Warning: Blood and Gore.
"Vampires?! Are you serious?!" Nobara shouted from the left side of the car's backseat. She pulled back the strands of her brown hair from her forehead. "Geez. I really came to Tokyo at the worst time."
The class of Gojo Satoru were riding in a black vehicle as they headed for their first official mission. Their teacher absent due to overseas business, Yuuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, and Nobara Kugisaki were assigned to answer a stated case of emergency. A powerful curse, referred to as a cursed womb, has suddenly appeared over a correctional institution where non-shamans have reported to see.
As they were on their way to the location, Nobara asked about Yuuji's whereabouts yesterday, leading him to explain his meeting with Ciel and everything she had told him and Gojo. Suffice to say, Nobara was immensely creeped out that not only did such monsters exist, but that they were here in the city as well.
There go my plans for late night-shopping, Nobara complained bitterly. She really wanted to see the lights in Tokyo after dark, only getting a preview of it during dinnertime at that restaurant Gojo took them too. But if it meant risking her pure self under the fangs of some blood-sucking creep, she would rather stay in her room and shop online.
"How was Ciel-senpai?" Megumi asked. He appeared curious at the mention of blue-haired Executor, though he was also perturbed by the information of vampires appearing within Tokyo.
Yuuji, sitting in the middle seat, looked to Megumi beside him, "She seemed good. Oh! Right! Gojo-sensei mentioned it. You knew her a while back, right?"
"Huh? He does?" Nobara appeared shocked by the info. She then sends a teasing look to Megumi, covering her mouth to hide her smile as she tasted sweet gossip, "Don't tell me, was she your first love or something?"
"EH?! First love?!" Yuuji shouted and felt as if he trespassed on sacred lands. "Is it like that, Fushiguro-san?!"
"Stop it," Megumi demanded them with an annoyed expression. "It's nothing like that. I was seven when we met. She stuck around for a little while and then left. I haven't seen her since, until that day at the cursed building."
"O-oh, really?" Yuuji said with a hint of relief. He was worried that he nearly broke the rules between men and had been cutting into Megumi's chances. He definitely didn't want to be that guy. It sounded messy.
"How did you guys meet?" Nobara then asked, replacing her tease with genuine curiosity.
Megumi looked out the window, seeing the dreary sky full of dark clouds. It'll be raining soon. "She found me walking home from school alone and just stuck with me. We talked, she stayed in town for several days and that was it."
"That's it? How boring..." Nobara pouted. Megumi shrugged, keeping his attention out the window as Nobara added, "Well, if she's here to deal with vampires of all things, she must be something. By the way, shouldn't Jujutsu Tech High look into that? Not that I'm volunteering or anything, but..."
Yuuji nodded, agreeing with Nobara. "Sensei said that, since sorcerers aren't trained to deal with vampires, they probably won't be getting involved."
"Seriously? Even with all the murders happening?" Nobara was somewhat appalled to hear that. "What are they? Cowards?"
"You go try hunting for that vampire then," Megumi challenged. Nobara shuddered at the idea, somewhat peeved at Megumi's point being proven. "Ciel once told me stories about them. They don't operate the same way that curses do. It's probably better that we don't get involved. It's not like any of us know how to fight a real vampire."
"Yeah. We did kind of freaked out when those zombies showed up," Yuuji said with a bit of embarrassment.
"It's not like we were expecting them in the first place!" Nobara protested, crossing her arms as she looked out the window. Appearing to concede to the argument placed, though wasn't happy about it.
"But even then..." Yuuji started, intertwining his fingers as he looked down at his feet, "I don't think I can just stand by while these killings keep happening. It's not curses but... those people who were killed, the way that they were killed, they must have been terrified."
Megumi and Nobara noted Yuuji's deeply conflicted expression. They glanced at each other before staring back out of the windows. A shared silence between them over the conundrum.
"...If I may add something."
The teens were startled by the soft voice of their formally dressed driver, who had been overhearing their conversation the entire time.
"Oh! I forgot you were here too," Nobara bluntly stated. The men openly winced at her comment as she pondered for a moment. "Um, Ijichi-san, right?"
"Y-yes," the man with a withdrawn and nervous presence answered, adjusting the glasses over his eyes. "I was just going to say that Fushiguro-san is right. It's better not to get involved, but that's not to say that it's being ignored entirely. Rest assured that we are keeping a close eye on these vampire attacks. It's just that at the moment, there aren't any available sorcerers to offer any assistance. It's why this very mission has been assigned to you three, despite the danger it poses and the minimal experience you may have."
The spectacled man looked up at his rear-view mirror, seeing Yuuji's face that held a semblance of worry over the circumstances. "If an Executor - a vampire hunter, is already in town, it's safe to assume that she did not come alone. So long as they're here, they will handle the vampires. There's no need to worry. Right now, focus on being sorcerers. We'd be helping them by dealing with these curses just as they are helping us by dealing with these vampires, in spite of whatever animosity our groups have against each other."
Yuuji considered the man's words before he slowly nodded, feeling a bit more at ease before there was a sudden chill in the air. His skin crawled with goosebumps, and it was not only him. Megumi and Nobara felt it as well, and all three of them looked out of the same window.
"We're here," Ijichi quietly informed.
Their car reached a gated entrance where a small crowd had formed. After Ijichi spoke to a guard, he drove the group further into the area and stopped the vehicle completely.
Stepping out of the vehicle together, Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara looked up at the Detention Center building. The rain has already begun to fall as dark clouds hang ominously over them all.
