The Queen of Curses; A Jujutsu Kaisen AU

That Day On the Mountain

The cicadas' relentless song was a familiar one. Rika knew such a song all too well, the same one buzzed inside her. A deep humming, a constant ball of magnetic waves resting- no growing inside her. She sat in her hospital bed gazing out the window, the summer breeze was gentle and brought in fresh feelings of renewal and healing. Reaching up to her chest she breathed in deeply, feeling the slight trace of pneumonia still in her system. The ache was duller and easier to ignore now that she had been treated for a few days now since being rescued from the mountain.

"Come, Rika. Before you start elementary school I want to take you somewhere special."

Rika's father knelt beside her yet kept and odd distance between them. He hesitated for a split second before putting his hand on her small shoulder, he was trying his best to not show any outward negative emotions. Yet the death of his beloved wife lingered in his mind. Everything about her sudden death, her sudden...pregnancy after years of trying. All of it bothered him. It bothered him to his core. He couldn't shake this feeling his wife had opened a powerful door, one he wasn't sure if he could close. No, he had to close it. He had to, or else this...thing would go into the world in the form of a child. He couldn't let it happen. Rika's eyes were bright and full of energy, what kind of energy is something else entirely. She smiled a bright smile and cheerfully asked where they were going. That smile unnerved him, sending a chill down his spine and a cold sweat from his pores. He swallowed hard and put on his best attempt at a smile.

"We're going to a shrine." he said as his thoughts raced.

A sacred place, he thought. A sacred place will be able to contain whatever this thing is. Deep down inside he knew that even without a physical body this thing would lose no power. It had to be done in a sacred place, consecrated for the gods.

"Our family has visited it for generations." he lied, knowing full well the only reason he knew of such a shrine was because he had looked for the least popular one in the surrounding areas. Deep in her subconscious Rika knew exactly what was going on, but her conscious mind kept her in a childlike state unaware of her so called father's intentions. Rika wholeheartedly agreed, excited for a day out in the mountains. Yet it ended the way it did...why did it have to end the way it did?

Rika felt more confused than sad as she remembered what had taken place on that fateful day at the mountain.

The day was bright and sunny, the cicada were singing just as always. The air was warm and perfect for hiking as Rika pranced along in front of her father, somehow leading the way. Her father swallowed hard before asking her a vital question.
"Rika-chan...do you remember how mommy died?" he croaked out as his knees wanted to give in. Rika's smile faded slightly as she placed her hands behind her back and turned around, walking backwards facing her father. 

"She drowned in the bath, right?" rika answered nonchalantly.
"I don't really remember a lot, mommy asked me how long I could hold my breath and i remember counting to 100 before..." she trailed off, looking up to her left as if trying to recall something, something her subconscious mind didn't allow her waking mind to access.
"I felt something on my head..." she said as she brought her small hand up to her head and behind it, slightly remembering the feeling of a hand being rested on her head as she lay beneath the water. Rika slowly continued walking until her father stopped. Rika looked up and realized she was in a clearing. She perked up quickly forgetting the dark topic.
"We're here!" she exclaimed as she rushed towards the barely kept shrine. It was a very small shrine, far up the mountain no one else was around for miles- no one would know if something awful happened up there. Her father dropped his bag as he led her inside the shrine.
"Oh, aren't we supposed to stay outside the shrine?" she asked aloud as her father slinked inside the shrine, steeling his nerves for the act of evil he was about to commit. Rika quickly paced after him, not sure what was going on but excited to see the inside of a shrine.
"Ive never seen the inside of a shrine before! This is so exciting! Do we have permission to be in here?" she asked as her father slid the door closed behind him. He lit some candles and sat in the middle of the shrine room. His eyes shadowed by the low light Rika felt confused as she noticed her father sit down.
"Rika-chan," he whispered as he beckoned her to sit in front of him. Confused but intrigued she sat in front of him thinking perhaps they were going to pray.
"Rika, how did you get here?" he asked, confusing her even more.
"You brought us up here?" she cocked her head to the side and her father tried to hide his grimace.
"Rika...you walked in front of me. The entire time." her father gripped his pants tightly as rika's eyes widened slightly
"Huh? What do you mean you showed me the way-"
"I didn't show you anything rika, not even a map." her father interrupted her abruptly as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Rika...you killed mom...didn't you?" he rasped once more as rika's eyes widened
"Wha-" she was about to protest when all of a sudden her head hit the floor. Her father's hands were wrapped around her tiny throat. Rika's eyes widened as she realized what was happening to her. Her father was trying to strangle her to death
"You..you are not Rika! Whatever you are...You killed my wife! You drowned her when she figured out you're not right. Theres...theres something WRONG with you!" he screamed out as the candles began to flicker and struggle to stay alight. The burning in rika's chest increased as she struggled for air. Her body began to feel cold before feeling like it was burn up inside. The feeling was foreign and agonizing as she kicked, flailed, and scratched at her father's arms and torso.