UNDERWORLD, HOUSE OF NYX, 34 DAYS TO ESCAPE
It took a fair amount of paperwork to finish even with Nyx's permission, but after a while Melinoe with all the necessary paperwork filled out was able to release Suguru Geto of his eternal punishment and get the authority to give him a cursed card. But Melinoe isn't naive enough to believe that someone from Tartarus wouldn't try to escape the minute they gain freedom. So there was a condition put in place, if Suguru Geto were to attempt to escape before Melinoe's escape or before the 34 days of the ongoing bet were up, the deal would be null and void and Suguru Geto would be back in Tartarus to continue his eternal sentence.
Geto did not put up an argument and signed his portion paperwork to work as Melinoe's trainer, he even claims that due to his death a year ago, his cursed technique is practically useless. That was a relief to hear, because giving a special grade sorcerer access back to cursed energy in the underworld spells nothing but bad news but at least she doesn't need to worry about it, for now at least. Upon his arrival Melinoe was already told how bad of an idea it was to have this man in the house, Megera was already aware of the things he's done while alive on the surface and granting him a second chance at life spelled nothing but trouble and that he was simply playing on her desperation.
"Listen princess, that man is the equivalent of five Typhons in terms of danger, he may be mortal, but Sorcerers are something else entirely."
Melinoe attempted to calm the fury "I understand your concerns, but I need this…"
"Look I miss Hades, Persephone, and Zag too. But you can't expect me to allow you to bring a monster like that back to life."
"Well, if I'm able to escape then I promise you I shall handle Suguru Geto."
"Yeah sure, you handle that guy? No offense princess but he's far above your paygrade, not even Thanatos likes the idea of touching that guy when he was alive with a ten foot pole."
"None taken, but I made a few connections back in my brief time on the surface. So trust me when I say I have that future problem covered." Melinoe reassured her with a certain egotistical sorcerer in mind.
The Fury sighed knowing that her words won't change Melinoe's mind "No changing your mind then. Well you're the princess, I'll trust your judgment but I have no faith that this won't cause serious problems for us in the future. I'm back on duty in five minutes so I'll be seeing you out there for another escape attempt, Melinoe."
"Glad we had this talk, Megera. Promise I'll get you next time."
"Pfft good luck." Megera smugly replied as Melinoe went past the fury and towards her brother's old room.
Upon entering the training grounds Suguru was already there waiting on his new student while drinking a bottle of nectar he got from the lounge. Melinoe was going to speak but he held up a finger telling her to wait as he continued to drink the entire godly beverage. Once he finished he let out an 'ahh' before beginning to converse with the princess "Wow I almost forgot how good it feels to drink… anything really. They say you don't truly appreciate something until it's gone, not like I really need to drink anyways being deceased and all."
"May we begin Geto?" Melinoe asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"I suppose we should." The curse user sat down on the floor in a lounging position which confused Melinoe, Suguru gestured her to get down and Melinoe did as he asked, sitting down with her legs crossed. "Tell me, how much did Gojo teach you about Jujutsu Sorcery?"
Melinoe put a finger on her chin to think "Well… I remember that cursed energy is powered by negative emotions, it's how curses are formed. I learned how to imbue my weapons with cursed essence to make them cursed tools, though I figured that one out by myself… and the art of veils which I saw from Ijichi. Let's see what else… higher ups are corrupt… cursed objects… curse grading…"
"Has he taught you anything about techniques and controlling your energy?" Geto asked.
"No, none of the sort."
"Of course he didn't." Geto chuckled and sat up from his lounging position. "Controlling your Cursed Energy is the foundation of Jujutsu. I understand you have cursed energy flowing through you, but it's almost as if it was sealed."
"Yes… I remember one of the side effects being that all the magic in my body gets turned into cursed energy, since then I haven't been able to use my magic or any of the techniques. I still feel as if I could do them but my body hasn't adjusted to the change yet."
"I'm not familiar with magic but from the sound of it you simply need to adjust the way your body channels the energy. Now learning how to channel the energy isn't easy, but at the very least you have experience so I predict you will catch onto it faster than most." Suguru Geto stood up and walked over to the exit as Melinoe stood up. "Now since we have a strict time limit we'll be having our classes outside, I hope you're ready princess."
"As you wish, Geto." Melinoe summoned Lim and Oros to her hands as the two of them dropped down to Tartarus.
…
The two traversed through Tartarus on their way to the next section of the underworld, Asphodel. But for the sake of Melinoe's growth, Geto did little when it came to clearing rooms and only acted in self defense when the occasional enemy came to target him or a blast from the wretches came to target him, Geto used his cursed energy to deflect the blast back to the wretches trying to stop Melinoe. It took them a few rooms for Geto to start his lesson as he wanted to see Melinoe's fighting style, her style with Lim and Oros complimented her speed and ability to land many blows before her foes could even counter attack. But most foes simply died within a few blows due to her new found body being superhuman. Their 5th room in and Melinoe dashed off to fight her foes as Geto picked a nearby wall to lean on. "Princess, allow me to explain the difference between cursed energy and Techniques."
Melinoe sliced right through a numbskull before she looked over to Geto "Explain away Geto." Melinoe said to Geto before she avoided the swing of a Wretched Thug that she parried and sent a sickle right through its head.
"Cursed energy and techniques can be represented by electricity and electrical appliances."
"Um… I don't understand technology too well…" She phased straight through another Wretched Thug and stabbed him dead which cleared out the room and revealed the rewards for the next room.
"It's not too hard to explain, electricity by itself is hard to control right? So by using electronics we can control electricity for a variety of uses. So think of cursed energy as electricity, and a technique as an appliance."
Melinoe thought about it for a bit "I… think I understand. So in that case what's your technique?"
"My technique? Well I'm afraid I don't have a visual but my technique is Cursed Spirit Manipulation. It's exactly as it sounds, I can control any cursed spirit I consume."
"You consume curses? How does that work?" Melinoe raised an eyebrow at that statement.
"Well when I exorsice a curse I turn them into a small little orb and I simply swallow it. I then have full control over the curse and any actions it takes including its techniques."
"Oh, so you swallow cursed essence."
"Essentially yes."
