DISCLAIMER, JJK does not belong to me, all rights go to Gege Akutami
Nanami and Olga made their way to the location where the cursed spirit had left its last footprints - the dark and grimy sewers beneath the city. The foul smell wafted through the air as they descended further into the depths.
As they ventured deeper into the labyrinth tunnels, they could feel the presence of cursed energy growing stronger.
"Watch your step," Nanami warned as the algae on the floor made the ground difficult to stand on. The air was heavy with the stench of decay, and the dripping sounds echoed through the narrow passages.
Olga heeded to his warnings, carefully placing her feet on the slippery stones. The dim light flickered, casting eerie shadows that danced along the damp walls.
The pair had kept quiet for some time now, only making short exchanges regarding the mission. Anything besides that was null as they acted with caution.
Nanami was mulling about her earlier interaction with Yuji. He found her phrasing about befriending Junpei unusual. Olga definitely had an ulterior motive, but it probably wasn't for a nefarious reason. She seemed to notice something about the suspect and having Yuji interact with him in a certain way could lead them to more clues about their target.
"The ability to contort another living being's body is a unique one. And this sort of thing is something I've come across before," Olga began, which caught Nanami off-guard as he hadn't expected her to initiate a conversation.
Nanami raised an eyebrow, his attention momentarily diverted from the oppressive atmosphere of the sewer. "You've encountered a similar curse before?"
"Not long ago, actually. Except it was under a different circumstance compared to this one. The cursed spirit that we're seeking can turn living human beings into abominations. As for the thing I encountered prior… well, he had the ability to use the dead carcasses of people and turned them into puppets for his biddings,"
The fact that they will be facing a cursed spirit with the ability to deform the living was quite unsettling. Nanami knew that this mission had its risks due to the eerie nature of what they had to work with so far. There was the possibility that it could go south at any moment, therefore, he had sent Yuji away with Kiyotaka to handle a much simpler and less dangerous task.
Leaving himself and a mysterious woman to deal with the cursed spirit responsible for the social disturbances.
In matters such as this one, he admits that he wouldn't say that he was confident in confronting the curse by himself. But with Olga, perhaps some of that stress was elevated due to his nagging intuition that she was capable and strong.
"So what's the difference? Whether they had transformed the living or dead into those…" Nanami paused and from the corner of his eye, he noticed that they were being watched by some things from the shadows. "... creatures."
With deliberate steps, Olga moves forward a few paces before halting. She must've realized it too due to the current dead calm disposition she displayed as she regarded him with her teal eyes.
"It depends on the person's perspective. The dead can no longer think for themselves and that the only thing left of them is their decaying bodies, provided if still intact. Whereas the living, cannot be classified as objects. I don't need to explain why that is, do I?" Her voice was laden with a slight rise curiosity towards the end.
"No, you don't," Nanami replied, his gaze shifting from Olga to the shifting shadows around them.
The sound of something sprinting towards Olga from behind her echoed throughout the sewers.
CLACK!
CLACKKK! CLACKKKKKKKK!
"In the end… by the casters' command, it doesn't matter if they're living or dead, they'll use them for their own selfish bidding. And that's unacceptable,"
A quick glance into Olga's direction led him to catch a rare sight of a momentary sentimental expression.
She raises her hand up and with a flick of one hand, the wires come out.
"I'll support you. I can restrain and minimize their movements with my wires, so I trust you know what you must do, Nanami,"
As she said that, Nanami brandished his wrapped dull blade.
"Then we'll deal with this accordingly," Nanami nodded.
Each of Olga's fingers were attached to a wire. She manipulated each string with precision, spreading them around the two of them like spider webs as Nanami was on alert.
There.
"Aww~! This sucks! I can't believe you caught me first!" It whined.
The cursed spirit was in a human form.
There were stitches on its face as skin was stitched against each other, providing him with a frankenstein-like appearance. He had heterochromic eyes, one brown the other blue, peering at them with a provoking cocky gaze.
"It hurts!" It bemoaned mockingly.
Olga twisted and tightened the restraint, yet, the curse didn't seem to respond to it.
"Oh? Is that what you expect me to say?" He tilted his head with a taunting smirk, which begged to be punched.
With a nonchalant and almost curious attitude, he severed his own leg by altering one hand into a blade to cut off the strangled leg and free himself from Olga's grasp.
Olga quickly noted that he didn't seem to feel pain from this.
The leg grew back instantly and he promptly stood up with a spring and approached them with a carefree saunter.
Judging by his mannerism, Olga would say that its level of intelligence would rival the other two cursed spirits she's encountered with Satoru previously.