"Your job is to go in, rescue the survivors, and come back out," Ijichi relayed to the group with a serious tone. No hint of reserve whatsoever as he explained the severity of the situation. "Under no circumstances should you make contact with a Special Grade. Doing so, your option is to either run away or die."
A Special Grade. The highest level of a Curse entity. Being new to the sorcerer business, Yuuji was confused as to what makes a Special Grade so special, much to the annoyance of Nobara beside him. Thankfully, Ijichi brought a flyer that was a "Guide for Idiots" to explain the scope of a curse's power. Fourth Grade being the lowest category. And a Special Grade requiring a sorcerer like Gojo to take care of it.
The cursed womb that resigned within the Detention Center had the condition to become a Special Grade, a level far beyond what First Year Sorcerers can handle. But due to the abruptness of the curse's existence, the lives that are at stake, and with no other sorcerer available, they had no choice but to rely on the first-year class of Gojo Satoru.
"-Excuse me! Excuse me!"
The group turns to the crowd at the sound of shouting. An elderly woman attempted to push past another black-suited sorcerer who was keeping her from entering the area. Her face full of worry. "My son! Is my son Tadashi alright?"
"I'm sorry ma'am. You cannot go any further," the sorcerer held back the distraught elderly woman. Ijichi explained to the others her presence.
"She's a civilian who came to visit one of the trapped inmates." Ijichi then spoke to the woman, his voice calm as he gave a reasonable cover of the situation. "A poisonous gas has spread throughout the facility. We cannot give any more information than that."
"Poison..." The elderly woman's voice trembled. The possible implication of her son's fate. She held her face as tears fell from her eyes. "No...! Tadashi..."
Yuuji's heart ached with empathy at the mother's sorrows, hearing her prayer to God as the black-suited sorcerer escorted her back to the entrance. He looked back at the detention center, new resolve fueling his heart.
"Kugisaki. Fushiguro," Yuuji called to his classmates as he cracked his knuckles in preparation. "We're going to save them. Everyone who's trapped inside."
"Of course!" Nobara asserted, matching Yuuji's determination. Megumi was silent, observing Yuuji for a moment before looking back at the detention center.
With this declaration, the class of Gojo Satoru began their approach to the cursed building. Yuuji once more pumping himself up as he stretched his arms. We'll definitely save everyone-!
"What happened to the door?!"
The second they entered the building, the would-be rescuers were ensnared in the cursed womb's domain. The interior of the facility defied all logic. Large pipes that spread out like bridges, tangling over each other like wires. Buildings within building cells loomed over them. It looked nothing like what they saw in the map layout of the detention center. It was supposed to be a simple two-story building for crying out loud. They couldn't even see the ceiling.
A Domain this expansive built by cursed energy alone. Nothing in the report stated anything like this, unless the state of this building - or the cursed womb itself, had already grown in power to a staggering degree within the timeframe of the sorcerers arrival. But this was completely unprecedented. Nothing like this should happen so fast, especially if it's only been two hours since the first sighting of the cursed womb.
Megumi immediately knew that something was wrong, and turned everyone's attention to the door they had just came through. But as soon as they looked, even though it had been ten seconds since they've entered the building, they were only greeted by a wall. Their entrance to the outside world completely sealed off. Even Nobara panicked.
"What do we do? What do we do?" Nobara and Yuuji chanted as they circled in search for the no-longer existing door.
"Calm down," Fushiguro told them. He ushered his white Divine Dog closer, having summoned him prior to their entry of the building. "Divine Dog has a scent of the entrance. He'll lead us back there."
Rejoicing, Yuuji and Nobara affectionately petted and cuddled the good shikigami, showering him with praise and promises of treats. Divine Dog was most pleased by the attention.
"Man, you really saved us, Fushiguro-san." Yuuji pressed his face against the white fur of the animal as he cheerfully smiled at Megumi. "With you around, we're gonna save everyone and us."
Megumi was silent. The dark hair teen gazed back up at the seemingly endless domain that they've entered. With such a distorted realm, there was a grim acknowledgement in his heart. A gut foretelling concerning the remaining people somewhere lost in this place – a place that those who weren't sorcerers have no guarantee to survive. Megumi looked back at the teen who was still cuddling his wolfdog's face with his hands.
…He's a good guy, Megumi ushered the others to follow, and his group started their search through the twisted domain, Too good to be a sorcerer.
They tread carefully through the halls. Megumi and his Divine Dog, along with Nobara, kept their senses sharp for any approaching curses. Yuuji, not yet in tune with his cursed energy, relied only on his eyes as he guarded his class's side.
Divine Dog suddenly began to growl then, and the group prepared themselves to fight.
"Up ahead," Megumi directed. Deeper into the hallway, two curses roamed there. A mangled-looking cloud of green flesh with a melted side, and a bloated, blistering worm-like creature who leaked ashes from its limbs.
"Fiiiiire…" The curses uttered. "I can't… feel it burning…"
"Nobara," Megumi called without looking back.
"On it," Nobara pulled out two iron nails, and shot them for the two curses. A dead point accuracy on both her targets, and her nails were swarmed in a blue and black flame of Nobara's cursed energy.
"Fire! No more fire-!" The curses screeched one last time before evaporating, exorcised.
"L-l-light…"
The group were startled as they heard a curse from above. They quickly separated from each other as a four-legged curse, with crumbling limbs like ash and melting exposed organs, landed in between them. The feminine-looking curse also carried burn-mark flesh, a gaping wound through its back. Its neck snapped as it slowly twisted its head towards Yuuji, who had already pulled out his Slaughter Demon.
"Fire-! Light-!"
The curse started to cackle as orange flames burst from its limbs, its distorted voice of a woman gone mad echoing the halls.