"Forgive me for asking but I'm curious, how does it taste?" Melinoe asked as she still vividly remembered the taste of the awful cursed concoction, she shudders just thinking about it.
Even Geto shuddered just thinking about the taste of one of those curses "Like swallowing whole a cloth that was used to clean up vomit."
"Gods, just as disgusting as when I had that cursed concoction…"
"Now imagine doing that on a daily to weekly basis, the best part about being dead is that I never have to worry about having to consume curses anymore. In all honesty I rather take whatever punishment the furies have for me then consume more curses." Suguru vented his feelings with a grin on his face as the two made their way to one of the doors to make it to the next room of Tartarus.
"Speaking of which, why are you down here in Tartarus? Only those who are judged to be terrible people are brought down here, so what did you do as a sorcerer?"
"Now now Melinoe, I'm not gonna share all my secrets that easily. You may be my student but I would rather keep somethings secret for the sake of our contract still standing by the time you escape." Geto wiggled his finger tauntingly which just made Melinoe more curious about what he did. But it was likely that she wasn't going to be getting any answers anytime soon, but there are easier ways of getting answers rather than directly from the man himself.
…
Melinoe had grabbed a few centaur hearts and soul tonics that seemed to increase her cursed energy capacity but not being able to use cursed energy yet made the rewards useless. Melinoe and Geto walked into a shop room where everyone's favorite boatman of the dead resided waiting for Melinoe to purchase his goods for obols. Melinoe went to check the selection and saw that there was darkness, a centaur heart, and a soul tonic for sale. The soul tonic was useless at this current moment so she purchased the darkness and centaur heart.
Geto himself had obols and went to reach for a soul tonic wanting to try one out of curiosity until Charon swung down his oar as Geto swiftly pulled back his arm to prevent himself from being dismembered. Melinoe saw this and put her arm in front of Geto "Charon! Do not harm him, he's my teacher!"
"Grrhhoooaaahhhhhh..!" Charon aggressively told Melinoe.
"Alright I understand, I'll tell him. I apologize on his behalf, Charon." Melinoe didn't understand anything Charon said but he could tell that the boatman had a hatred for him just from this one interaction
Melinoe turned to Geto and told him "Charon doesn't allow you to shop here, his siblings did not have the best words to say about you apparently."
"You understand him?"
"You learn his way of speaking after a while, but come on let's get out of here." Melinoe unlocked the door to the next room as the two entered through the doorway. Melinoe and Geto stepped into a room as the two immediately recognized the one winged fury dressed in her purple and gold attire while brandishing her whip.
Megera's usual scowl turned to one of surprise seeing Suguru Geto standing next to Melinoe. "You gotta be kidding me… princess don't tell me you are teaming up with him to get out of here, I know you desperately want to leave the underworld but this just makes you look pathetic."
Geto held up his arms and reassured Megera that her assumptions were not the case. "Relax Megera, I'm simply here to observe my student. She won't learn anything if I help her now would she?"
"This true princess?" Megera raised her eyebrow.
"He speaks the truth Megera, it won't exactly do me any good if I escaped by just having Geto do all the work. Nyx would probably call off our bet if I were to do such a thing in the first place." Melinoe confirmed as she summoned Lim and Oros to her hands.
"If that's the case then I suppose he can watch, it's not gonna change the fact I'm painting this room with your blood." Megera spun in the air and assumed her battle stance, getting ready to pounce at Melinoe.
Geto tapped Melinoe's shoulder as she looked at Geto. "For this fight try to channel your cursed energy, remember that cursed energy is deprived from negative emotions like sadness and anger."
"Okay I'll try."
"Do or do not, there is no try princess."Geto jumped off to the side to lean against a statue so he may watch the fight at a safe distance. Megera still doesn't enjoy the fact he's here but it's more trouble than it's worth to try and handle him so she has faith that he'll honor his contract.
Melinoe and Megera dashed right through each other as Melinoe was able to phase through her attack. She tossed the dagger at Megaera and went back in to continue slashing at the fury, the fury in response cracked her whip and cleared the area around her while sending Melinoe tumbling back. Megaera capitalized on this and dashed to Melinoe to stomp her dead, Melinoe quickly got back on her feet. Megaera flapped her wing sending volleys of projectiles at Melinoe who could only run and weave between the shots while waiting for an opening, once Megera had to catch her breath sending the volleys at the princess she had only a second to react to the princess who ran up and sent a flying kick to her head which Megera had to block with her arm. The burning foot seared the fury's skin as she grit her teeth from the pain, the princess using Megera's arm for support sent a kick right to her head and launched her into a pillar. The fury spat out some blood as her scowl grew even more fierce "Tsk… when did you get this tough…"
Melinoe walked up to the fury with her holding her weapons at the ready in case Megaera tried something "You could say I was cursed Meg."
Megera levitated off the ground as wretches began to be summoned into the arena, the fury began to cast flames which lead to the princess needing to sprint to safety as to not get hit by the pillar of flames. This was alongside Melinoe making quick work of the witches and thugs that were summoned to, Megera no longer was looking to go easy on Melinoe as she lashed her whip at the princess looking to keep her out of range. Blocking proved to be futile for the princess as any time she was struck by the whip it left a very visible wound on her body, the lashes were even strong enough to cut through the floor below them. She needed to use her magic to teleport in but she had no magic and still had no idea how to use cursed energy. Cursed energy came from negativity, she seemed to sprout an idea in her head. Getting to a safe distance Megaera prepared her whip waiting for Melinoe to advance on her but was surprised to see Melinoe standing still, the fury chooses not to advance thinking that this was a trick of hers. Melinoe took a deep breath as she replayed in her head the final moments before her death on the surface.
"Alright goddess, hit me as hard as you can. Get a good enough grade and I'll give the brat back his heart, fail and and I'll show you what happened to the witch."
Hecate, The Titan of Witchcraft, The Witch of the Crossroads, the woman who looked after her almost all her life, and the one Melinoe looked up to the most. What happened to her? What did Sukuna mean by showing her what happened to Hecate, there's no way he could have hurt someone as strong as Hecate. But that same curse was able to beat Chronos, as much as she wants to deny it that curse hurt Hecate in some way. Just the mere thought of that began to spark a fire in Melinoe, just how many people had that curse hurt all because of her shortcomings. If she hadn't failed to kill The Titan of Time all of this could have been prevented, her family would be safe, her relatives on Olympus wouldn't have lost their godhood, Nyx wouldn't be slowly losing her power of the underworld, they could have stopped Sukuna together and Yuji wouldn't have ate Sukuna's finger. Everyone could have lived happy lives, but that future was long gone and it's all her fault. Everything was her fault, all she can do now is try to right the near endless amount of wrongs she has caused.