But something about this one felt off.
He didn't seem as polished as the others.
Needless to say, they still had to thread carefully.
"Luckily for me you two aren't Gojo Satoru. It would be a big problem you see—"
BANG!
There was a tremor, followed by an echo.
At point blank range, aiming exactly between the curse's brows, a bullet passes through his head.
Then the gun was pointed upwards with steam steeping from its hole, after its sudden ignition.
"Shut up." Olga snapped, her tone crass and unyielding.
This was a new side to Olga that Nanami hadn't anticipated.
Olga held her gun up high, as if to make a blatant statement that she was the one who initiated the shot.
However, instead of continuing to attack with the gun, she flicked her hand downwards, disappearing it from sight.
A fight was to ensue, but using a gun here might damage the foundations of the sewers' infrastructure. The shooting earlier was a simple warning shot.
"Hey, now! That actually hurts!" The curse said as it clutched onto its head despite its lop-sided grin.
It would seem that he still wasn't taking this seriously.
The bullet that had gone through his skull was laced with a unique enchantment that was much more concentrated and effective than the ones on her wires, making it a sort of cursed tool.
Nanami, who had been observing them all this time, stood his ground.
It grinned cynically at Olga's actions before licking its lips. "At least, you're an interesting one. I like that!"
Hearing the comment, Nanami gritted his teeth. The thing in front of them was playing with them as if playing with his food, making him all the more furious.
It darted for Olga and in one instance, Nanami's eyes connected with her's and they made a silent pact to switch positions after exchanging a firm nod.
There were other deformed creatures that crawled about in that space and Olga would handle them, leaving Nanami to deal with that twisted cursed spirit.
Knowing that they were once human, Olga began adequate preparations for funerary rites for these unfortunate souls turned monsters.
She kissed her cross necklace and prayed for them.
Requiem Aeternam Dona Eis Domine.
-with Nanami-
"Boo! That woman was way more fun. Why did I have to get stuck here with you? You look boringggggggggg!" It complained, throwing a semi temper-tantrum.
"Too bad."
Nanami sprinted for the cursed spirit with charged up cursed energy acting on his dull blade. With a swift exchange of blows, the two fought the other with one goal in mind. It was either kill or be killed. Nanami was relentless in his strikes but the cursed spirit was a tricky fellow and blocked each of his blows with its hands fortified with cursed energy.
They continued this back and forth for a while until Nanami found that they weren't progressing in this fight, so he resorted to his trump card.
The next strike was a guaranteed hit. Visualizing ten lines, Nanami sees the weakest line from the seven is to three ratio and slams his blade like a sledgehammer onto the cursed spirit.
It completely severed its arms from its body, yet, he didn't show signs of being weakened.
"Oooh, isn't this just some physical attack?" the cursed spirit remarked, seemingly unphased by the loss of its arms.
No, like earlier, the curse was able to regenerate its severed limbs. It could heal itself almost instantly, making the severed arms grow back as if Nanami hadn't just torn them apart.
Nanami pauses his assault, opting to ration his cursed energy effectively rather than wasting it all on mindless attacks.
"I don't like vague questions," At least like this, Nanami could buy some time to replenish his energy.
.
.
.
"You were there when those two special grades attacked, right?" Nanami asked, looking up from Satoru's report.
"Yes,"
"Can you tell me about them?"
"They can speak. They're smart and strong. So they're not the average special grade curses you might be familiar with." Olga took another drag from her cigar before speaking again. " And, this is just my personal opinion but they seem to be associated with elements regarding natural disasters. We've seen a nature one, probably stemming from the fear of drought, and landslides while the one-eyed curse was from the fear of volcanic eruption and fire. This is just my assumption though,"
"I see…"
.
He supposed there was some truth behind what Olga said.
However, Nanami wanted to confirm this for himself.
"Let me ask you first, what kind of curse are you? You don't seem like an elemental one,"
At first, his eyes widened before he puffed his cheeks as they turned red. He erupted in hysterical laughter. "I'm guessing you've heard about my friends. That saves me from explaining a lot."
Nanami keeps silent, observing the curse as it pulls out an object. "My name's Mahito. I guess since I can turn this thing into anything I want." He demonstrated as he contorted the wrinkled item, enlarging it as the face on it became more prominent. "Wouldn't that make me a human curse, right? I am the manifestation of humanities hatred for each other,"
Nanami was not impressed.
A human curse… That could pretty much explain why people were being turned into horrible creatures.