"I'm on fire! I'm on fire! Ahahahahahahaha!"
The curse began to pursue after Yuuji as its crazed laughter turned into a scream. Yuuji boldly ran towards the curse and slid underneath its tall-crawling figure, slicing underneath the curse's body with his Slaughter Demon.
The curse then received a blow from Nobara's fired nail at the back of the head, and its head erupted in cursed energy. "Sa…sa…"
The curse fell apart as its body withered away, the fire dying out. Yuuji stood up as he regrouped with Megumi and Nobara.
"Save me…" The curse quietly cried out before parting from this world, with none of her remains left behind.
Yuuji flinched at the sound of the curse's fearful plea. Just now, it sounded so human…
"Was there a fire that broke out here?" Nobara wondered, looking to Megumi who frowned.
"Nothing like that in this place's history, maybe there was one after the cursed womb appeared. The workers and inmates did leave in a hurry."
"Huh…" Nobara seemed skeptical but said nothing more, and they proceeded down the hall. Yuuji followed after them, though not before giving one last look at the place where the laughing curse had been exorcised.
As they walked further, the hallway steadily morphed into a tunnel. Working light fixtures on the side of the wall to give illumination. The dry floor met flooded with murky green water with a putrid smell coming from them.
"And I just had these shoes cleaned…" Nobara complained. Megumi ushered Divine Dog with a wave of his fingers. The shadow familiar sniffed the waters and wagged its tail.
"It's safe to cross," Megumi informed before stepping into the water. The water reached up to his ankles. "Watch your step."
Nobara grimaced, ruining her new pair of shoes once more as soon as she touched the water. If those inmates weren't the least bit grateful after her group came all this way, she's going to whack them in their heads. Yuuji followed in after, not bothered in getting a little messy, although he wished he would have brought different shoes, feeling the water seep into his socks already.
"Damn. Wet socks are the worst. I hope I don't get a cold after this…"
"Well you're an idiot, so you should be fine."
"What?!"
Megumi shushed Nobara and Yujji, seeing the hairs of his Divine Dog stand up. The white shikigami growled at something near the end of the tunnel. Ahead of them where the light seemed to stop its reach, there was a faint warm glow and within the darkness, the unmistakable shape of human figures could be distinguished.
"Are those-?" Nobara was about to ask, squinting her eyes as they slowly adjusted to the dark. Yuuji looked as well and he perked up. He hurriedly stepped through the water, ignoring Nobara's yelling at getting her leggings wet by the splash.
"Hey! Are you guys all-!"
Megumi halted Yuuji's pursuit for the human figures, yanking him by Yuuji's red hood and pulled him back. "Wait."
Before Yuuji could ask why, Divine Dog started barking. The pair of human figures turned their heads for the group, and slowly they moved towards them.
The warm glow grew brighter as the figures came closer. It was not the light of the fixtures, but in them. Bleeding through their black-charred figures, like magma taking human form. Their red eyes and mouth burned through their skulls. The unmistakable sounds of sizzling as black smoke spill from their bodies.
Yuuji's eyes widened, recognizing those 'people' as moving corpses, although they appeared different than before. Megumi glared at the approaching figures, and Nobara the only one to voice their reaction.
"No way…" She said, "More of these guys?! What are they even doing here?!"
Megumi did not answer as he had Divine Dog stand before them. His shikigami, however, suddenly barked at something from the walls, and Megumi shouted as he glanced back at his group. "Look out!"
Curses phased through the walls, reaching with its bleeding features for Yuuji and Nobara. They managed to duck and evade capture, quickly reacting with a slice of Slaughter Demon and a puncture of curse-fueled nails that flew into the heads of the curses, collectively exorcising them.
"Go!" Megumi ordered his Divine Dog. The shikigami sprinted through the tunnel, leaping into the air and striking its feet against the first undead. Knocking the corpse away, it then returned to bite into the head of the second corpse. Though just as it sunk its teeth, it instantly whined at the burning taste, and the corpse's red eyes grew brighter.
An instant flash of memory of when Megumi and Gojo encountered the undead hound, and how it instantly blew up into flames. Megumi's eyes widened, realizing his error and shouted an order, "LET GO!"
Divine Dog did so, retreating further back and behind the first burning corpse. But the damage has already been done. The bitten corpse eyes flared; its red mouth burned with orange flames.
"Everyone-!" Megumi yelled at his classmates who were startled by the sudden urgency in his voice. He interlocked his fingers into a Jujutsu sign, one that would summon something that could protect them. "Get out of here-!"
The burning corpse erupted into a giant ball of flames. The fire swarmed the tunnel, engulfing the other corpse and instigating it to explode as well, adding more power into the spreading fire. It would be an instant filling of the tunnel that would reach him before Megumi's new familiar would reveal itself. He could only watch as the flames grew closer to his equally stunned group.
A dark blue figure darted over them. Like an arrow, she landed in front of the class with a barrier summoned from her hand. The orange flames met the blue-clear wall of magical energy, simply trying to trample over it, but the summoner was unmoved.
"Huh-?" The group of three were surprised, recognizing the new figure just by her blue hair alone. The fire in front of them died out, and the girl in the nun outfit released her barrier.
"Ciel-senpai!" Yuuji and Megumi said.
"Fushiguro-san's first crush!" Nobara also exclaimed with a pointed finger, wanting to match the energy.
Ciel abruptly turned at the familiar voices. Her expression fell into shock. "Megumi? Yuuji-kun?!" (Nobara: "First names and everything!")
