𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑳𝑴 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑫𝑶𝑾𝑺 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐗 - 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒

TWO HOURS PASSED BEFORE ANY OF THE SORCERERS COULD FIND EVEN THE SLIGHTEST HINT OF THE CURSE'S PRESENCE. Luckily, the neighbourhood was still completely deserted except for the other side of the dam where workers had already started unloading the ships. Kinzoku Mikazuki grimaced as she rested her hands on her hips, golden eyes scanning the horizon with an annoyed expression. The Curse was powerful but elusive, so it had carefully masked its presence.

Gojo hadn't been able to detect its position either, the power of the Six Eyes falling short against the creature's nearly perfect camouflage. Very few Cursed Spirits had the ability to hide from his technique, so the curse they faced was no ordinary opponent. Mikazuki turned towards her companion, an unreadable expression on her face before she pointed towards the roof of one of the houses.

"We're very exposed down here. We should try to climb over there and use it as a vantage point" she pointed out as she began to climb the side of the house, pain spreading through her left leg with each movement "Besides, it'll be easier to track it from up here"

She cast the pain aside, pushing the dead weight of her leg with the serpentine arms of her golden shield. Satoru watched silently, his masked gaze following the shifting gold and how it wrapped around her like a cocoon, pushing her up before flickering out of reality once again. Once she was done climbing, Gojo simply put his hands together, fluttering between the folds of reality and reappearing by her side.

Mikazuki didn't whine – she could have done the same thing, but she wasn't about to turn down the opportunity to train her body back into shape. The ten years she'd spent in exile had been hard on her body, especially after the pregnancy – instead, she turned around, scouring the area with one last look before sharply turning back towards him.

"I'm going to try to track it again" the sorceress announced as the gold gathered around her "Do you have my back?"

Something flashed across her gaze, a hint of hesitation which glimmered in her golden eyes. Mikazuki looked at him warily, her expression unreadable despite that small glint he'd just spied. Still, even as the question hung in the air, Satoru knew exactly what she was thinking about. Mikazuki's Eternity was like an extension of her – it was a barrier as much as it was her own blood, and although she could let it out and use it as a second pair of eyes, this left her vulnerable. The sorceress knew this, and yet she'd asked. Mikazuki never had to ask before.

Before he broke her heart in a millions pieces. Before he watched her being dragged away in chains. Before he broke off their engagement. Before he let rats torture her for truth's sake. Do you have my back? Satoru wanted to say yes. He wanted to say it so bad he could feel the yearning in his heart, that small skip of a beat that was subtle enough to go unnoticed but strong enough to make him pause.

The answer should be yes, yet he'd done nothing but prove her wrong. Every time Mikazuki trusted him, Gojo let her down. Satoru shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he locked his jaw, a decisive look in his ocean eyes.

"Always" he answered truly, hoping his voice didn't shake.

Always. Satoru said it like he meant it, but the sorceress couldn't trust that anymore. She couldn't trust a single word that came out of his mouth, because he had betrayed her too many times already. He said the word like he knew what it meant, but Satoru couldn't possibly know its meaning – otherwise he would never have said it.

Did he think her foolish enough to fall for his games? Although Mikazuki had made no attempts to make him think otherwise, always at his beck and call, ready to serve him. Fortunately for her, she had more self-respect now. Mikazuki huffed, crouching down on the floor as she set her open palm against the cold concrete.

"I wish I could believe you" the sorceress let out in a quiet whisper, yet Gojo heard it anyway.

Satoru straightened his back, hands buried deep into his pockets as he stood there, guilt written all over his face. It was an odd expression, one Mikazuki had only glimpsed whenever he talked about Suguru and the fate that had befallen him – the fate Satoru had delivered. Guilt looked good on him, or at least better than the usual smug expression she was so used to seeing in that pretty face of his. The woman blinked, pushing the thoughts away while the clumps of floating gold gathered around her.

"Okay, I'm going under" Mikazuki called, eye fluttering closed.

The gold rushed out of her body like a wave, flapping onto the roof before rolling down the walls of the house and onto the green grass, turning the sea of green into an esplanade of pure molten and shimmering gold. Satoru watched as the wave washed over the area, the tendrils of Mikazuki's Eternity sneaking through the earth and bleeding onto the underground tunnels before spreading even further. It was beautiful, like liquid sunset melting into the earth and blurring the line between worlds.

Gojo let out a sigh, gaze lingering over the woman. She looked calmer than the last time he'd seen her, yet he could tell she was done waiting for him to play catch-up. Mikazuki had always been one step behind – in power, in love and in every possible thing a girl like her could be. And yet, in a mere ten years, she had surpassed not only him, but every living sorcerer this side of the globe.

Kinzoku Mikazuki was no longer a ghost, she was no longer The Golden Princess or any of the other nicknames she was known for. The sorceress had crawled her way through hell, lost everything she loved along the way before being reborn, forged by the fires of the pit. She was the Queen of Nightmares, and for the first time since her return, Satoru was unable to deny it.

Gojo had been so lost in thought he barely even registered Mikazuki's voice. The man was finally pulled back to reality when he heard her tsk, the annoying little sound breaching his brain fog as sharply as one of her daggers.

"Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" she asked pointedly, eyes still closed while the tendrils of her Eternity scoured the horizon.

Satoru nodded and, somehow, the sorceress felt it. Her expression didn't soften, almost as if she didn't want to allow herself the weakness, but she did pull her hair back before craning her neck. Eternity was taxing, yet she was handling better than she used to. For a moment, Satoru wondered if it was because of Keisuke's Cursed Energy. Ever since the funeral, the sorcerer hadn't dared ask. He'd felt the shift almost instantly, the moment Keisuke's lantern left her hand before soaring into the night sky. What ran through her veins had once been his; his Cursed Energy, his magic – and she was putting it too good use.

"I need more intel on the third Curse" Mikazuki requested as her gold took a sharp turn around the shipyard "This special-grade is more elusive than we thought, it's hiding its presence well" the woman paused, and for a moment, Satoru could feel her energy surging "But I'll find it eventually"

I always do, she didn't say.

"...and when I do, I will drag it back down to the pits of hell where it came from"

I will shove that Curse so far down it won't know which way is up.