Warning: Blood and Gore.

"You've got to be fucking with me...!"

The detention officer was pinned under several curses. They gnawed at his half-eaten limbs. His organs exposed and chewed in between their teeth. Blood filth the floor as he remained conscious to everything. A human being would normally faint by now, a fortuitous aspect of a mortality he no longer had.

"I'm a dead apostle... I-!" His disbelief was cut short by his own scream. The curses worked their way into his stomach, digging themselves deeper into his guts and lungs. For an undead whose life was sustained on blood, he could only remain conscious as he was eaten alive, for as long as there remained a single drop of blood to regenerate him.

"-Aaaaahhhh! This is bullshit! This is bullshit! You fuckers aren't worth shit!" He was supposed to be the invincible one. He, who was given immortal life, should be strong enough to tear through these curses easily. However, there were too many for him to fight off alone. Even a bear would be overwhelmed by wolves that came in greater numbers. Furthermore, he was not a true dead apostle in a sense, but a mere minion who had only his speed, strength, and fangs to rely on, none of which were useful to him now.

His associate had already been dismembered. The second officer lay motionlessly as a big curse suckled half his body down its throat, holding his legs with its stubby arms. The fledgling never even knew what attacked him.

"Soichiiii... Soichiiii...!" One of the curses in the vampire's guts uttered. The woes of what sounded to be a parent. The name was familiar. Hadn't there been an inmate with that name? Yes, he was certain of it. How strange for the officer to think of this now.

Ah. Of course. That's what this was. It was karma at work. That must be it. For all the victims they brought here. It only made sense.

And yet it wasn't fair. Those people were put to better use. He truly believed this. He didn't deserve this. He was better than those scum. That was his justification. He shouldn't have to suffer through this no matter what he's done. He'd simply been doing his job. He'd simply been doing this world a favor.

"Piiigs... Allll offf theeemmmm!"

"Fiiire...! Fiiire...! Fiiire...!"

"W-Wwworthlessss... I'mmm... w-wworthlesssss..."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I don't care! I don't care-!"

His misery was swiftly ended through his skull. The black key embedded through his brain. A few more pierced his body and curses, along with his associate, and they instantly went aflame, exorcised into nothingness.

"You should have thought twice abandoning me to save yourselves." Ciel landed effortlessly before the ashes, her nun habit flowing after removing her disguise. "I would have given you a quicker death."

In the end, it was for naught. Ciel was a little disappointed she couldn't reach the lair first, but it would appear she'll have to set that aside.

"I'll have to find it myself." For now, there was another matter to address.

She looked up at her twisted environment that reeked with cursed energy. It had only been an hour, and yet everything was upended. Pipes sprawled everywhere. Walls on top of more walls, doors, and windows. An impossible architecture and size, like stepping into another reality. She could feel the distortion stretch further from this area, but never bypassing the exterior of the whole facility.

This is different from a boundary field. Ciel observed as she traversed the distorted space on foot, exorcising more curses that continue to either spawn or be drawn here. A type of pocket-dimension. Not a reality marble - not exactly.

A domain. An innate domain to be exact. She had only ever heard about it, yet she never imagined it would be this unsightly. A reflection of the user's mind and soul.

If this was the work of a curse, then according to the grade system categorized by jujutsu sorcerers, their level had to be somewhere around Special Grade. That more and more curses were swarming this place, like flies attracted to the scent of food, meant this domain was either creating them, or were empowering those already present here.

There didn't appear to be a barrier, likely this building made it a suitable substitute, which meant this domain was an incomplete state. Raw and unrefined, with no clear purpose except to disorient those caught up in it.

How on earth did it come into existence like this?

Ciel would have noticed a curse of this magnitude when she first arrived. She could only reason that, whatever the source, it started to manifest after she went deeper into the detention center. Too far from her senses to pick up, not while she was in her civilian form. By the time she noticed it, it grew at an exponential rate, overtaking the basement leading into the sewers, and entrapping her and the officers before spreading to the rest of the facility. As if someone dowsed a small fire with kerosine.

There were other curses in the detention center, could those have fueled into the source?

While there had been plenty, and she had to keep her hands to herself to preserve her cover, it still seemed so sudden that one curse would suddenly gain this much power. Could the existence of the dead apostle's lair have something to do with it?

That fire alarm was likely set off solely to evacuate everyone. Someone must have seen the cursed source, Ciel realized. There may be others who didn't escape in time.

