Sayuri

Prologue

[Night Falls, 1600s]

In the dead of night, the Matsuda Warriors were in hot pursuit. The sounds of galloping echoed through the quiet and inhabited mountains. The soles of the horses shook the grounds and disrupted the peace the mountain once possessed.

"Stop her!"

Picking up on her speed, she dashes through a grove of trees, making sure to slow down her pursuers. When the gap between them began to widen, they pull out one of their weapons. The ripper, known for its capability of ripping off the limbs of a horse, was often used to stop their victims from getting away.

Smirking under her hood, she mocked their futile attempts to stop her. With a swing of her sword, she deflected the rippers, and it fell to the ground in loud clangs.

Tired of the relentless chase, she chanted under her breath, causing the ground to shake and threw one of her signature smoke bombs. A cloud of smoke swept passed the Matsuda Warriors, and they collapse in a coughing fit.

Based on their ranks and training, only two of them could get out of the smoky situation quick enough to catch up with her.

The path ahead soon turned into a dead-end, and she pulled to a stop just before the edge of the cliff. Cursing under her breath, she spun the horse around.

"There's nowhere to run now," Yuriko remarked. "Get down."

"And what?" She challenged, glaring at her former friend. "Stay down and let you kill me?" 

Yuriko let out a laugh. "That would have been easier, wouldn't it?'

She lets out a short non-humorous laugh of her own. "As if you could ever defeat me."

Yuriko's face twitched in anger as she took a step forward. "Well, I don't plan to kill you just yet. You have something I need."

"And what's that?"

"You're the only one who knows the secrets to Ren Matsuda's powers, and because of that, I'm going to let you live for a while more," Yuriko stated.

"You're going to let me? Who do you think you are, Yuriko?! What makes you think I would join you and those Shimizu scumbags?! I will never join you." She snapped.

"You don't have a choice!" Yuriko shouted before unsheathing her sword.

The clangs of the swords hitting one another could be heard throughout the mountains, followed by heavy breathing as the two charged towards one another in a battle of life and death. Her overwhelming strength took Yuriko by surprise, causing her to lose her footing. Yuriko let out a shaky breath as the sword pricks the skin at her neck.

"You're not my match." She remarked.

"You're right! We're both not your match, but who said we'd play it fair?"

"Mai Suzuki! What are you doing?" Yuriko shouted.

A loud explosion rang through their ears, and the ground beneath her began to tremble violently. She took a couple of steps back due to all the shaking, and Mai took the chance to pull Yuriko away.

Anger laced her eyes, and it glowed red with angry sparks. Drawing blood in her hand, she chanted an ancient curse.

"With my blood as medium, swap me with a tortured soul."

Just as she finished chanting, the ground beneath her broke into two, and she dropped her pendant, smashing it into pieces.

"You'll pay for this!" She shouted. "I will be back!"

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"Please..." A voice pleaded. "Please help me!"

"Don't worry. It's over now."

"W-Who's there? Who are you?"

"I'm Sayuri."

"Sayuri?"

"I'll be taking over your body from now on, and as payment, you can tell me your last wish."

"W-What do you mean?! I'm not dead yet!"

"You're already dead."

"T-That's not true! It can't be..."

"Chi-no noroi only picks the soul of a dying person to swap with."

"Chi-no noroi?"

"We don't have much time. Tell me what you want in return?"

"I want revenge!"

"You want her dead?"

"Dead? That's too easy. I want her to pay for her crimes. I want her to live through a painful life just like I did. Take away everything she cares about and everything she loves. That is my only wish."

"If that's what you truly wish for, then it shall be done."

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Japanese Word.

Chi-no noroi = blood curse.