The Priestesses' Voice | a Jujutsu Kaisen fanfiction

02

Tokyo, 2018

Noriko Kamo hummed to herself, twirling the sacred ink brush between her fingers as she ascended the narrow staircase within the abandoned home. Her vision was awash with colour and glowing lights as she ran her eyes over her surroundings - cursed energy, and a lot of it. Something tragic had happened here. It was evident by the dark navy haze that hung in the air.  The wooden stairs creaked from under her feet as she took further tentative steps.

"Oh, Mr. Curse - or Mrs. - or non-gender-or-title-specific curse, come out, come out wherever you are~!" Noriko called out as she glanced around the second floor landing, pausing when she caught an eerie feeling emanating from one of the doors across the way. Having been raised at the shrine and baring witness to all kinds of spirits, curses, exorcisms etc., she wasn't really that afraid of it all anymore - in fact, she was probably less intimidated by curses than she was other people (namely the head Kamo family). However, she was aware that Tokyo curses would be on a whole other level than the ones she'd seen before, so still kept her guard somewhat up.

She readied her hands - her left to flick open her ink canister and her right moving the calligraphy brush towards it. 

Kneeling down, she dipped her paintbrush in the ink, waiting till it was thoroughly saturated until she began to write on the ground. She made her description plentiful (ensuring it would be sufficiently strong):

'"Come, Izanami's hounds, rise from Yomi, the polluted lands, and bare your forsaken presence down on this mortal passageway", cried the human,'  - the ink began to seep into the floor and disappear - 'two hellhounds sprung out of the darkness. Beasts of the afterlife with inky pelts - blacker than any nightmare - and huge snarling maws ready to consume the godless energy formed upon this desolate place.'

A few seconds passed before Noriko felt hot breath on the back of her neck. Glancing over her shoulder, she nodded to the two large black dogs slinking out of the shadows. Their coats sunk into the deepest black she'd ever seen, drawing whatever light there was into them. Huge and imposing - a pretty strong manifestation, Noriko commended herself, before dipping her brush in her canister again. She wrote another passage, which shortly seeped into the floor, and then resurfaced in a brilliant white glow, which illuminated the landing.

Noriko reached a pale hand down, retrieving a sword from the light. She tossed it between her palms, satisfied with the cold, metallic touch and substantial weight of the physical object. Clipping the canister lid closed, she slipped her brush into the same holster. She straightened herself up, turning her gaze to her target - the door.

The hallway was silent, just how it had been from before she began, however, her own breathing was accompanied by the staggered breath of the two hell hounds behind her. She locked eyes with the fantastical beasts - their red eyes boring into her dark ones - as they waited for her command. Settling the sword into her right hand, she made a slow move forward, gesturing for the dogs to follow her. 

The door was still emitting a dark blue glow, and as she got closer, Noriko began to feel the steady pressure of cursed energy build up between her ears. 

Grade 3... or maybe, a Grade 2, she commented to herself; whatever it was, it was her first Tokyo Curse.

Reaching out her left hand, she pushed open the door, stepping into the inky void ahead of her - her canines following at her heel. Cold... cold air began to circle around her ankles as a draft hit her. Whatever it was, it wasn't quite creating a Domain. The room was a pitch black, blurring the seam between the floor and the walls. Within the void, her vision was useless as the whole room was just a haze of blue and she was unable to precisely determine the curse's location.