A typical fire drill would have all the inmates and staff leave the building promptly. No delay whatsoever. By now, everyone should have left this place. However, there's no guarantee there would not be any stragglers. No one, not especially those outside of sorcery, could possibly be prepared for a scenario like this. The doors Ciel passed through were already gone. The same might have happened to those unfortunate enough to lag behind.

They'll be dead before a shaman would arrive to exorcise the threat.

If those fledglings couldn't fend off against that many curses, there was no hope for humans with no practice in exorcism.

Ciel stabbed several black keys into the ground. With a flick of her hand, the black keys moved on their own. Carving through the floor, they set off for multiple directions.

I must confirm any survivors.

In the meantime, Ciel will handle this.

"-Exit! Where the hell is the exit?!"

Three inmates ran through the corridor. The space all around them choked with an unearthly level of putrid imagery. Monsters poked their twisted heads out constantly. Endless, deranged laughter filled the void between the inmates panting and cursing.

"Hey! You see those freaks too, right?! I'm not losing my mind here, right?!"

Tadashi Okazaki refused to believe his predicament. He didn't believe it when one of the inmates he was with told him that there was some kind of "fetus" floating in the middle of the sky. Even when Tadashi looked he still didn't see it. He may not be the brightest, but he wasn't that gullible either.

It wasn't too long after that the fire alarm went off. All the inmates were forced out of the courtyard. There were shouting from the guards. A few of them he noticed looked nervous - kept looking outside, same place the other inmate pointed at. Tadashi and four others were the last in line just several feet away from the exit. Then, out of nowhere, the doors were shut, and they were suddenly in this hell.

"Yes we see 'em! Stop pointing them out!" The third inmate yelled. "Dammit-! Those guards-! They fuckin' abandoned us!"

"No way...! Someone will come back for us! They're not just gonna leave us here?!"

Tadashi didn't respond. He didn't want that to be true. He looked back where they just came from, seeing only darkness, and movement of something not human. There used to be two other guys with them. They weren't there anymore.

"-! Fuck!"

Today was the day. Today was when his mother would usually come visit him.

"How are they treating you, Tadashi?"

"This isn't kindergarten, mom. Do you always have to ask me that? Why do you have to stop by, huh? Aren't I enough an embarrassment to you?"

"Tadashi. Don't say that-!"

"Just leave me alone, you old bag. I've already been cursed out by that little girl's parents. Don't pretend you don't feel the same. Hey! Guard! I'm done here!"

Those were the last things he said to her.

I'm sorry! I'm sorry, mom! I'm sorry!

If this was punishment, it was more than enough. He did stupid things, calling them mistakes was an understatement, and he disregarded those who told him so. He disregarded their warnings. He disregarded his mother's worries. He disregarded anyone being on the road that day. He avoided everything and everyone so that he wouldn't have to face accountability. It was easier to block it all out than to confront the facts. It was easier to erase his empathy. There was no point having it. He had already been condemned.

Except by his mother. And he hated that. He hated how she was around him. How she would still see him like nothing between them had changed. He wasn't her innocent little boy anymore. And yet. She was the only person in this world who didn't curse him. And he threw her out.

Now this place had condemned him too, and he could no longer avoid the animosity the world held against him.

"-No. No! No! NO!"

Tadashi wetted himself when a "monster" appeared in front of them, grabbing one of the inmates and lifted him by the wrist. It had the body of a teenager. The muscles in its lanky arms protruded, as if still growing.

"Ahhh...!" Unable, and helpless, to face such monstrosity, the second inmate fainted, utterly damning himself as more curses began to circle around them.

"Help me-! Mommy!" The captured inmate screamed as the pale monster dug its finger into the skin of his arm, breaking flesh like digging one's nail into an orange, ready to peel.

"Mom..." Tadashi was frozen stiff. Pure fear numbed his body as the pale monster grinned at him. He didn't even notice another curse sneaking up behind him, delighted at the sight of his terror and reached for his immobile legs.

"Mom-!"

He didn't want to die. He didn't want what he said be the last thing she heard from him. The one person who never stopped loving him.

Someone save me-!

Something long shot past him, piercing through the head of the curse behind him.

"-?!" The pale monster saw and immediately let go of his victim. Its hand was torn through by a thin, dark silver sword, and it shrieked as it jumped away.

Several more dark silver rained around them. It happened so fast, Tadashi couldn't register what was going on. In what felt like an instant, he and the other inmates were surrounded by swords. A barrier of light erupted from them, entrapping them in a protective glow. Curses that were close enough were instantly burnt, vaporized by the holy light.

"...Huh?"