Geto watching from the sidelines perked his head up at the sudden sensation of cursed energy radiating from Melinoe as his face grew a sly grin watching the princess. Melinoe opened her eyes as she looked over her body, she immediately could feel the power surging through her body while Lim and Oros flaired to life with cursed energy. Megaera knew what this power was and was on high alert ready for Melinoe to make a move, Melinoe ran at the fury who brandished her whip and lash at Melinoe but the fury was surprised when she hit nothing, and even more shocked when a moment later was slashed in the back by the sister blades causing heavy damage to Megera. Megaera couldn't keep back the powered up Melinoe as she tried her best to fight back against the princess but with this new found power what little resistance she could put up was beaten by Melinoe's aggression, and eventually…
"How could I…" Megaera's blood was splattered across the room as she fell back into a puddle of her own blood, soon disappearing to end up back at The House of Nyx. The cursed energy began to dissipate as Melinoe began to catch her breath and a sudden wave of drowsiness began to overtake her body. But despite her body telling her to collapse but the feeling of victory felt amazing, she began to smile feeling true joy as she stared at her hands feeling the tingly sensation the power of cursed energy gave her. Maybe…she'll be able to see Hecate once again and their training together could commence once again, after all her training will never be complete.
FURY VANQUISHED
Geto brought Melinoe back to reality with a pat on the back which started Melinoe a bit but calmed down quickly after seeing the smile on his face. "Well, I knew you'd pick up on it quickly but certainly not this fast. You've surprised my expectations princess, well done. But don't take this as you're back to your old self."
"What does that mean?"
"Try tapping into your cursed energy again."
"Alright." Melinoe took a deep breath and tried to tap into her cursed energy but after a bit of struggling the most she could manage was a few flickers almost like an old lightbulb that needed to be replaced. "Blast…"
"Nothing to worry about, this usually happens when someone taps into their cursed energy for the first time. You get it in a moment of high stress or sadness then you can never seem to recreate it with that same effect without practice, the first step of your training is complete."
"So what happens next?"
"Continue your trip without me, I'll be back at the house so don't keep me waiting too long unless you're for sure going to escape. But I'm not betting on escape this day, night, whatever time it is. Have fun princess." Black clouds shrouded Geto for a moment and sent him away back to The House of Nyx.
"See you soon Geto." Melinoe grabbed her reward of titan's blood and left for the next section of the underworld. Melinoe would be lying if she said that the fountains weren't the most refreshing things in the world right now since Meg did beat her down quite a bit. After a refreshing water break the princess traveled forward to her next stop, to The Fields of Asphodel.
…
Fields of Asphodel? What fields in particular because Melinoe must have missed them seeing how this whole area was flooded with a sea of fire that turned the whole area into what could be mistaken as a volcano, the little rafts she needed to take to move on certainly sold the aesthetic. As expected the denizens of this realm along with various wretches who serve Nyx impede Melinoe's progress as these foes were certainly harder to slay then the ones in Tartarus, Melinoe was certainly annoyed at the amount of skeletons in this region but don't tell the commander about that. At the very least she did meet a Nymph who resided in this area with one of the most beautiful voices she's heard, it almost reminded her of Scylla during her trips through Oceanus but without her trying to claw out her eyes.
Her name was Eurydice and she immediately could tell the similarities between her and Melinoe's brother Zagreus due to her eyes and scorched feet, she was a very kind woman and offered Melinoe some of her cooking, the talk was brief but she seemed very kind and she would love to see her once again when she comes back here to Asphodel to escape. Her run unfortunately ended when she boarded The Barge of Death and a combination of Voidstones and several Inferno Bombers were able to deal with the Princess and send her back to The House of Nyx as she was blown to pieces with her body sinking into her own blood.
THERE IS NO ESCAPE
Emerging from the pool of blood Melinoe was once again greeted to the scenery of The House of Nyx, but surprisingly the princess was not in a foul mood. Progress has been made and she made it out of Tartarus this time, but the happiness of progress was short-lived by the lord of the house Nyx standing by the pool waiting for Melinoe. Night Incarnate stared at a pocket watch in her hand waiting for Melinoe to return as she averted her attention when she saw the princess walk out of the pool and shaking off any excess blood. The two stared at each other with Melinoe visibly startled by Nyx's appearance with her not being behind her desk. "It's officially been one week, Melinoe, let's talk."
Mother night walked towards Persephone's garden and Melinoe followed, giving the incarnation of night a nod. The two arrive at the depressed Cerberus as he has yet to move from his spot since the day Melinoe got here, it's saddening to see the hound of hell like this but what could anyone really do other than mother night comforting one of its heads. As Nyx comforts the hound she begins to talk with Melinoe "You've certainly grown since the last time we talked, child."
"That cursed concoction gave me a new found power but I certainly didn't expect it to change my body. But I never felt as confident in myself as right now, you and your forces aren't going to win this wager Nyx." Melinoe said, looking up at the tired goddess.
"You remind me of your brother all too much Melinoe, you both share that same fire and unbreakable will to push forward despite the odds along with how many times you both fail. I am aware of your goal to kill the Titan of Time in the past, I cannot thank you enough for your efforts."
"But I failed? I'd suspect you of all people would be angry with me since all of this is my fault."
"Who put such thoughts in your mind? None of this is your fault Melinoe, everyone made their choices willingly and for their choices it's no fault of your own. I made the choice to watch over your father's duties, Olympus made the choice to give up their godhood, there is no one set person to blame for the events that transpired."
"Why are you even trying to cheer me up and convince me otherwise, I'm trying to escape from your realm, we are supposed to be against each other? What game are you playing with me Nyx?" Melinoe's face turned to a scowl.
