Chapter 1: Soldier Coming Home

God fucking damnit.

I ducked beneath a pair of outstretched claws, skidding on wet concrete as I pivoted to face behind me. If I'd been any slower then my face would have been torn to shreds.

"Come now, let's be civil here, yeah?" I snarked.

My attacker looked like an average teenager. Light freckles dusted her face and she had a cute button nose. Her hair cascaded down to her shoulders like flowing black ribbons, splaying over what seemed to be a cheerleading outfit. I wasn't too sure on that one, but it matched what I'd seen from those garish high school movies.

All-in-all, a very cute girl. It was just a shame that she had goat legs and clawed hands.

And was trying to kill me.

"Oh but I am!" She grinned, showing pearly whites that were entirely too sharp. "I simply wish to get to know you better, halfblood!"

"Wow, okay. First off, that's-" I dodged a swipe from her claws. "-mildly discriminatory. You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"My mother made me this way!"

"Must really hate you then." That triggered a reaction; she shrieked and brought both hands to my throat.

I weaved my head under and away from the incoming hands, jabbing at her face for good measure. The strike snapped her head back and left her momentarily dazed. Taking advantage of the moment, I pivoted on the balls of my foot.

And ran the fuck away.

There was something weird about the things chasing me. Conventional weapons didn't seem to hurt them at all - I'd tried stabbing a massive black dog just about an hour ago in a run-down diner, but the knife went through without a hint of resistance. There was no spurt of blood, its skin didn't break, and all I got for my effort was a set of canines that nearly bit my arm off.

What a waste of perfectly good cutlery.

The fangs on that mutt were way too many to be natural, and it sure as hell put up a fight. I had to throw it off a bridge to get it off my trail.

Surprisingly though, punches and kicks hit their mark, albeit with diminished effectiveness. I was jetlagged to high heaven and without sleep for the past forty-eight hours. My body was starting to approach its upper limit, and I couldn't afford to waste time fighting back.

The diversion had worked, but only briefly. Another round of shrieking echoed behind me before a constant staccato began to pick up. I didn't need to glance back to know that I was being chased, and so I dug deeper into my energy reserves. The ground was slippery, slick from the constant rain, yet the goat girl behind me barely seemed to be affected.

I, on the other hand, was soaked completely to the bone. My jacket, which had once served to admirably shield me from what had previously been a mild drizzle, was now drenched, acting more as dead weight. Each step I took was accompanied by squelching sounds, courtesy of my waterlogged shoes, and the only thing that I was certain had stayed reasonably dry was my storage case.

A matte black, rectangular box, far longer than it was wide and without much depth. There wasn't much in the way of storage space for sure, but it had everything I'd ever need.

Well, except a way for me to get to my destination quicker. Right now I was just cold, hungry, and absolutely done with this bullshit.

I grimaced.

Seriously Dad. The fuck'd you get me into?

To say that they were relentless was a massive understatement.

They were everywhere.

Hiding in corners, jumping out of alleyways, the bastards positively littered every area I was in. On their own they weren't much trouble; they were pretty easy to misdirect and escape from, but the sheer quantity of them was a quality on its own.

At this point, I was beginning to question if I was treading on cursed ground because hot damn was this place as bad as that one night in Kyoto. The rain had severely shortened my range of vision, but even still I could make out inhuman shapes prowling around on the street.

Idly, I tapped my boot on the marble flooring.

It was a stroke of raw luck to be honest. If I hadn't spotted this house then I'd most certainly still be running around like a headless chicken. As it stood, it was a single-story terrace corralled by wrought-iron fencing. The gate itself was bolted shut, but also rusty to the point where scant application of my foot was enough to break it open.

And yikes, this place was decrepit, zero furniture whatsoever. No chairs, no tables, nada.

But, it also brought shelter, so eh, I'd take it.

"You've travelled far."

Adrenaline shot through my veins and my head snapped towards the sound's origin. The once lax grip I had on my case tightened till my knuckles blanched white, and my muscles tensed. Someone, or something, was nearby, and they had managed to sneak up on me.

Well, it was rather convenient that there was an abandoned house in the middle of the street.

The first thing that I felt was warmth. Raw, unfettered warmth, the kind you'd feel when cozied up at home under thick blankets as snow fell outside. Despite the weather, I could feel my body temperature start to rise.