Seeing the entire class of three students, Ciel was utterly taken aback, swiftly turning to face the group. "W-what are you three doing here? This isn't a place for first years to be!"
They hear the fierce barking of Divine Dog. The white familiar hastily returned to the group, the tips of its fur burnt to a crisp, likely to have found a safe space somewhere and barely avoided incineration. The wolf faced the end of the tunnel again, where more enemies moan. Curses rose from the water and ceiling all around them, and a number of undead began to appear. Many of them carried a flaming or burnt charred motif on their bodies, bleeding intense heat. Ciel pulled out her set of black-tinted swords, about to fire them at the approaching enemies.
"Wait!" Megumi called to her and Ciel stilled at once. "Those corpses, they'll release another burst of flames if you strike them."
Ciel takes in the information, eyeing the curses and corpses closing in. "Understood. Please stand back then."
With swift motion as if her arms were whips, several of her Black Keys were fired, and each of them pierced the walls and floor underneath the water, surrounding the curses and corpses that had the group from all sides. There was a brief glow of Ciel's hand, and the swords alighted with blue energy. A glowing barrier was created, blocking the enemies from proceeding. However, some curses were able to slip through and began their pursuit of the group.
"Kill them! They won't blow up!" Megumi informed, recalling how the curses from before that shared the same charred appearance didn't erupt into flames. Maybe due to the difference in a curse's and corpse's compositions? Curses don't necessarily have physical bodies even if sorcerers can grab them. Whatever fueled these zombies with explosive elements, it seems only a human body can fully utilize it like a landmine, whereas it becomes a dud within a curse's body.
Together, the group dealt with both curses and the undead. The flaming dead that exploded into flames were blocked by Ciel's barriers, and the curses were easily exorcised by her and the sorcerers. The level of these curses ranged between Grade 3 and Semi-Grade 2. For so many curses to have gathered here already, the level of cursed energy in this place is insane. Like moths being drawn to lights.
In a few minutes, all of the enemies in the tunnel were vanquished. Nobara and Yuuji catered to the poor singed wolfdog, granting him loads of petting and the wolfdog happily wagged its tail. Ciel and Megumi then approached each other. Ciel being the first to speak.
"Why are all of you here? There's far too many curses in this place to send only three sorcerers." Not to mention the fact that these were freshmen as well. A cursed building in this state, from what Ciel understood anyhow, should only be entrusted to either a large team of experienced curse users or a small group of strong sorcerers like Gojo.
"We were called in after a cursed womb was sighted here," Megumi relayed with frankness, "It was an emergency and we were short-staffed, but we never expect it to be this bad."
Ciel looked troubled for a moment, wording out the vaguely familiar term, "A cursed womb. Isn't an entity like that capable of becoming a... Special Grade, was it?"
Megumi nodded.
"But that's still not right. If there really was such an enemy here, they should have never sent first years to-"
Ciel's eyes trailed over to the other two newest sorcerers, locking eyes with Yuuji who looked at her and Megumi curiously. Her breath quietly hitched, and her eyes briefly widened in realization. Megumi caught her expression and turned to Yuuji as well.
"...!"
It finally clicked, and Megumi matched Ciel's expression. This was a set up...!
He did think it was a little strange how a small bunch of first year sorcerers were handed this assignment that met the criteria of giving birth to a Special Grade, even if it was just a reconnaissance and rescue mission. But if this particular group has a special member among them, someone who is the vessel of a dangerous and powerful living curse, and a vessel who hasn't even learned how to use cursed energy yet, then it suddenly made more sense. Not only that, but if it meant getting rid of Gojo's entire class, up and coming sorcerers who has the qualities to change Jujutsu Society and its outdated practices, it's killing two birds with one stone.
This was a suicide mission from the very beginning. A premature, roundabout execution for Yuuji Itadori, and they just walked right into it.
"What's wrong?" Yuuji asked when he saw the faces of Ciel and Megumi. Nobara shared Yuuji's confusion and looked at the other two for an explanation. Megumi and Ciel broke their gaze away from them, avoiding having to answer, and silently agreeing not to.
"Hey," Nobara was not that easy to ignore, however, as she walked right up to them through the swishing of the water. "Just what are you guys whispering in your heads about?"
"...It's nothing," Ciel affirmed with a straight face. "More importantly, we should focus on getting all three of you out of here. The situation has escalated far beyond what first year sorcerers can handle. It's better to leave now and wait for reinforcements."
"Now hold on a minute!" Nobara suddenly exclaimed, raising her voice as she pointed at Ciel. "First of all, aren't you a vampire hunter? What are you doing in a cursed place like this? And why were there more of those zombies here that nearly burnt us to a crisp?!"
Megumi held up a hand, "Take it easy. She did save us just now."
Remembering how those burning corpses nearly fried them in an instant because of his carelessness, Megumi looked away, internally berating himself, "I almost got us all killed. If it wasn't for Ciel-senpai..."
"But it's fine now, right?" Yuuji spoke up, pulling Megumi out of his self-deprecating thoughts. "We're all okay. Plus, now with senpai here, we can rescue those survivors a little easier."
"Survivors?" Ciel repeated.
"There were seven people that didn't make it out in time," Yuuji explained, "We're here to look for them. Did you happen to come across anyone, Ciel?"
"Eh-?! No honorifics?!" Nobara said, very surprised. Megumi explains that Ciel is a foreigner - French to be exact - and so honorifics didn't matter to her. Nobara is impressed by this fact, especially now knowing that Ciel is a French woman.
Ciel frowned as she looked down in thought. "I haven't met with any survivors, although, I doubt there are any to hope for."