"Nothing of the sort, while it would benefit us more for you to stay, I don't wish for us to despise one another. At the end of all of this win or lose you will take the title of Queen of the Underworld and Lord of the Dead. I just wish for you to not hold me in contempt shall the outcome not be in your favor, I would not want to imagine the disappointment in your mother's face knowing I kept you here against your will." Nyx looked away from Melinoe as the goddess of night could feel her mouth begin to tremble as she began to lose her composure.
"Nyx… I don't hate you. I'm the selfish one wanting to leave so I can find a few people who I'm not even sure will still recognize me after all these years. I still blame myself for everything that happens and I swear I'll make everything right once I find my family and Hecate. After that I'll serve my role for the rest of eternity, I promise."
"Thank you for reassuring me, child." Nyx began to walk out of the garden but turned around to say one last thing "I have but a request if you do end up escaping, do try to find Nemesis and Eris for me. Tell them I wish to see them again."
"Wait, you don't know where they went?"
"I wish I did, but alas none of them have been seen since the war against Chronos ended. But ever since your arrival I suspect they might have shared your fate. Now run along, you have freedom to achieve child."
…
Well… that talk went way better than expected, both Nyx and Melinoe reached an understanding with each other and the two likely will be on good terms no matter the victor. Even with her rudeness up to this point and the fact that she would even dare oppose Nyx at all despite the power she holds even in her weakened state, it's almost as if Nyx wants Melinoe to leave but with the current situation going on right now it makes sense that Melinoe needs to stay. Even little part of Melinoe is questioning whether it's even right to leave and how long would it even take for her to find her Hecate and her family, not to mention she has to apologize to Yuji and everyone at Jujutsu Tech for practically killing herself trying to save Yuji. Gods he probably is beating himself up over it knowing what type of person he is.
Oh right, she's probably been keeping Geto waiting awhile with how long it takes for her to be rebirthed from the pool of styx and with the brief talk with Nyx, he's probably been annoyed waiting for her to get back. Walking into the training grounds Geto once again was lounging about but this time he had a bottle of nectar and a bag of chips, where in the name of Hades did he get that…? He looked up from his snack and quickly got back on his feet "Took you long enough princess, wretches in Asphodel got you huh?"
"You'd be right in your assumption, now what's next in our training Geto?"
"The next part of our training is keeping a constant flow of cursed energy so it will be as natural as using magic. For the remaining time we have together we will be going through rigorous training with a combination of escaping the underworld and fighting me. Normally I'd wish we could spend more time together as I'm confident I could make you a stronger sorcerer than any of those at Jujutsu Tech could, but we can't afford a luxury such as that when we are on a strict time limit."
Melinoe was taken aback by that first part "Wait a minute… you want me to fight you?"
"Relax I'll go easy on you, even without any curses to use my cursed technique I still could kill you in less than a minute." He said in such a calm manner with that usual smug smile he had made his words much more terrifying.
"Well I'm in no place to give objections, when do we star- HRGH!" Melinoe had a cursed imbued gut punch delivered by Geto which knocked the air out of her system.
"Always be on your guard Melinoe, curses will never give you the time of day to breathe. Now let's see how long it takes for you to knock me down." Geto sent a roundhouse kick to Melinoe's head but hit nothing but air as the princess dashed away to give herself some space but Geto was quick enough to get right in her face and unleash a flurry of blows. This was the start of the intense training between Melinoe and Geto as Melinoe would try her best to send her teacher to the floor but Geto was not above using dirty underhanded tactics to fight Melinoe as in his words "Curses are not bound by honor."
…
SURFACE, JUJUTSU TECH, 20 DAYS TO ESCAPE
Nobara inserts a couple of coins into one of the few vending machines Jujutsu Tech has on campus, the selection of drinks was pretty crumby if you preferred to have some actual flavor in your drinks, water, unsweetened green tea, cranberry juice, bleh. Lemon sparkling water isn't that bad but still, care to have anything more sweet once in a while? Her drink dropped with a clunking sound which she then picked up and cracked open, very refreshing after the training they did today, but now Maki has them to go run errands before they continue later on. "I wish we had more vending machines…"
"Not gonna happen, we're strict on who we do business with." Megumi replied, it's not exactly easy to have construction companies come over when the whole goal of Jujutsu sorcerers is to keep the public safe, which means there's not really any room for visitors of any sort.
Meanwhile elsewhere, the second years Maki, Panda, and Inumaki traveled together through the campus. They were called off campus briefly but nothing major happened thankfully, Panda was noticeably looking around the campus then brought up the question. "Hey, where are the first year crew?"
"Running errands." Maki told him.
"Salmon."Inumaki stated.
"Are they gonna be okay?"
"They're not 3 year olds Panda, they can do some simple errands." Maki said in an annoyed tone of voice.
"No, that's not what I meant. Isn't today supposed to be when Kyoto school comes over to go over the plans for the exchange event?" Maki turns to him with a surprised expression as Panda continues "Satoru is already fighting with the higher ups over sending the first years on that special grade case, and the Kyoto principal is one of those higher ups so what's gonna happen if they start something?"
"Look, the first year they were targeting, Itadori, is dead along with that other girl Melinoe I think her name was. Kugisaki and Megumi did nothing wrong so they should be in no danger, besides it'll be in broad daylight so the Kyoto Geezer wouldn't want to make a scene."
"Teachers have their reputations to worry about, but students on the other hand…"
"Don't tell me mai is here…" Maki said as she grit her teeth.
"Probably not, student's usually aren't invited to these meetings but you know Kyoto students… They love to talk trash."
Back with our two first years, they have unfortunately come face to face with said Kyoto students. One was a very tall muscular man with a large scar over his left eye and had muscles that were screaming to be let out of his very tight shirt. The other was a beautiful young woman wearing a sleeveless dress, but what was most interesting about her was her striking resemblance to Maki Zenin. While Nobara didn't have a clue on who these two randos were, Megumi knew all too well "Mai Zenin? I'm surprised to see you, what are you doing here?"
"Wait a minute, Maki has a sister? Well they do look alike." Nobara after a quick examination could see the resemblance.
"Yes, their twins."
"Don't call me a twin Fushiguro." Mai finally spoke up. "You make it sound like me and Maki are equals, just call me Mai for now on." Mai said with a wink but it wasn't one of seduction, it was to make them feel uneasy.