Tadashi stared dumbly. He watched as the pale monster observed silently. The grin on its white face turned to a grimace. After observing other curses die by the light, the pale monster backed away. It moved further, and further, until it sunk into the shadows.

The large room, where they were about to meet their end, went quiet. The inmate who had his arm stabbed clutched his wound and curled up into a ball, repeatedly begging for his life. The second inmate remained unconscious, completely unaware of what transpired.

Tadashi fell to his knees, his shoulders slumped. Whether it was out of relief or exhaustion, his energy was nonetheless spent.

"I've learned my lesson."

"...I see. So three people were left behind," Ciel said. It was a little difficult to maneuver her black keys through this domain, what with the terrain so irregular. It'll be a challenge to locate the exit, and perhaps even more so the user - assuming they're able to manipulate their environment. I'm sensing multiple movements elsewhere.

More survivors? Or perhaps...

"Guuuuurrrggghh..."

Ciel's second inquiry was answered. From one of the dark corridors, the dead wandered in. Their bodies filled with curses, and a hot orange glow through the cracks of their charcoal black exterior - the likes which she had never seen before.

A new type of dead? One that was harboring curses, just like the ones from that abandoned building, and the ones from the cemetery. This place seems to be filled with all sorts of surprises.

This may take a while.

With a stoic expression, Ciel pulled out more black keys. "It's sickening what little regard vampires have for the living. Not even the dead are spared from their amusement."

She was quite relieved Yuji-kun wasn't around to see this.

"-What happened to the door?! There was a door here, wasn't there?!"

Three hours later, the "first responders" finally arrived to the scene.

Five inmates and two officers were reportedly trapped inside the detention center after a curse womb was spotted there, as stated by Jujutsu High School Assistant Manager, Ijichi Kiyotaka. Although a scenario such as this called for a sorcerer's power at the level of Satoru Gojo, due to the time-sensitivity of the situation, and all other Special Grade Sorcerers' absence, the First Years of Tokyo Jujutsu High were called to the task.

Their mission was simple: rescue the survivors. Under no circumstances should they engage with the curse womb regardless of its early stages. It's in and out.

Unfortunately, the moment they went in, their out had immediately ceased to be. Even the "experienced" Kugisaki was at a loss. It was the crypts all over again.

"It's alright," Megumi called out to them. He ushered to his white Divine Dog as it sniffed the ground and looked back at its summoner. "Divine Dog has the exit's scent. He'll lead us back to it."

"Good boy~!" Yuji affectionately cuddled the shikigami while Nobara professed to the dog deserving "all the beef jerkys!" Divine Dog was fairly pleased by that.

Megumi let them had their fun and returned his attention to his surroundings. It was unbelievable. Something so immense as this should almost be impossible within the time frame that the curse womb was spotted. There had to be some genius-level growth involved, or there was another factor they weren't accounting for.

"You're just as reliable as Ciel, Fushiguro!"

Megumi looked back at Yuji.

"Looks like you'll be saving us this time," Yuji smiled widely, his relief and faith shining in his expression.

"...Let's go."

A guy like that with a smile that big, he'd be too good to be a sorcerer. There was no point in thinking like that now, though. Not when Megumi was the one who wanted Itadori to be saved.

"-Liiight! I'm on fiiire...! Aaaahhhahhahahaa!"

The sluggish, woman-like curse swung its melty-elongated limbs. Yuji ducked and slid underneath the attack, jabbing Slaughter Demon into the curse's body and slicing through its stomach. Nobara fired iron nails into the curse's head as Divine Dog clenched its fangs at the curse's leg, immobilizing it.

"Sa... Sa..."

At the curse's depleting strength, it eventually died under the exorcising flame. "Save me..."

Yuji flinched as he got back up. Just now, the curse sounded so human...

"That's the third curse we came across screaming about fire," Nobara noted. "Was there an accident here?"

"Nothing that came out in the report," Megumi answered with a frown. "...Let's keep moving."

They did so, though Yuji looked back at the vanishing curse one last time before catching up to his class.

They wandered through the dark and across bridges. Despite the nauseating structure that'd be enough to confuse anyone, Divine Dog was able to guide them without trouble, trailing the scent of anyone else within the vicinity.

After a moment, Divine Dog suddenly lifted its head.

"Hold on," Megumi knelt beside his shikigami and looked at the diverging paths. "I'm picking up two groups from both directions."

"Should we split up?" Yuji suggested (Nobara: "Now you want to do that?"). While he'd normally be against the idea, since this involved multiple people, they might not have a choice.