Yuuji, Megumi, and Nobara flinched at her blunt tone. The blue-haired girl faced away from the group as she kept watch of the shadows, keeping herself aware of anymore enemies to come. "This place is swarming with curses. Not only that, but those 'zombies' are a new type of undead that I have never seen before. This place is far too dangerous for even curse users to remain. It seems unlikely that those who don't have any powers would survive here for long."
If it was only one category of monsters or the other, then the chance of living through this is there, but for both curses and the undead to lurk within this facility, not to mention an even stronger predator hiding somewhere, the mortality rate of this place has skyrocketed past what normal humans and three rookie sorcerers can handle against.
Ciel turned back to them as she held out her black keys, "Right now, the only thing you must focus on is your survival. I will help you find an exit, but you must forget about your mission and return to your superiors."
"We can't do that!" Yuuji said, affronted by such a suggestion, "We don't know if the people trapped here are dead or not. If they're alive and we just leave, we're basically abandoning them to die!"
Unfazed by Yuuji's expression of empathy, Ciel merely started her walk through the tunnel. "If you insist on finding these people, then I will search for them."
She paused for a moment as she surveyed the damage of the ashes staining the walls, plucking her embedded black keys from the surface, "You arrived here with other sorcerers, correct? Or at least, those who are curse users but don't involve themselves in direct combat. I don't know if they're already aware of the situation, but if they aren't, then you must report to them. Tell them that the cursed womb has already manifested its own reality here, which may mean that the curse itself has already hatched."
Megumi and Nobara gulped. Hatched, in two hours? That's just too soon.
"If that is the case, then this entire facility has already reached a critical stage. This is beyond your capabilities, no matter how well you work together."
Ciel paused as she saw Divine Dog approach her, checking as well for any lingering curses or undead before stopping right beside her. Breaking out of her strict manner for a moment, she reached down and scratched underneath the chin of the white familiar. The animal wagged its tail and grinned up at her in clear recognition.
"There's nothing more you can do here," Ciel told them, "You should leave while you still can. I will look for the survivors, and deal with the cursed womb myself."
"I don't agree to that," Yuuji immediately said. "We should stick together and look for those missing people. Also, you shouldn't fight something so dangerous by yourself."
"There he goes again..." Nobara rolled her eyes at Yuuji's attitude, though she was starting to get the picture that this is just how he is.
Ciel blinked at Yuuji's words before a frown of her own came. "I am more than capable of handling myself. While it's true that I'm not an expert with these types of curses, nor am I officially an exorcist, I am a woman of the cloth and therefore, I have the means to deal with them. It should be no issue to me."
"Senpai..." Megumi said, side-glancing at Yuuji before giving his piece of thought, "I don't know about the monsters you hunt, but these curses aren't like those zombies. They're smart, and if it's true that the cursed womb has already evolved into a Special Grade, then you'll need help from sorcerers."
"That's right!" Yuuji said before Megumi suddenly adds.
"However, I agree that we should get out of here."
"Huh?!" Yuuji turned to Megumi in shock.
Nobara as well was taken aback as she asked, "For real? Why?"
Megumi looked back at his group, "Ciel-senpai is right. This is beyond what we were prepared to face. But we also can't leave until we can confirm the state of all the survivors."
Megumi turned back his attention to Ciel. "I think the best way we should approach this is-"
Their conversation came to a halt when they heard a voice echoing down the tunnel. "H-hello?! Is someone alive out there?!"
"Hey! Someone! Please help us!"
"Oh my God, help! Help!"
Several voices broke out through the tunnel. Yuuji immediately tuned into the shoutings, and bolted towards it. "Hey! We're coming!"
"Yuuji-!" Megumi and Ciel yelled, but the heroic boy was already gone, surprisingly quick at that. Even Ciel was caught off-guard by Yuuji's speed.
Is it because of Sukuna?
She couldn't stop to mull over it as she departed right after Yuuji, matching his speed in an instant.
"G-geez!" Nobara shouted as she and Megumi ran right after the fleeting two figures. "Just what is their training regime?! Are they both super humans?!"
Executors are no joke… Megumi thought in response to Nobara's bafflement. Yuuji, on the other hand, was just born that way.
Even before Yuuji swallowed one of Sukuna's fingers, the boy was celebrated for his monstrous strength in his hometown. Megumi never thought he'd get to see the day that someone other than Gojo could race Ciel.
The slowest of the bunch, despite being no slouch themselves, ran down the tunnel. The light of the fixtures dulled the further they proceed, until there weren't any left, though Megumi and Nobara could still see the path ahead of them. Their feet splash against the waters that increasingly grew worse in its stench and darker in color. Some kind of mold were rotting on the walls around them, and its smell was enough to make their stomachs turn.
Is this… Megumi thought, grimacing at the very strong scent of iron, blood?
The screams for help continued. There were voices of both men and women, and Megumi immediately found something wrong in that. The trapped survivors they were looking for were all supposed to be male inmates and guards. They were never informed of any women left behind, much less in an all-male prison.
He finally spotted Yuuji's figure. The teen was facing away from his classmates, standing still and looking at something. At Megumi's and Nobara's fast approaching footsteps, they heard Ciel call out to them in front of Yuuji, "Don't come any closer!"
Despite her warning, Megumi ran up to Yuuji's side. "What's-?"
He stopped when he saw Yuuji's face.
It was a look of shell shock horror. Yuuji's eyes were wide as he stared ahead. A sight of something truly incomprehensible, as if looking at a living nightmare. His mouth parted in quiet utterance, "What is this?"
Upon Nobara finally reaching them, she and Megumi turned to look ahead well.