As for Mahito's cursed technique, Nanami may not show it, but it sickened him to his core about how it could deformed people so easily.
"Does that mean you'll chat with me?" He puffed his cheeks again as he cackled, almost tearing up from the thought. "Just kidding, I'll say what I wanna say,"
Despite the fight being put on halt, Nanami was still on-guard. He knew that the likes of personalities such as his was the unpredictable sort.
They're not easy to follow and are dangerous because of that.
Mahito continued, not caring for what the sorcerer thought of him. "Does the soul come first or the body?"
Nanami didn't respond.
"Come on! It's an easy question! Like what do you think comes first, the chicken or egg?"
Nanami wasn't one to go in depth debating such philosophical questions, especially to these kinds of playful personalities, but for now, he'll entertain Mahito with an answer since he was getting on his last nerve.
"The former." Nanami stated rigidly.
"Wrong! It's the latter. The soul would always exist first before the body as the shape of the body is pulled along with the shape of the soul. I'm not healing, I'm just maintaining the shape of my soul"
It felt like he was being lectured by a child.
Nanami was undeniably pissed.
Why did he even bother to give an answer?
Mahito holds out a wrinkly object, changing its shape and making it visible to Nanami that it was a former human.
"Idle Transfiguration. That's my cursed technique, I can alter and change the shape of the soul as long as I am able to make contact with it. But lately, all my experiments kept dying as soon as I touched them. I wonder…" There's that repulsed smile again.
He gets into a sprinting position.
Nanami strengthened his grip on his blade.
"What if I touch a Jujutsu Sorcerer? Won't that be fun?" It announced with glee as it took off running.
Nanami was ready to face it once more, however, Mahito's intention wasn't directed exclusively to him.
In fact, he headed for Olga's direction.
In a childish manner, he stuck out his tongue and mocked the older man. "Bye-bye~! You're no fun at all,"
Nanami took off running after him. He wasn't going to let him do as he pleased when lives were on the line.
-with Olga-
Torn apart limbs scattered about the grimy floor. There were puddles of sewage and blood, unrecognizable through sight. The smell of both things mixed and formed a groveling stench which was uneasy to Human waste and dismembered human carcasses laid on the floor, weaving a tragic tale.
As the Grand Exorcist and Executioner, she was far from gentle with her methods.
All bloodied without a hint of remorse.
These bodies that had cursed energy forced into them were thoroughly cleansed and now they remain as simply just remains.
The place looked like a massacre.
The tangy smell of iron was dense in the air, and Olga was not sure herself whether it was the blood or her wires that caused a strong stench to permeate the enclosed space. It overpowered even the flowing sewage smell that was concentrated in that place.
It was quite ironic.
Even when she switched professions, similar scenes like this always seemed to follow her.
At least, these deaths were not on par with the catastrophic level of what she was used to.
There was a twitch.
Olga sensed movement from the discreet wires she planted around the tunnels and it would seem that a presence was heading for her.
Her wires spun into action and she spread them across the space, creating a web of defense around her.
"You're here!" Mahito loudly exclaimed with his legs modified, taking the form of a horse's hoof.
He charges at Olga with animalistic speed as Nanami catches up from behind Mahito. From the looks of it, Mahito had been battered by Nanami but not to the extreme.
Olga quickly linked that it had something to do with how he was able to reconstruct another leg after she dismembered him.
With the way the two were frantic to reach her, Olga deduced that Mahito had a sinister technique in-store for her and that was why Nanami was desperate to stop him.
A sensation crawled up her skin. Violently scratching her outer shell, as a new feeling emerges.
This…
This was good.
An unhinged elation and glee poured throughout her body.
She detached the wires from her hand, simultaneously letting go of her control on her technique.
Rolling up her sleeves, Olga prepared for hand-to-hand combat. She exposes the ominous crimson markings on her arms and it begins to glow. The image of thorns that were tattooed into her arm and it moved across her skin.
Her seal was being reinforced, however, even with this restriction, Olga was willing to take the risk.
To feel something, it was all for the sake of her leisure.
"Olga what the hell are you doing? Get away from him!" Nanami scolded while he sprinted.
Yet Olga stood there.
In the back of Nanami's mind, he believe he was unknowingly paired up with a suicidal maniac.
Nanami knew he wasn't going to make it to her in time.
But that was alright.
Biding her time and letting him run wild for now was worthwhile as she'll get to witness something interesting.
The woman raised her hands, ready to receive the devil as she recited.
"I shall embrace them…" Her tone was sombre.
Mahito could care less and as he got close to touching her, Olga slammed her hands downward with unrelenting power.