"So these are the two to replace Okkotsu and the third years?" The muscular man asked rhetorically.
"We came with the principal because we were so worried, we heard two of your classmates died, it must have stung huh? Or did it not hurt you at all?" Mai had a smug smirk on her face which made it clear as day she was trying to get a reaction out of these two and Megumi already took the bait. "What are you trying to say?"
"Hey it's alright, somethings are hard to admit out loud, so let me say it for you. Calling him a vessel sounds nice, but in reality he was a half curse monster. Having that vile facade of a human calling himself a Jujutsu Sorcerer alongside that pathetic other girl who killed herself trying to prove otherwise must have been revolting right? So aren't you two feeling better now that they're dead?" Megumi and Nobara were beyond furious with this girl, hell if that giant guy she was with weren't here then Nobara would beat this girl half to death for bad mouthing Melinoe and Fushiguro would probably just let her.
"Quit yapping nonsense Mai." The large man walked forward "I'm only here for one thing, and that's to see if they're worth replacements for Okkotsu and the third years. That's all I wanna know! Fushiguro was it..? "
"WHAT KIND OF WOMAN IS YOUR TYPE?!"
Fushiguro and Nobara were beyond confused hearing that statement and the blank confused expression on their faces didn't hide an ounce of it. "If I don't like your answer I'll beat you half to death right here, after that I'll drag Okkotsu and the other third years suspended or off the grid!" He had a gigantic smile on his face as he ripped his shirt clean off as if it were parchment paper and took a stance to show he was ready for battle. "By the way… MY TYPE OF WOMAN IS A TALL ONE WITH A BIG GORGEOUS ASS!"
Fushiguro had to take a moment to process everything this man said as something that actually happened, who goes up to someone and asks what their type is then proceed to give that answer? "Why would I discuss my taste in women, especially with you. A guy I just met?"
"Yeah seriously, it's hard for a closet pervert like him to answer any of that." Nobara said bluntly, which made Fushiguro grow more angry at the situation.
"Not helping Kugisaki…"
"Kyoto third year Aoi Todo. Introduction over, now that we're friends, hurry up and answer my question. If you prefer men that's fine too. A person's fetish reveals everything about them, people with boring taste in women are boring people in general. The exchange event is where my soul can be free, and since this is my final one I don't know what may happen if my final exchange event ends up boring me. I'm offering too much slack only to beat you half to death so answer me Fushiguro, what kind of woman is your type!?"
"What is this some sort of comedy act…" Fushiguro assessed the situation, Nobara is unarmed so fighting is out of the question. He'll just have to play along so they can both come out of this unscathed but what is his type? Looking into his mind he couldn't come up with an answer, he never really had romantic feelings for anyone before so it made things difficult. The only answer he could think of was a green haired forsaken girl who he failed to protect. "Look I don't really have a type… but as long as she's compassionate and has an unshakable character I don't need much else."
"Huh that's not a bad answer, if you said something like big boobs then I'd definitely have to kill you for sure." Nobara compliments him on his choice, and honestly good thing he just asked Fushiguro that question because if she was asked she would have described Melinoe to a tee and they don't need to know her feelings about her.
"Shut up…"
"I knew it…" Todo let out a few sniffles as his eyes began to water with tears, his worst fear had come true at long last… "You really are boring, Fushiguro."
Megumi's eyes widened as he only had a moment to block, Todo moved like the wind as he ran up to Fushiguro with a clothesline strike as his blocking did little to nothing to stop Todo's overwhelming strength.
"Fushiguro!" As Nobara was about to run over to help her fellow sorcerer she was held back by Mai as she began to talk into her ear "Even with Megumi starting school as a second grade sorcerer he's nothing more than a first year compared to the top grade Aoi Todo, I guess I'm gonna have to check later if he's okay."
"...Y'know at first you two looked alike, but nah… Maki is 100 times prettier than you are." Nobara told Mai as that seemed to tick her off "Trouble sleeping? Your pores are opening up."
"Watch your damn mouth…" Mai pulled out a revolver and aimed it toward Nobara's liver. "Or I'll have to teach you a lesson."
Back with Fushiguro and Todo, Fushigruo recovered from the heavy hit Todo landed on him as the third year began to talk to Megumi "I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you Fushiguro that you were a boring guy. But they say don't judge a book by its cover so i asked anyway, but you broke my heart Fushiguro, you trampled all over my kindness!"
"Your head looks like a pineapple, and you are as smart as one too." Fushiguro just had a realization, was this Todo that Todo? The first grade sorcerer during the terror attack by Suguru Geto. The Parade of a Hundred Demons, he slayed not only a special grade curse, but five first grade curses by himself. "I heard you don't use cursed techniques, is that true?"
"Nah that's just a rumor, I used it against the special grade." What is this guy a monster?!
"That's good to know!" Fushiguro put his hands together forming the signs of Nue and Gamma as a gang of winged toads popped out of his shadow with some on the ground and others hitching a ride on his body. Todo doesn't use techniques so he must be a close ranged fighter, he'll have to keep his distance if he wants to get out of this situation ali-
Todo knocked away all of the Nue+Gamma shikigami in the blink of an eye and held onto Fushiguro's waist. This guy is too fast for him to keep up with, was he going easy on him earlier? "Weak in both body, and taste in women." Todo raised Fushiguro and sent him into a powerful reverse piledriver. Fushiguro began to bleed as he jumped backwards to recover as Todo nearly crushed him to death, the Kyoto student didn't give Megumi a second to breath with his powerful strikes overwhelming Fushiguro, his punches were like wrecking balls being swung at full speed. Todo grappled onto his face and slammed his head against a wooden structure, visibly cracking the wood. Fushiguro visibly struggled against the Todo to no avail but noticed the sounds of stone cracking underneath Aoi Todo's feet. "Just wait, I'm not finished with you!"
Todo threw Megumi through the wooden tower as the first year was sent crashing through tons of wooden beams to get to the top of the tower with Todo chasing after him "Like I said… so boring!"
Todo was ready to punch him back down through the tower but three Nue+Gamma fusions threw their tongues out to catch Todo's body, but let's be honest even dental floss would have restricted him better than his. Todo landed on the ground and using his sheer strength broke the tongues of the fused Shikigami as Todo was starting to get bored "Are you even trying to fight back?"