"-?!"
The air was caught in their throats. The source of people yelling was uncovered, and what they saw was hell.
"-Let me out. Let me out. Let me out let me out let me out!"
"Hey! You guys are human right?! Get us out of this! Please!"
"Urrrrggghhh…."
Plastered on the walls, with some hanging from the ceiling and others littered in the water, were multiple bodies. Meshed lumps of flesh and entrails that were uttering all sorts of sounds. There was the unmoving dead, the barely conscious, the lost humanity, and the insane. Their bodies were beyond recognition of human anatomy. Blood-soaked sacks without any limbs, merely pink and red meaty texture of the surface than fellow humans. It was as if they were melted onto there.
There were inaudible screams that has long since died, as if having shouted for days. And those who were still fresh with their throats, not filled with the blood of painful screams, were the latest victims to be pulled into this hell.
"-mommy… daddy…"
A physical recoil from Yuuji as he heard that unmistakably young, crying voice. Megumi and Nobara tensed at it as well, Nobara expressing her disturbance more than Megumi, who was able to contain his emotions by clenching his fingers into a fist.
"A-a kid?" Nobara said as she stared at the appalling scene. "Why are kids here? Did the cursed womb do this?"
"Not a curse. A vampire."
Megumi and Nobara looked back down to Ciel who stood by the hanging bodies. She stared at the victims with an impassive expression, a contrast to Yuuji who couldn't look away from all the suffering around them.
"We received intel that several people have gone missing after they came to this facility to visit their loved ones. We decided to infiltrate the premise for any evidence of vampire activities. After sneaking past security, we were caught by what looked to be guards, but they were in fact thralls – servants for the head vampire. We went along with them, pretending to be lost visitors, and hoped that they would lead us back to their nest, where they were keeping all the missing people. But then…"
"The cursed womb appeared," Megumi realized, "And you were caught in its domain."
Ciel nodded, "I hadn't realized anything was wrong until the next hour when our entire surroundings suddenly changed, and curses started appearing. They killed the two thralls and in the ensuing conflict, I was separated from my associate. I've been wandering this place since, trying to assess the situation. I did think that there would be survivors, but I never expected that I would find the Dead Apostle's lair at the very same time a powerful curse decided to appear."
"Wait, we're in a vampire's lair?!" Nobara pulled her hammer close to her side, internally cursing her luck. "First a Special Grade, and now a vampire-!"
She was beginning to lean towards Megumi's suggestion of getting the hell out of here, but hearing all the terrified victims around them, she hesitated. How in the world were any of these people still alive like this? Was there even any hope for them?
"We have to get them down."
Breaking out of his stunned horror, Yuuji brought attention to himself as he started to move. "I can cut them out with my sword-"
Ciel stepped in front of Yuuji, blocking his way to the wall, "They're not wrapped in something. Their bodies are fused onto the surface, cutting them free will only kill them."
"Then what can we do?" Yuuji asked. There was a quiet plea in his voice as he offered his hands, "Tell us what we have to do. There's got to be a way we can save these people, right?"
"Yuuji…" Nobara uttered, hearing the soft cry of a child and causing her pain just by the sound of it. Megumi looked down in despondent.
"Do we have to bring someone in who can help? I can go get them, I'm the fastest. I-"
"Yuuji," Ciel prevented Yuuji from saying any further. There was no emotion in her face or tone as she followed up with a low voice, "We can't save them."
Yuuji froze, completely immobile as he took a moment to process her words. "…But they're alive."
"They're only alive because the vampire who did this to them wanted their blood to remain fresh, so that they can be consumed for later. It would be counterintuitive for a vampire to have their "blood bags" be able to escape, so it's made sure that they won't. The Dead Apostle never intended to have any of his victims leave here alive."
Unmoved, Yuuji persisted, "There has to be a way."
Unperturbed, Ciel responded, "There isn't. Neither magecraft nor cursed technique can help them. There isn't any hope for these people."
"Don't say that! We can't just give up on them!"
Megumi's expression grew terse as he walked up to the face-to-face pair. "Let it go," he told Yuuji.
Yuuji glared at Ciel as Ciel matched his gaze unwavering. Megumi grabbed Yuuji by the shoulder and stated once more, "Hey, I said let it go."
Yuuji turned his head for the stoic-expressed boy, his voice shaken in desperation, "We can't leave them like this!"
"L-leave?! Hey! Don't go anywhere! Y-you're gonna save us, right?!" One of the live humans on the wall stammered out.
Megumi glared back at Yuuji, "Even if we can bring them down, how are we supposed to carry all of them out of here? We were expecting seven people, we don't have the manpower to rescue everyone here."
"Then we'll go get more! I can get us more people!"
"There's already a Special Grade on the loose and this domain, even if it's incomplete, is running with curses. Coming back here isn't an option, and there aren't any other sorcerers who can help us. If there were, we wouldn't be here."
Though Megumi wondered just how true that statement was, considering that this mission was meant to be an indirect way of executing Yuuji, but Megumi had a hard time believing that the higher ups or someone else was aware that a vampire had been hiding here before the cursed womb showed up.
"Then that just leaves us," Yuuji pressed, refusing to stray from this. "We can figure something out."
"What about those other missing people we were here to find? Ciel said the guards are dead, so that just leaves us the inmates. We can't look for them and help these people at the same time."
"Uh, guys…" Nobara started, her eyes looking past Ciel.
Before she could say more, Ciel interceded. "Don't, Kugisaki-san."
The boys broke out of their argument, looking at the girls in wonder.
"What is it?" Megumi asked, following Nobara's gaze, which led Yuuji doing the same.
