Beautiful Dream or Cursed Reality? Sukuna Fanfiction

Chapter Seventeen

     Sukuna looked at me with what seemed to be respect in his eyes. "Well it'll be challenging, but if you're smart about it, you can defeat these lower level curses no problem." He winked at me. "Your first challenge is already waiting for you." He grabbed my hand and led me down another hallway, and through a door that led into what looked like a large arena. The floor was covered with sand, and there was some sort of plexiglass around the whole thing. 

     "What is this place?" I murmured, quietly enough that I thought only I could hear it. "It's like...a fighting ring or something…" I took in the harsh lighting above me, although you wouldn't be able to reach the lights from inside the arena. There was a metal cage-like structure above us. On the end nearest to the prison area was a large metal door, and about 20 feet from there was the door that Sukuna and I were standing in front of. 

     "This is an area specially designed to contain the curses, of any level. We can't have them running loose and finding a way upstairs." He looked around pointedly. "Taking them out after creating them for you, would be a bit of an inconvenience, and it would take up a lot of my time, unnecessarily." He shrugged as he looked over to me. "We'll go a little easier tonight since you just woke up, but that doesn't mean that it'll be a walk in the park." He laughed, as if he was amused at the thought of pushing me to my limits. 

     Walking to the middle of the arena, I looked over my shoulder to Sukuna. "I'm ready whenever you are." His laugh rumbled through the arena. Moving to back out, I heard the click of a lock on the door we had just come through. 

     "Remember," He yelled through the door. "I'm not ready to let you slip out of my grasp yet. So don't die." His voice sounded amused. Of course this would be like a game to him. It fuelled my determination even more when he egged me on like that. 

     "Let's get this over with then so I can be one step closer to fighting you!" I smirked in his direction as I heard a chuckle in response. 

     "As you wish, my queen." I heard the click of a button, and the metal door at the far end of the arena slowly slid open. I held my breath as the entire room went silent, so silent that my thoughts were deafening. I stared into the black abyss that laid behind the door, wondering, watching, and waiting for the curse that would emerge from the depths. What slowly made its way out was not what I expected. 

     It was a small creature, maybe four feet tall, max. It was a little pudgy, slightly resembling a little goblin in form, with greenish skin and black marks over its whole body. It had what looked to be large paws. Slowly walking towards me, my whole body was on edge. I was suddenly aware that I had no physical weapons, only something inside me, that for all I knew, was lying dormant. 

     Next thing I knew, the creature had vanished from in front of me. I swirled around and barely seen it running up from behind me before I moved out of the way. "Pay attention Y/N!" I muttered to myself, "It's not too big...if I can just be aware of where it is, I should be okay." 

     Once I locked eyes on it, I realized it was very fast. Almost like a jack rabbit in its movements. I seen it coming towards me, but even so, I wasn't able to move fast enough and it barreled right into me, slamming me 15 feet across the arena and right into the hard clear siding. I felt the blood rush to my head as I stood up. The creature wasted no time in coming at me again, but I was ready for it this time. 

     Putting my arms up in a defensive position to protect my face, the creature came at me, at the last second I grabbed onto its foot and slammed it into the ground. Letting go I ran backwards to get some distance between us. As the creature got up, it seemed to morph to six feet tall, with dagger-like claws on its paw like hands and feet. This just got ten times more difficult. 

     I braced myself, trying to think of a plan. It was a low level curse, so there had to be some weakness. It stalked me for a while before running towards me on all fours. It was much slower in this form, easier to keep an eye on. Even though it was slower, it was more dangerous with its claws. 

     Trying to evade its strikes, I turned my back on it for a second. I felt a sharp, searing pain across my back as I heard the ripping of fabric. The fabric of my shirt more precisely. I landed on my hands and knees as I felt a good amount of blood drip down my back and into the sand. Slowly standing up, I faced the creature, only to realize that it was right in front of me, and with one smack, had sent me flying to the other side of the arena to slam against the clear wall again. 

     My vision got fuzzy, and my head was pounding. Not to mention my back hurt a LOT. Standing up, I felt woozy, but I knew I couldn't give up. I'd have to charge it and try to keep away from its claws. Suddenly, I had an idea. If I could swing onto its back, I might have a chance to deal some damage if I could find a soft spot. 

    I mustered up all the extra strength I could. Then I ran. I ran as fast as I could towards the curse, and it was running straight for me too. I narrowly missed the claws as I ran behind the creature and flung myself onto its back, wrapping my arms around its neck. I suddenly felt faint, and everything around me went black. Trying to hold on to what I thought was my consciousness, I willed myself to open my eyes, but they were too heavy. 

     I fought against the darkness creeping in, but it was a losing battle. The more I fought to keep hold, the further I was dragged down. Until I couldn't fight anymore.