Fushiguro got back on his feet as he felt his whole body begin to bleed and in a fit of rage he began to hold his arms up with his hands formed in a fist. "I've been holding back this whole time, fine then if you insist… then I'll show you."
Todo could feel his heart pumping as a smile formed on his face "Okay bring it!"
"With this treasure I summon…"
"DON'T MOVE."
Inumaki's cursed speech made Aoi Todo come to a complete stop. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" The shadow of Panda came overhead as the bear punched Aoi Todo square in the face with enough force to push the man back but Todo still was flat on his feet.
"Whew made it just in time."
"Fish flakes." Inumaki pointed at the beaten up Megumi.
"Or not…"
Aoi Todo spat out some blood from his mouth and had a big smile on his face. "Hey, long time no see Panda."
"Why couldn't you have waited for the event? Get out of here before I start screaming 'Noooo!' "
"Haha, you don't gotta ask me twice. Better go until you know who finds out about this."
"Who?" Panda asked,
"AOI TODO GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"
"Fuck…"
A loud voice of a woman sent shivers down everyone's spine as Panda quickly got his answer of who Todo was referring to. The Tokyo student's weren't in trouble but even they were afraid of the woman who shouted out Todo's name. Inumaki began to stutter the word "G-Ghost p-pepper…"
Back with Nobara she has definitely seen better days, she was passed out on the floor and full of bullet holes. But as she began to wake up she surprisingly felt little to no pain at all as she saw a giant woman clad in silver armor with a hand over her stomach as Nobara was treated to her golden piercing eyes along with an expression that no one could mistake anything for but furious. It practically scared the soul of Nobara as she shot wide awake of this terrifyingly strong woman, she backed up quickly but the armored woman tried to comfort her. "Relax sorcerer, I'm not gonna hurt you. My name is Nemesis Onken, I teach at Kyoto and I'd like to personally apologize for my students assaulting you and Megumi." Nobara could see the ever so confident Mai now sat on her knees trembling in fear from her teacher's presence alone. But to her relief even she saw a familiar face in Maki Zenin who was making fun of her twin sister for being scared to death of Nemesis.
Todo quickly came down to the armored woman and kneeled to her with his head down. Nemesis pinched the bridge between her nose as her voice was stern and furious. "Is this why you two idiots wanted to come so bad? Here I was thinking I could trust you two to be on your best behavior while Yoshinobu and Yaga talk. You know how embarrassing it was to have to see the blindfolded idiot and talk about how good of progress my students are making… TO THEN SEE TODO THROW MEGUMI THROUGH A TOWER AND HEAR GUNSHOTS?!"
"T-Todo started it Ma'am!" Mai quickly let out trying to get off as easy as possible.
"I don't want to hear it Zenin! We're leaving this instant." Nemesis pulled both Mai and Todo's ears as the two struggled and let out various 'Ow ow ow' sounds. "Maki, thanks for you and your pals stopping these two dumbasses, good luck training the first years. Now let's go you two, Todo you can forget about that Takada meet and greet."
"NOOOOOOOO!"
"Shut it, meathead." Mai grunted.
The three Kyoto sorcerers left but even so Aoi Todo's screams can be heard throughout the campus. Maki helped Nobara onto her feet as the tired red head leaned against her senior's shoulder. "Damn, Mai ruffed you up real bad. Always take a weapon with you wherever you go next time, okay? Come on let's go see Shoko"
"Y-Yeah… sure thing Maki." Nobara put an arm around her as Maki helped her junior sorcerer walk to the infirmary. Even with the bullet holes in her she appreciated Maki's kindness and really respected her despite her lack of cursed energy, she was so damn cool.
…
UNDERWORLD, ELYSIUM, 5 DAYS TO ESCAPE
A lot of progress has been made since a month's time so where do we even start? The first week it felt like Geto was just beating her up for the fun of it with how much he played around with their training. But Melinoe began to adapt, she began to match Geto's speed more and more, and eventually she could go toe to toe with him for hours at a time. Getting through Asphodel wasn't much easier than Tartarus, Geto would sometimes come on her escape attempts but as usual didn't help. He instead made things harder by giving her the challenge to not let any of the wretches touch him otherwise he'd pocket her reward, very annoying but she has no right to complain about his methods. Then came to the Lernaean Bone Hydra, she was defeated on her first two attempts but on her third attempt she learned the Hydra's patterns and took it down with ease. But it seemed to drop a diamond along with a ball of cursed essence. She remembered Geto's cursed technique and offered it to the curse user who proceeded to swallow said cursed essence. He needed to drink a lot of fountain water to wash it down.
On the topic of cursed energy Melinoe was able to grasp the form of power very quickly to where now it's almost like using magic. She could the omega attacks from her sister blades again and could form cast rings once more. Add that with the Mirror of Night boosting herself the more she fed it darkness as she once again had the power of the death defiance. But she felt as if something was missing, this new power of hers made her stronger than ever before in her base, but she can't help but miss the feeling of the blessings the gods of olympus gave her. She could make it through the underworld quite well with her new found strength but she lacked the power her relatives gave her. But beggars can't be choosers so she must manage with what she has.
Now onto Elysium, traversing through this area was by far the most difficult, deceased warriors of all types came to impede her progress as they hit her hard. More annoying enough was the fact that they could respawn if Melinoe didn't deal with the souls they dropped. Not to mention those blasted butterfly balls they call Soulcatchers, gods they are the worst. But through trial and error she made it to the final chamber of the region, she heard from Hypnos that the reigning champions were the once King Theseus and The Bull of Minos, he retold the events of how her brother used to get beaten to a pulp by them so she's not too confident about this but she can't afford to give up to no one, she had to beat the champions here and now. She unlocked the door and entered the arena, but surprisingly she wasn't greeted by a king and a bull. She was greeted by a sorcerer.
The minute she entered the room the cursed energy flowing from the man was immense, almost on par with Gojo and Geto. Her opponent had hair of cyan, disheveled but had two tied buns that seemed to conduct some type of electricity. Under his eyes were two zig zags markings that she couldn't tell if they were there by birth or tattoos. His outfit was pure white from top to bottom, he had his hands behind his hand yawning until Melinoe stepped in. That's when the sorcerer began to grow a huge smile on his face. "Well would you look at that! A fellow sorcerer has entered the arena, you can't use cursed energy without one of those cards. Tell me, who slipped you a card?"