"…Ah!" Yuuji noticed the same time as Megumi. Lying against the wall, there were mangled corpses, but they were entirely different from those that were stuck on the wall. Two had their skins peeled, their bodies morphed into spheres, two others had half their bodies missing with charred innards as if incinerated, but one's upper body seemed intact, completely coated in blood that fell from the bleeding wall.
Yuuji leapt into action and approached the nearest mangled corpse, ignoring Ciel's warning and call to his name. He investigated the corpse with a grab of its blood-soaked attire. There was a nametag attached on the left breast, and Yuuji cleared off the bloody chunks with his fingers.
'Tadashi.'
Memory of the old woman who was crying for her son's return surfaced in Yuuji's mind, and he felt his heart and stomach drop.
"They're…" Nobara began, looking at all the corpses that were lying on the ground. Five of them in total, and some of them wearing matching prison uniforms. "They're the inmates who were trapped here. They don't look like they were killed or… done the same way as these other people."
Megumi looked up at one of the living people on the walls, "Did you see what happened?"
"W-what? Those guys?" The man from earlier spoke, looking at the grounded corpses with only his eyes, as his melted head was fixed into place, "Th-they were running through here. I told them to stop and help us, but they just kept running. Then they suddenly came back and… I didn't see it, but something attacked them. There was fire. Their bodies started to twist… they didn't stop screaming for a while…"
It must have been a curse... Megumi could only recognize the work to be as such. Or maybe the cursed womb itself. Shit, we really need to leave. Now.
The living man stared down at the inmates. "I just shut my eyes and begged that I wouldn't go out the same way… but now I'm starting to think that they were the lucky ones."
He looked back at Megumi, a terrible realization in his eyes that were beginning to well up in his slow epiphany, "There's no saving us, is there? I haven't been able to feel my body in so long now…"
Megumi only looked away. His hair fell over his eyes as he lacked the guts to answer to the man. If a curse did come by here, but chose to leave these people, then even curses could see these people were lost causes. Ciel was quiet as well, looking at the victims and their hopeless state before her eyes landed upon Yuuji and his clearly distraught face. The evident fathom of failing his first mission.
A twinge of emotion in her heart. Ciel held back expressing the heavy weight of seeing such a face and the cries of the victims around her. She simply started her walk past Yuuji.
"You have to report your findings to your superiors," Ciel critically instructed the group, "The first thing they should do is to completely seal off the area and evacuate any nearby civilians outside the facility. I will also place a bounded field to ensure that no curse or living corpses wander outside. While this domain is active, I can't be certain whether the Dead Apostle is currently here, or pinpoint the cursed womb's location. The three of you must leave this place, now, before either enemy take notice of you."
She looks up once more at the victims before adding, "If you are going to keep worrying for these people, I will take care of them. But there's no saving them, you need to accept that."
Yuuji looked up in a fury at her emotionless statement, unable to believe that this was the same girl who seemed so kind a few days prior. He stopped, however, when he caught a glimpse of Ciel's mouth twitching. She was looking away from him, but he was able to see the side of her face, his eyes adjusting to the dark as she looked upon one of the still breathing bodies in the wall. A lump of flesh no bigger than a bag, and Yuuji's heart suffered when he recognized the quiet voice of a little girl.
"It hurts... it hurts... momma..."
Teeth bared between Ciel's lips as her bangs hid her eyes. The fury she held at this horrible scene barely contained. She turned away fully, resuming her steady walk down the tunnel. "Let's go. We can't waste any more time here."
"...Wait," Yuuji said quietly. His face and the emotion in his voice sounding surprisingly calm as he looked back at the cold corpse in his grasp. "We have to take this body with us."
Ciel looked back with a start. Bewildered, she frowned at Yuuji, "You can't expect to carry all of their bodies outside."
Were his superiors that adamant to confirm the life or deaths of these people? As much as she can appreciate the thoroughness of Jujutsu Sorcerers – unless this was just part of the ploy of killing Yuuji, going by the books is pointless now that two unprecedented issues have been uncovered here. That being: the shared location of the Dead Apostle and the cursed womb.
"Then just this one," Yuuji said, determined. "His mother came to visit him today. She won't accept her son's death unless she sees his body. He deserves a proper burial. She's not gonna find peace until he does."
Ciel reverted back to her impassive expression as she heard this from Yuuji. Though behind her mask, her teeth grinded against each other behind her closed lips, and if she could without exposing her true feelings, she would have clenched her hands into fists.
Why…? She could only think. Why did you have to make this boy into a sorcerer, Satoru?
The reasons were already stated, but she cannot accept them. There was no such reason that would be enough to convince her that this was the correct path. The best path even. She refused to let that argument carry any water. This boy was simply too kind.
"Are you an idiot?"
Before Ciel would say as much, Megumi spoke up from behind Yuuji. The cursed boy did not respond, and simply readied himself to carry the corpse, slipping his hands underneath the armpits.
Megumi loudly "tsk"ed, and once more yanked Yuuji by the hood, pulling him away from the body.
"Leave him," Megumi only told Yuuji. His cold voice and eyes said that he was done with Yuuji's behavior.
Yuuji only glared back, declaring defiantly, "I won't."
"We can't even save these people. What makes you think bringing back a corpse is any better?"
Nobara stepped up towards the two boys, "Hey! Knock it off already."
"This guy isn't even worth saving even if he was alive."
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Yuuji demanded from Megumi, angered by such a disregard to another person's life.
"This is a detention center. Every inmate here did something to deserve getting locked up. This guy," Megumi pointed at the corpse Yuuji attempted to save. "He was driving without a license and hit a girl who was walking home from school. It's his second offense."