Megumi considered. He could take one path alone with his shikigamis to aid him, but Megumi wasn't confident about letting Yuji and Nobara handle themselves just yet. Even if he gave them his other Divine Dog so they wouldn't get lost, they're still new to how curses behave in this city. With how deeply infested this place was, there's no guessing what other curses they'll come across. Especially the curse womb.

"No. Let's stick together. We'll look for the rest afterwards."

"Sir yes sir!" Yuji saluted with a deep, soldier-like voice.

"Lead the way, leader!" Nobara gestured with her arms, like showing a path for a king. As their only means of escape, they'll happily make fun of him.

Megumi ignored their mock and proceeded down one of the paths, deciding to take the right.

"-Gross. And I just bought these shoes too," Nobara grimaced as her foot sunk into the murky water, her nose crinkling at the funky odor. "Did you have to lead us into the sewer first?"

"It would have been harder if we brought those other survivors with us," Megumi countered, to which Nobara conceded at. Their feet swished through the water inside the long tunnel, its suspicious green pool filling the entire floor, slowing their movements somewhat.

"-! Grrrrrrr..." The white Divine Dog halted, a low growl in its throat, baring its fangs. The three students were on immediate alert, looking towards the dark hallway, where a faint warm glow started to appear. An outline of human figures became visible.

Yuji perked at the sight and picked up the pace, his feet splashing against the water as Nobara yelled at him for getting her leggings wet.

"Hey! Are you guys all-?!" Yuji was stopped when Megumi grabbed his red hood.

"Wait." Megumi's expression tensed. His Divine Dog had yet to cease its growling.

The three figures at the end of the tunnel drew closer, and their warm glow grew brighter. The source of light was not from a flashlight or a lighter, but in them. Hot red-orange bled through the cracks of their black-charred figures, like magma in human form. Their eyes and mouths burned through their skulls, with the unmistakable sounds of sizzling like a grill, smelling of black smoke as it rose from their bodies.

Yuji's eyes widened, recognizing the appearances of corpses, although they looked different from before.

"Are you kidding me?" Nobara was the first to vocally express her reaction. "These guys again?! What are they even doing here?!"

Megumi had no answer as he had his Divine Dog stand before them, summoning his other wolf for added defense.

The black Divine Dog suddenly barked at the walls, and Megumi shouted at his group, "Look out!"

Nobara and Yuji sensed the presence, and they separated to avoid the attack of a curse, its claw emerging from the wall. Curses phased through the surface, reaching out with its melted limbs.

Yuji swung Slaughter Demon as Nobara swung her hammer. Curse-energy fueled nails fired into the heads of curses while their limbs sliced off.

Megumi parted one dog to assist his classmates, while his other Divine Dog pounced for the three burning dead as they ambled close. The white Divine Dog struck the first dead away with its feet, and then punctured the second dead with its wolfish teeth, tearing through the burnt flesh.

From the broken flesh, a spark of flame spilled from the neck of the death. The dead's eyes shone.

Megumi's eyes widened. An instant flash of memory from when he and Gojo confronted that corpse hound, and its burning flame that enveloped that area of the cemetery. "LET GO!"

He realized his error too late. Despite his white Divine Dog quickly following his command, releasing the neck of the dead and retreated, the damage - however slight - was already done. The dead's eyes and wounded neck flared, and its mouth was engulfed in flames.

After exorcising the curses, Yuji and Nobara looked over at the commotion, and were startled by Megumi's shout. "Everyone-!"

Megumi interlocked his fingers into a jujutsu sign, preparing to summon another shikigami - any one of them that would be enough to protect them for what's to come. "Get out of here-!"

The burning corpse burned brighter, and it erupted into a giant ball of fire, engulfing all other corpses and adding more fuel to its power, igniting a massive explosion.

The group watched in shock as the flames quickly filled the tunnel and wretch towards them, too fast before Megumi's shikigami would emerge from its shadow.

-shink!

The sound of a bladed weapon, landing like a blue arrow in front of the class. Ciel braced the flames with a raise of her hand, unfaltering under the intensity that attempted to trample over her. A see-through wall of magical energy barricaded her and those behind her, and she held onto its shield until the flames eventually died out.

"Ciel-!"

"Senpai-!"

"Fushiguro-san's first crush!"

All three students exclaimed their surprise, even Nobara, who wanted to be included as she pointed her finger at Ciel.

Ciel looked back at the group. She arrived quickly as soon as she heard yelling, but when she looked upon the students, she was shocked. "Fushiguro-? Yuji-kun?!"

