, but the rest of the scene remained untouched. A massacre happened here.
She was too tired to take a step forward. Reina fell asleep, momentarily joining the skeletons of what she assumed were priests.
...
Reina groaned, stirring awake. The chill of the night air raised goosebumps on her exposed skin. She hoped that the recent events were all a dream but as she nearly spooned a skeleton, all hopes disappeared. The wound on her head throbbed, she had body chills. She entered the temple, there were no doors, as they were torn down.
It was empty, there were no alters, no religious symbols, nothing. Acting on a hunch, she let her blessed energy flow into the rotting wood. More terrible memories of the massacre flooded. How can a building be cursed itself?
Why did the Gods disallow the priests to defend themselves?
It was a time when they were closer to humanity. Perhaps it was better they had less control over earthly beings, curse user, blessed user, or none at all.
Maybe they made it up, just like the child free movement.
A glowing hatch appeared. Of course.
She struggled to open it. It finally creaked open, slamming onto its other side. Stairs.
She went down, finding a library of scrolls. She took her phone and took as many pictures of the scrolls as she could. Her frantic and scattered picture taking quickly exhausted her. She decided she needed to go back to her room, deciding to come back the next day.
Reina left the temple and teleported back to the inn. The last of her energy spent. She felt hot and cool. The scratches on her body throbbed. The last thing she heard was:
"Hey city girl, what the fuck did ya do? Fight a boar?"
Reina murmured something unintelligible in response. The innkeep called the paramedics.
...