He tightly clutched the fabric of Yuuji's hood, "You said that you wanted to help others, give them proper deaths. But what if they end up killing someone else? You heard what Ciel said about those guards. They were luring people here and look what happened. Helping those guys would have let them to keep killing. You can't be sure that the people you save aren't bad people who'll end up ruining other lives in the future."
"If you believe that..." Yuuji quickly turned and grabbed Megumi by his collar, ignoring Nobara's shouting for the two boys to stop. "Then why did you bother to save me?!"
Megumi did not answer, and Nobara took this chance to physically separate the two. "I said cut it out! This is not the time to be fighting!"
"Hey! What are you guys doing?!" One of the other victims from the wall spouted, "Just get us the hell down already-!"
"You shut up!" Nobara pointed at the melted figure, "We are having a discussion here! You can sit there and wait!"
Her irate command actually had quite a number of the stuck victims to go silent. Admittedly, both Yuuji and Megumi were honestly impressed and appalled by her insensitivity.
"Nobara is right," Ciel spoke up, fully turning back to the group, "We are only wasting time by standing around here. Yuuji-kun."
She managed to gain his attention with this call and continued, "If you truly are so determined to save lives, then you must focus on the people you can save. To start with, focus on saving yourself and your classmates by escaping this place, then help the people waiting for your return to secure this location, so that you can save other people from sharing the same fate here."
Yuuji gritted his teeth in clear conflict over this. Megumi continued to frown at Yuuji, though he felt placate to know that Ciel was at least on his side.
"However, I am a bit disappointed in your attitude, Megumi-kun."
Eh?
Megumi looked confounded as he turned back to Ciel, who was giving him a disapproving stare. "If you really think that none of the inmates here deserved to be saved, then you shouldn't have made the trouble to come all this way."
"Huh?" Megumi only uttered. Yuuji and Nobara were also surprised as Ciel continued to scold Megumi.
"I, for one, would very much like to hear how you're going to explain to that mother that you decided to leave her son behind, whether he'd been dead or alive, because he had been a "bad person" in his life," she sassed at him, crossing her arms. "Regardless of people's actions, all people are sinners. It is not for us to deem them worthy or unworthy of anything in life."
Megumi retorted, "That's based on your beliefs. Sure. Not everyone can be perfect, but there's people out there whose done worse than others. Those people shouldn't have to breathe the same air as everyone else, especially the people they hurt."
"That's not for you to judge, Fushiguro-san."
"Oh damn, she just hit him with the last name..." Yuuji whispered to Nobara with a hand by his mouth.
Nobara nodded at him, covering her mouth as well, "And with the "-san" too."
Megumi felt ticked off at hearing the whispers of his classmates beside him. Ciel continued her talk with a light shrug, "It's true that there are worse people out there. Those who can atone for their sins, and those who cannot. But it's not up to you to decide who is beyond salvation. If all bad people shouldn't share the same air as others, then even someone like me shouldn't associate themselves with 'good people'."
"That's different. You are a good person, senpai."
"If you honestly believe that, then your views are even more skewed than I thought."
Another tick-mark at Megumi's temple as he heard this and Ciel resumed, "I'm an Executor. In my line of work, I have delivered judgement and penance to those that the Church view as heretics. Regardless of my service for humanity, I have killed and therefore, violated my commandment. But even so, I always pray for the lives that I've taken, because even I don't have the authority to judge whether their souls should be damned or not."
She gives Megumi a stern glare, "The world isn't divided into good and bad, Megumi-kun. Honestly, what would your sister say about your behavior-?"
Suddenly, Ciel sank into the waters, a yelp escaped her before she submerged under completely.
"Ciel!" Megumi and Yuuji shouted. Megumi dropped and sunk his hands into the water but only felt the ground beneath the dark liquid. Yuuji came to his side, looking over the water but didn't see any kind of hole. The water was only about a foot deep, where could she have fallen in?
Nobara was startled, stepping towards the group from behind, "She just-!"
She felt the loss of her footing as if the ground beneath her disappeared, and she too dropped into the water with a yell.
"Kugisaki!" Yuuji dived for the girl, his hands splashed against the water, but he was met the same result as Megumi. "W-what's going on?!"
"It can't be..." Megumi muttered, rising to his feet quickly with a hasty splash. Something attacked them just now. A curse? The vampire? But Divine Dog should have warned us before-!
"...aaaaaaah-!"
It was then that Megumi realized how suddenly quiet the whole tunnel was. Not even the barest of moaning from the melted people on the wall, apart from the small, horrific cry of a woman. He looked back at the people hanging on what remained of their dear life...
And found that his shikigami has joined them, its head that is. Embedded against the fleshy stone, Divine Dog's head was squashed against the silenced people. Broken and bloodied. Its maw open but no sound came out. Dead.
"-It's here. It's here!" The forever trapped woman hyperventilated. "Don't-! Don't-! Don't-! I don't want to die!"
"Itadori! Run!" Megumi shouted at the momentarily stunned boy, distracted by the sudden cries of terror from the tunnel until Megumi broke him out of it. "We'll look for Ciel and Kugisaki later! We have to-!"
He couldn't finish his sentence as he felt the presence of a dangerous entity standing right beside him and Yuuji.
A tall and muscular humanoid figure. White in complexion, and several eyes along the veins around its head. Its large teeth bared beside the teenagers, and simply observed them closely.
The boys were frozen in absolute fear. One unable to move, the other demanding himself to move. And the emotionless curse beside them silently daring them to move.