Without sparing any time, she packed a punch forward to its face. Though physical techniques may not have worked on Mahito, Olga discarded that thought.
He was now her punching bag.
As she unleashed her fury upon Mahito, her fists connected with his face and body. Each blow landed with a satisfying impact. She was fully embracing the thrill of combat, basking in the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
Nanami took in the scenery around them. Dismembered corpses were littered all over the floor, most likely Olga's doing.
What a horrifying woman, he thought incredulously.
So why did she stop using her technique?
On one particular move, Olga bashed Mahito's head with a force that caused his face to dent inwards, blood splattered disgustingly as numerous skull crushing crunches echoed throughout the enclosed space.
Yet, she failed to react in time for what happened next.
Despite being pummeled, Mahito was still able to muster a deformed smile on its dented face. With a mischievous glimmer in its different coloured eyes, it gripped Olga's hands, pumping its cursed energy into her body.
Though like the complications found in an open circuit, Mahito's Idle Transfiguration short-circuited.
"Huh?"
He experienced a rebound of cursed energy as immediately after touching Olga, Mahito was stunted by an unknown force.
Nevertheless, even if it was for a split second, he saw it.
The true outline of her ruined soul.
Her body had been reinforced with cursed energy prior, so her soul wasn't able to be shaped to his will.
Not that he could ever transfigure her soul in the first place.
Since no one else could take away that of which had already been claimed by the devil.
"Good grief," Olga coughed out a spurt of blood.
The impact did leave her a little disoriented as she staggered backwards yet still remained standing on her two feet.
Mahito was visibly shaken.
"Let's finish this… Nanami," Olga raised her hand, taking advantage of Mahito's temporary shock.
The man, though worried by the weakened state of his partner, puts work above all else. "Yes."
This time Olga did not attach the wires to her fingers, manipulating them as it is without her manual touch. They spiraled about, strengthened by the surge of cursed energy as she channeled more cursed energy into the wires. Olga's wires snaked around Mahito's body, pulling him at multiple angles, restricting his movements with an unrelenting force.
With a simple command by closing her hand, she tightened the grip on Mahito. To ensure he was fully incapacitated, she goes as far as to rip out his arms and legs from the body, leaving only its torso and head intact.
Mahito was still very much alive, but he struggled.
Shit.
The entirety of her body thrummed.
This was bad.
Steam gushed from her mouth.
She knew she had violated her Oath by relying on her innate cursed technique.
As Olga dropped down to her knees, she muttered. "Nanami, I'll leave the rest to you,"
The adrenaline that had fueled her fierce assault on Mahito now faded, leaving her drained. The consequences of going against her Oath weighed heavily on her, and she knew she would pay a price for her reckless actions.
The price to pay was to turn her insides into a slowed roasting inferno.
Nanami unraveled his tie, wrapping it around one hand. He turned to face the curse Mahito that was being restrained. Its regeneration capabilities were slowed thanks to Olga's effort as it dangled helplessly in the air due to Olga's metallic strings.
"Have your rest Olga-san." He looks down at his watch. "We'll be finishing soon and I'll be going into overtime, so rest assured, and leave the rest to me,"
With his reassurance, Olga closed her eyes.
She sensed his cursed energy spike but before anything else, she was out cold.
.
.
.
"This is fine. This is the punishment I deserve for becoming inhuman,"
Olga stared down at the dying man before her.
"You're human," She said softly. "But you did a shit job at being one. Farewell Callum,"
With her final words to him, he mustered a smile as Olga beheaded her first friend.
In the end she felt nothing.
.
A dream?
It's been a while since she had one of those.
Olga reeked. She shifts her weight, feeling herself sink into the seat, realizing that she was lying on a soft couch.
"Good, you're up,"
(A/N) I SAW THE ANIME SCENES ABOUT THE LATEST EPISODES AND AM SOBBING AND THROWING UP BECAUSE OF IT!
Guess I'll crawl into a whole and disappear….
Maybe for a week…
Just one week of recovery…
Then I'll come out again, I PROMISE!
Mentally, I am not okay. HEHE!
(Lowkey stalling behaviour here, I'm trying my best to proofread my chapters first before publishing them for you guys!)
ANYWAYS~ Mahito got his ass beat in this one! (hehe)
Nanami seems to become more trusting of Olga. Mahito's still a menace. AND YET, it's revealed that Olga's used to killing. ALSO, she does have moments of expressing her feelings although seldom.
Towards the end, the mention of Callum begs questioning.
Hmm, what do y'all think?