Said warmth radiated from a campfire. Its flames swayed elegantly in hypnotic motions, coaxing tendrils of smoke into the air like a gentle hand. The crackle of embers was soft, yet it drowned out the downpour outside till it was the only sound I could focus on. Next to it was a girl who couldn't have been older than ten. She squatted by the fire, with one hand hugging her knees and the other poking at the coals with a stick.

"Come." She spoke. "You must be exhausted." Her tone was soft, light as a feather, and without meaning to I could feel myself start to relax.

Yeah, no.

With practiced ease, I unclasped the latch on my storage case, swinging it open just so, enough such that one item, and only one, fell out. A flick of my wrist saw the case's bottom half swinging back upwards, clutching onto the latch and shutting with an audible 'click'. With my left hand, I flung my case behind me.

My right hand grasped Akisame as it fell, and within a breath's exhale I widened my stance. My case clattered unceremoniously onto the floor, but I wasn't too concerned. It was meant to take a beating.

"You're not like the others." I observed.

Dangerous.

The being before me definitely wasn't human, but not in the same way as the others. The dog, the goat-lady, and even that gang of one-eyed bikers I'd encountered, they'd all carried with them this aura of unnaturalness, one that tickled the back of my brain in an uncomfortable way. They brought a level of heightened awareness to my senses, as though my body was telling me to keep my guard up.

This girl though? She was the opposite. My senses were still dialed to a full ten, no doubt about that. But it wasn't an instinctual thing and more so a trained reaction, a deliberate attempt at focus.

Because the girl in front of me, whatever the fuck she was, gave off an aura of peace. Rather than becoming guarded I could actively feel my body want to calm down, as though it was becoming subservient. And ironically, that just made me even more wary.

Curses that radiated bloodlust right out the gate? Simple, direct, forward. You knew exactly what you were getting into. Curses that hid their intentions? A much more dangerous ballpark. It meant that they were intelligent, that they could plan and adapt. Those types were almost always at least Grade 2.

Well, if she even was a curse.

"You are guarded." She stated, eyes still focused on the campfire before her. "You're right to be cautious, but please believe me when I say that I mean you no harm."

I ignored the bead of sweat trailing down my neck. "You don't honestly think that I'll trust you because of that."

The rhythmic poking stopped. "A fair assessment. Hm..." She tilted her head in thought.

"Alright then, I swear on the Styx that I do not mean you harm."

Akisame flew free with the accompaniment of thunder, its edge a hair's breadth away from her neck.

And yet, she didn't appear the slightest bit concerned.

"You caused that." My eyes narrowed. There was no way that that was a coincidence. It was raining, sure, but that clap of thunder had felt supernaturally loud.

"No." She denied, eyes closing. "It was a byproduct of the oath that I made."

"Oath?"

She tilted her head. "Have you heard of the River Styx? Swearing upon her name invokes a pact that cannot be broken without consequences to the oathbreaker."

For a moment, neither of us moved. Only the constant crackling of burning wood filling the silent maw between us.

Then I sighed, returning Akisame to its saya.

"I'm familiar with the concept." I replied, walking to where my storage case lay on the tiled floor and picking it up.

Because really, which Jujutsu Sorcerer wasn't?.

The girl smiled, though it was easy to tell that it was strained. "You are not a very trusting young man, are you?"

"Comes with the territory little lady."

"That's rather unfortunate."

I snorted. "When things start making sense again then maybe I'll kick back and relax." I sat down next to the campfire, cracking my neck with an exhale. My case was propped up under me as a sort of makeshift seat, with Akisame placed across my lap.

"So, why don't you start fixing that, yeah?" I eyed her.

I'm learning quite a couple of interesting things from the little lady, chief of them being that she's a tight-lipped asshole.

Question for the masses. Let's say you get asked a question along the lines of "what's going on right now in this city?". Do you:

A) Provide a simple, watered-down but still informative summary of current events.

B) Give some form of insight regarding the supernatural entities stalking the streets.

Ding ding ding, that's right everyone! The answer is C) Give vague notions that mean jack fucking shit.

"There is no need to be so rude, you know." She chided.

I leveled the driest expression I physically could at her. "You read minds now too?" That...would actually be quite the problem.