At their stilled environment, quelled of all enemies for now, Ciel turned to face everyone. "W-What are you three doing here?! This isn't a place for first years to be!"

She expected sorcerers, not those so newly experienced as these. What in the world was Gojo thinking?!

"We should ask you the same thing!" Nobara threw back. "And what's with these zombies being here too?! Is that why there's been so many curses around?!"

"You really saved our hides - again," Yuji said as he catered to the white Divine Dog, rubbing its face. The poor pooch got the edges of its hair singed from the fire, giving the shikigami a charcoal outline. "Are you here on a lead or something?"

"Answer my question first," Ciel retorted. "Why are all of you here? This place is far too dangerous to send only three sorcerers."

"We were called in after a curse womb was sighted on top of this building," Megumi explained, kneeling down to pat the head of his black Divine Dog. "It was an emergency and we were short-staffed, but we never expected it to get this bad."

"A curse womb...?" Ciel frowned, uttering the vaguely familiar term. "But that still doesn't make sense. If there really is such an enemy, they should have never sent first years to-"

She paused when she locked eyes with Yuji's, and her breath quietly hitched. Realization struck her and unintentionally showed in her face, even for a split moment.

Megumi caught her reaction. He followed her gaze and his eyes widened, like ice down his spine.

This was a set up...!

He knew something hadn't been right. That it was a little strange how a small bunch of first years were handed this mission. Even if it was just supposed to be reconnaissance and rescue, the threat level was still there. Megumi didn't think more of it, though. He believed it when it was said that this was an emergency, and that it was considered too early for there to be any real threat.

This was Yuji Itadori's premature execution. The elders had no intention of keeping their word with Gojo-sensei, not like what they did with Yuta Okkotsu. To pull something like this while their teacher was out of town, killing three birds with one stone - eradicating all of Gojo's up and coming sorcerers with their fresh ideas for the jujutsu world, Megumi should have known something was up. This was a suicide mission from the very beginning.

"What's wrong?" Yuji saw the faces of Ciel and Megumi. Seeing them look a little spooked, he was getting kind of worried.

Ciel and Megumi exchanged a glance, and then looked away. They avoided answering him, silently agreeing not to.

"Hey, just what are you guys whispering in your heads about?" Nobara, on the other hand, was not as easy to ignore. She walked right up to them, her legs swishing through the water. "If it's got something to do with us, you better fess up."

"...It's nothing," Ciel calmly assured. "Right now, we should focus on getting all of you out of here. The situation has escalated far beyond what you were told. It's better to leave now and wait for reinforcements."

"We can't leave yet," Yuji said. "We still have to find the survivors. They got left behind before the staff sealed all the exits. Did you happen to see anyone, Ciel?" (Nobara: "no honorifics...")

Ciel pondered for a moment and then turned her shoulder towards the tunnel. "I will locate the survivors. You, on the other hand, must leave this place. It is not safe for any of you, regardless of your talents, training, and experience."

"Should an exorcist from another company really be telling us what to do?" Nobara had to ask as she looked at the burnt ashes on the wall. "Not that I don't see why. I better still get paid after this."

It was just getting a little annoying to be continuously told to "stay out of it". She's an exorcist too, dammit.

"There's a lot more at stake here than our paychecks..." Yuji was appalled by Nobara's priorities.

"You are correct, Yuji-kun," Ciel's words took everyone by surprise, even Yuji.

Her cold-blue eyes sharpened. "There is something else at stake here. It's the reason why I came to this place."

Her reveal left a chill in the air.

"There is a dead apostle's lair hidden somewhere in this building. I am here to destroy it - along with the vampire who owns it."

Author's Note: Whew! Another short chapter finished. Another hiatus to look forward to.

Also, check out my new book cover for this fic. Hopefuly it's visible enough to show that we are reading Classic/OG Ciel in this fic. (With some elements borrowed from Remake.)

To be more specific, the Ciel in this fic is the Ciel from the OG VN and Tsukihime Manga. She just blends in with the powerscaling of JJK better I think, and I also love her pixie-cut hair. Hehe.

Remake Ciel is cool, but maybe a little too overpowering. Still cool ideas, tho, which I'll be taking for this fic!

Anyway, JJK has officially ended. With how it ended, it makes me hope for a sequel. No spoilers in the reviews for anyone not done with the series yet. Now I have the complete blueprint for where I can take this story... and how it can end.

Just got to hope my internet works so that I can access my devices again, be able to write easily again, and also answer PMs again.

Thank you for reading. I'll see you guys next time!