"No one did such a thing, I'm the princess of the underworld and I used my authority to buy it. Now tell me who are you exactly? I was expecting Theseus and Asterius here but it seems someone else took their place."
The new champion snickered at the thought of those two. "Oh what, those weaklings? Took care of them in five seconds flat, they can't even use cursed energy and they're 'The Champions'. Can You believe such a thing? Oh and you can just call me Kashimo, The God of Lightning."
Melinoe's face scrunched as she could just feel the ego this man has calling himself a god, it's like a static shock compared to the power of Lord Uncle Zeus."Well as much as I'd love to humor you I'm quite busy trying to escape the underworld so if you'd be so kind as to move aside I would be ever so thankful."
Kashimo slouched over as cursed energy overflowed from his body in the form of electricity " Sorry beautiful, but a guy named Moros slipped me a card as long as I stopped a pretty girl in green hair with a spectral arm and what do y'know. You fit that description to a T, so come on, show me what a sorcerer of the modern era can do!"
"Fine then, bring it." Melinoe summoned Lim and Oros to her hands while Kashimo kept his weapon on his back. Melinoe dashed towards her opponent but the second her intangible state ends, lightning struck Melinoe as Melinoe was sent back into a pillar within a blink of an eye. Not even her cursed energy could dull the hit from his attack, not to mention she couldn't even see him coming.
"Aww whaaat? You couldn't even react to that? This is gonna be no fun…" Kashimo says disappointed.
"Don't you dare underestimate me." Melinoe sprinted from the pillar and teleported behind Kashimo with an omega attack. But the self proclaimed god simply dropped to the floor and avoiding the attack as he spun his legs and shot himself upwards with a spinning kick, hitting Melinoe right in the jaw which shocked her upon contact along with sending her flying. Kashimo did not let up as when Melinoe was going to crash to the ground Kashimo strikes her back up while repeatedly shocking her as the crowd cheered every time Kashimo juggled The Princess. The aggression only stopped when Melinoe was forced to use a death defiance and allowing her to crash to the floor, even then her body still felt the jolted effects of Kashimo's cursed energy.
Kashimo looked to the crowd and began hyping them up for more lighting fast action. In his arrogance Melinoe was able to set down an omega cast ring beneath his feet which caught the sorcerer off guard as he was stabbed repeatedly with his center of mass being locked in place by the ring which soon exploded beneath his feet sending him flying but he quickly recovered when his feet touched the ground. "Maybe you're not so pathetic after all! Did you know that my cursed energy acts like electricity? Normally you'd be able to block with cursed energy, but the thing about my cursed energy is that it has the properties of electricity so no matter what. My strikes are gonna hurt like hell."
"Why tell me this now?" Melinoe was getting ready to defend against the champion even despite his warning.
"Because-." lightning struck once again when Kashimo kicked Melinoe square in the stomach as his cursed energy shocked her with more ferocity. So much so it made her cough blood on his leg. "explaining Jujutsu powers it up."
The assault from Kashimo was ruthless to say the least as he was too fast to get clean hits on without a cast ring but he quickly started to adapt to them. No matter how much she used her cursed energy she still got shocked, and his blows were powerful along with his cursed energy. Another death defiance was used and Melinoe was sent rolling back, her body had a few spasms thanks to the electric like cursed energy Kashimo attacked her with as she couldn't help but cough up more blood. The Champion looked at her pathetic state with disgust "Y'know the way the horned god talked you up I was really excited."
The Lightning God sat on Melinoe's back as she tried to get back up "Y'know I was the strongest in my era, sorcerers back then were chumps. I never had a fight that really pushed me to my limits, I guess you can say I was born too early. So when I heard about a goddess with cursed energy coming through Elysium I thought I was finally going to get the fight I've been waiting centuries for! But I got my hopes up for nothing, guess I need to wait a little bit longer." He got back up and kicked Melinoe into the arena walls as she let out grunts of pain.
This was possibly the most painful fight she'd ever had to take part in, literally everything hurt. She would rather lay down and die than fight this monster any longer, he really just sat down on her back just to taunt her, if Hecate were here she'd be beyond disappointed in her performance. She only has 5 days left to escape, and she barely put a dent into Kashimo. As much as she doesn't wish to fight any longer she has to keep going, freedom is nearly in her grasp,she just has to overcome him in order to see them again. For their sake and hers she will get out by any means necessary, Melinoe struggled to get back up but the adrenaline going through her body gave her the will to get back up as the crowd cheered.
"You're still alive, I must be losing my touch." Kashimo sprinted at Melinoe and jumped at the last second to land an overhead kick on the goddess. Wait, what's that icon above her head? Is that a blue wheat? Kashimo landed his attack but it seemed as if Melinoe just absorbed it, the lightning god found himself trapped in a cast ring but this one was different. The cast ring was surrounded by a small blizzard and he was frozen completely solid, in her hands Melinoe used an omega attack to shotgun multiple knife's into Kashimo's abdomen. But Kashimo quickly broke free of the ice and backed up once the cast ring faded.
What just happened? Absorbing Kashimo's attack, the blizzard that spawned from the cast ring along with him being frozen solid for a brief moment? That power was a one to one copy of Demeter's, but how? Melinoe knew she never picked up any blessings, and knowing the state of her relatives on Olympus Demeter could not have interfered. Melinoe heard a noise above her head as a projection of the various emblems of her relatives began to spin above her head as after a few seconds it landed on the pink heart which was the symbol of Aphrodite. Kashimo felt his body grow weaker and judging by the hearts swirling around his body this was Melinoe's doing. "You've been holding out on me goddess? Where was this technique when we started the fight?"
"I'm in just as much surprise as you are, champion." Melinoe took a combat stance as this was the power she had been waiting for. This was the last push she needed to get out of the Underworld, her very own Cursed Technique.