"Your expression gives plenty away, young man." The little lady tossed a branch into the campfire, causing it to surge briefly in intensity.

I squinted. "That branch wasn't there before."

"Was it not?"

"I have eyes, little lady."

She hummed. "Indeed you do."

Ugh.

"Look," I sighed. "I appreciate everything you've done so far. Even this." I took a bite out of the meat skewer in my hand for emphasis. It tasted like steak, seasoned with some kind of chilli? She'd pulled it out of a paper bag stamped with a logo of a red bull's head, with the words 'Triple G Ranch' emblazoned in gold below it. Maybe it was a special brand? Whatever it was, shit tasted good.

"But," I added. "I'd rather we just cut the bullshit and speak plain, I don't have much patience for other things right now."

Because seriously, the fuck did 'there are higher powers at work' even mean?

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." She shook her head. "As much as I would like to, there are laws that prevent me from doing so. The Ancient Rules are ironclad, and breaking them would bring great peril upon both me and you." Another branch went sailing into the campfire, illuminating her face in the subsequent afterglow of flames.

Okay, at least we're getting somewhere. "Is there nothing you can say to help? This vow can't be that broad, can it?"

"It can." Fucking hell. "But I can at least tell you this much. Do you know why all the monsters have been chasing you?"

I ripped another chunk of meat off the skewer, swallowing quickly. "Can't say that I do, no. But I'd assumed that it's because of my...nature."

The little lady nodded. "Yes. You are a halfblood, and a particularly special one at that. It means you give off a unique scent to monsters. It makes you easy to pick out, and tempting to eat."

"Scent?"

"Truthfully, it is more of a curse. Ages ago, a halfblood-turned monster cast a wicked spell, one that condemned halfbloods to be able to be sensed by monsters. Since then, those like you have been hunted."

I blinked.

So it's supernatural racism?

I took off not long afterwards.

The pow-wow with the little lady wasn't completely useless, but it did leave me with more questions than answers, and at the forefront was a very, very confusing one.

How did she know where I was going?

Since touching down on American soil I'd not once made any mention, whether to myself or others, of what my destination was. And yet, the little lady spoke of it as though it was something she always knew.

Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road 3.141
Long Island, New York 11954

I have no idea why dear old Dad wanted me to go to an American summer camp of all things, but he'd been pretty damn adamant that I did. Even took the time to polish up my English before shipping me off. At first I'd assumed there was just some Jujutsu politics afoot, maybe something that made him think that I'd be better off away from Japan for the time being.

But now I'm starting to think that different factors are at play.

As though hearing my thoughts, a series of shrill cries echoed throughout the street, sharp and grating, like a poorly made imitation of birdsong. I soon spotted the perpetrators; flocks of what looked to be birds that sat on the lampposts down the street, or on the roads themselves. By my estimate, there looked to be about maybe fifty or so of them, which would normally be perfectly fine.

But regular birds didn't have feathers that shined under lamp light, and regular birds definitely weren't able to pierce through the lampposts they were perched on using their beaks.

Then they started to caw, and then they started flying towards me.

I wordlessly unsheathed Akisame. No way in hell was I boxing with beaks that could cut through steel.

Yeah, this night sucked ass.

The entrance to Camp Half-Blood was quite the beautiful sight. A brilliant, ivory white arch stood at the top of the hill, tracing a path of marble bricks that soon gave way to a well-worn tread of dirt leading down to the hill's base. Situated not too far away from the arch was a massive tree, and there seemed to be a western dragon coiled around it in sleep. With the rising light of dawn, the entrance was bathed in golden hues that accented everything wondrously, like a picture-perfect scene from a storybook fantasy.

It was a shame that I didn't have the time nor mental capacity to appreciate it, what with the crowd of metal birds on my ass.

Unholy screeching reached my ears, and I instinctively ducked, narrowly avoiding bronze talons as they swiped past me. A quick flick of my arm saw Akisame slashing cleanly through the bird, splitting it at the neck. Unlike my attempt with the butter knife and the dog from hell, Akisame actually had a lasting effect. The bird, now bifurcated, fell to the ground, before seeming to rapidly dissolve into dust.

One down, I-don't-know-how-many-the-fuck left to go.

Because apparently, I had made a slight miscalculation. There were fifty or so birds at the start, sure, but once I'd started slicing their dingy little heads off and their numbers dropped, they got extra pissed.

So they called all their friends.

And they had a lot of friends.

It soon became obvious that staying and fighting was a Terrible Fucking Idea, and I was quite quick to start running for the hills, or hill, in this case.

Finding the entrance proper wasn't that hard, given that I'd already been briefed by Dad, but doing so whilst being chased by an army of avian assholes? A smidge more difficult.

"Hey!" A voice called. My head swiveled to face the top of the hill, spotting a girl in a bright orange shirt. "This way! You need to get past the tree!". She was pointing to the massive pine tree situated next to the arch.

I dove under another pair of bronze talons, rolling aside before returning to a readied stance, back facing the hilltop. "Why?!" I shouted back.

"The Stymphalian Birds can't bypass the camp barrier! You'll be safe!"

Ah. A curtain? But I could still see inside. Might be modified then, and most likely powerful, too.

I took stock within my mind. I currently had the high ground, and the closest cluster of birds were around ten meters or so away from me. There looked to be around sixty or so left, but they were split up into multiple flocks.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that they were smart, but they at least had some degree of intelligence. They didn't just attack blindly; they moved in varying intervals, striking from different angles. I'd killed lots of them, sure, but for every five slashed at least one would be able to escape, coasting just out of my blade's range.

My physical condition was far from ideal. In fact, I'd wager that I was working with half strength at best. My movements were sloppy, slow to the point where I couldn't effectively chase the stupid birds down.

I moved to run up the hill, but aborted the motion halfway. The Stymphalian Birds were now grouping together into one giant, flying mass, rising higher and higher into the air. It didn't take a genius to see that they were about to rush me all at once.

The girl on the hilltop was shouting again, but this time it was to a group of multiple other teenagers, all sporting that same orange shirt. Some of them were armed, holding daggers, swords, even spears, that all shined in glaring bronze. Two of them were even running down the hill towards me, probably to help.

But judging from the distance between the birds, me, the tree, and the campers, I definitely wouldn't be able to reach them or the tree before the metallic bastards reached me.

Running was useless. I'd never make it.

Tch.

Alright, time to break out the big guns.

I tossed my storage case behind me, sheathed Akisame, then lowered my center of gravity. My back hunched over on itself, hollowing out to stabilise my frame, and my knees bent in coiled anticipation.

The Stymphalian Birds screeched in wretched unison, before, all at once, diving towards my location. It would take around four seconds to reach me. I was already running on fumes, so I had to time this right.

Not a single wasted moment was permissible.

Breathe in.

Three seconds.

Hold it.

Two seconds.

Breathe out.

One second.

Now.

"Shin Kageryū: Kan'i Ryōiki."

My cursed energy rushed forth like a crashing wake, coalescing and wrapping around me like the currents of a whirlpool. To the naked eye nothing seemed to have happened.

Until the first bird entered my range.

Then it left, in pieces.

Then came the second, and third, and fourth, and soon I was assaulted by a veritable storm of beaks, wings, and talons.

Akisame met them fearlessly, tearing through metallic flesh with hurricane force.

Slash, parry, stab. My strikes flowed without end, cyclically, from one to the next. Infinitely unyielding like summer's rain, until every single monster trapped in my orbit was rent asunder.

Such was the strength of the weak: Simple Domain.

Finally, I exhaled, and Akisame returned to its saya with an audible 'click'.

In a deliberately slow fashion, I rose from my stance. It wouldn't do to aggravate my muscles any further. My eyes, now no longer forced to analyse and assess everything for combat, were finally allowed to take in the scenery.

And what a scene it was.

Lush grass brimming with life, swaying gently in the morning breeze. The dragon on the hill was still curled up beneath the pine, snoring its cares away. Carried on by the wind, flower petals and leaves drifted with ephemeral beauty, tracing invisible paths upon the air.

I looked up to the sky, taking in its bright blue grace. Fluffy white clouds floated aimlessly and without care, and with the sun's aureate glow cast upon the land, I could only feel one thing.

Peace.

"Ninmu...kanryō." I whispered.

The shouting was getting nearer now, but also more muffled. I turned towards the sounds, but the motion sent my vision spinning.

Ah shit, I'm passing out.