GODS FAVOR
"Alright, come on goddess. Give me a challenge!" Kashimo grabbed the staff that he had rested on his back. The Nyoi Staff was a weapon specifically designed for him, it's able to conduct his form of cursed energy as if it were a lightning rod. Electricity began to spark around him as the smile on his face was nearly ear to ear, the two sorcerers dashed at each other and clashed weapons in the air before landing on opposite sides. When kashimo landed he quickly ran back over to Melinoe in a split second then assaulted her with swings from his electrified staff but thanks to the weakness status placed on him from the Aphrodite boon Glamour Gain his strikes were weaker than before, while in close distances Melinoe's were stronger thanks to Flutter Strike. The princess began to widdle at her opponent's health which made Kashimo actually start to try and defend against Melinoe, but this does not mean he's at a disadvantage because even with her new found power Kashimo has one neat little trick up his sleeve. Melinoe began to put everything she had into her assault as Lim and Oros were boosted by the close quarters combat, just as Melinoe was starting to get confident one good parry was enough to stagger her and leave her vulnerable to Kashimo tripping her up then landing on her back as Kashimo held his staff down on her chest.
"Been saving this one up, nice try princess!" With the accumulated electrical charge in his staff Kashimo was able to use his staff like a lightning bolt and shock Melinoe as she let out one final scream in pain before everything went dark.
THERE IS NO ESCAPE
4 DAYS TO ESCAPE
Melinoe emerges from the pool of styx and flips her hair back to get rid of any excess blood, just thinking about that fight angered her to no end. Even with her new found cursed technique granting her the power to use the blessings of her relatives once godly might, she was still overpowered by the new champion of Elysium. Time is running out and she needs to get past him, she's so close to the surface she can almost picture the joy of Hecate behind her veil she's always seen with. There's no time to waste, she must be on her way now to conquer the Underworld and find her family.
…
THERE IS NO ESCAPE
3 DAYS
THERE IS NO ESCAPE
2 DAYS
THERE IS NO ESCAPE
FINAL DAY
'This is it… I might never see their faces again. No matter how hard I try I'm not strong enough, I'm still just the weak little girl I always was, I failed everyone. I failed Heacte, I failed my family, I failed Olympus, I failed Nobara, I failed Megumi, I failed Gojo, I failed Geto, and I failed Itadori. WHY CAN'T I DO ANYTHING RIGHT?! I NEED TO SEE THEM ALL AGAIN, I'LL DO ANYTHING TO HAVE TO POWER TO SEE THEM ALL AGAIN! Please… I'll do anything…'
Melinoe in her dream-like state called out to the universe in an act of desperation as she flowed through the sea of blood leading her back to the House of Nyx. But that's when everything stopped, her body was frozen as she sank the sea of blood which soon began to turn into sand after what felt like an eternity of sinking Melinoe fell though the sea of sand and fell against a hard floor. The universe had answered her call, but alas it was the last person Melinoe would ever decide to turn to as she stood up and was greeted by the familiar scenery of her blasted grandfather sitting on his throne of sand.
"Anything?" Charnos asked as he had a huge smile on his face listening to his granddaughter's cries for help.
"What do you want, I told you once and I'll say it again to get out of my head…" Melinoe stood up beyond furious at Chronos coming back into her dreams once again.
"You're almost out of time granddaughter, the champion of Elysium has proven too much for you to possibly handle. Your situation seems hopeless, but do not fret granddaughter, I assure you I have the solution to make up for your weakness. Once again I offer you the choice to become my vessel, with our endgame being that we destroy the King of Curses along with his vessel. Simple enough, correct? "
Melinoe wanted to say no to this proposition but the words got stuck in her throat and instead she blurted out "What's the catch?"
"Simple, if you don't accept then you will ultimately fail and in turn will bring forth the era of curses."
"W-What?"
"The fates final prophecy, the end of the era of man and the rise of the era of curses. The King of Curses will regain his full strength and no one will have the power to stop him, not even the remaining chthonic gods will prove powerful enough to stop him, especially not you. So the choice is yours, we destroy Sukuna together or you will bring about the end of man."
Melinoe couldn't let that happen, if she failed to escape then she would bring forth the end of humanity and gods but to become the vessel of the one she despises the most, it made her sick to her stomach. But what choice does she have in the matter because well it's explained to her like that she truly has none. "...Fine, I accept the role as your vessel in and aiding you toward the destruction of Ryomen Sukuna."
Chronos chuckled as he pulled Melinoe towards him using sand to constrict her body "I'm glad we can come to an agreement granddaughter." He forced Melinoe's mouth open and in his other hand held a bottle of Zodiac Sand. He poured the sand into her mouth as Melinoe struggled to get herself free to no avail and once she was free it was already too late, Melinoe was sent flying upwards to the sea of sand and eventually reaching the sea of blood where she soon found the entrance to the House of Nyx from the pool of Styx. She looked up and Nyx was nowhere to be found but there were familiar faces around, she walked through the main hall and Hypnos was about to greet the princess with one of his usual immaturity about his death but when getting a closer look he was completely silent, almost afraid even. The shades who linger in the house of Hades stared at her with that same fear, she questioned to herself why everyone reacted to her like this so she traveled to her brother's old room. She walked towards the mirror of night and audibly gasped at what happened to her appearance. It shooker her into her core and she only wished she could tear out her eyes from how much it offended her to bear witness to what the Titan did upon becoming his vessel.
Her pupils became that of clocks.
No matter how many times she blinked or rubbed her eyes, she even slapped herself but nothing changed. Her eyes had been permanently altered as she now just began to notice the sound of a clock ticking in her head.
Tick tick tick…
…
AN
THAT'S IT, I FINALLY GOT THIS CHAPTER DONE!
Sorry it took so long, I was in the middle of burnout and FFXIV Dawntrail sucked me in hard but binge reading Chainsaw Man brought me back somehow.
Love that game.
I did my best to condense a bunch of stuff into this one chapter so sorry if my pacing is ass.
I hope people like the addition of Kashimo as the boss of Elysium, I just wanted to add more JJK content for the fun of it and needed a real challenge for Melinoe to awaken her cursed technique and have herself give in to be Chronos' vessel.
The next chapter will be the end of the Underworld Arc and will go right into the later half of the Mahito arc. Right now would be when Mahito Idle Transfigures Junpei's bullies from where things are right now on the surface.
That's all from me so bye bye Weezos