章 51: Ritual
At midnight in Arai's house, Maki was in the backyard. Her clothes were no longer the yukata that she wore at the Zen'in household but pajamas that she went and bought with Arai.
With a wooden staff in both her hands, she swung the stick against a wooden doll made for training with the same consistent strength and speed. A repetitive set of action made with her full focus not wanting to miss the correct timing.
"Maki?"
Maki hearing her name called out lost focus and stumbled almost falling to the ground. She turned around to see Mai her twin sister rubbing her eyes in pajamas as well."
"What are you doing?" Mai tilted her head.
It was midnight and they were supposed to sleep, but Maki was out here training instead. Maki hearing her twin's concern got back up and put on a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about me, I'll go to sleep soon. I'm just training a bit."
She continued swinging her weapon in the same rhythm but Mai could tell hidden inside each swing was bitterness and frustration. It was easy to figure out the reason as to why she was acting like this.
Her conversation with Arai.
Knowing her twin's personality, she understood that Maki was pushing herself to get stronger. Alas being a twin was something that cursed them from ever becoming a powerhouse.
Maki who was lost in her thoughts heard the sound of something being dragged through the dirt. She turned around to find Mai approaching her with the same wooden staff. Mai who saw Maki's baffled face giggled.
"What? I'm your twin, it's only fair we both do it together."
A smile crept up Maki's face. Yes they were twins, even if everyone said it was a curse. To them it would be a blessing. Staying together was far better than being alone.
And so time passed by, until it was noon. As Maki was about to tell her twin to stop for today, they heard the sound of the door to the backyard open. The two looked back to see Arai walking leaning at the door.
His clothes filled with tears and shred while dyed with blood. His face half rotted and his arms were unskinned showing the flesh.
"Isn't it time for bed?"
"I've got a better question. What in god's name happened to you?"
"Had an argument with a woman and this is the result. Make sure you don't grow up to be like that."
Arai dismissed her question and sat down on the grass. "You two go sleep. We're going to Tokyo tomorrow."
"What's the occasion?"
"Nothing kids like you need to worry about. Now go rest up, trust me you'll need the energy."
The twins obliged and were about to go but Arai stopped them.
"Oh and before you two go."
The twins looked back to see Arai with a small smile plastered on his face. Small but a smile nonetheless.
"Good job on practice, keep that drive, the both of you."
Maki who was in a bad mood brightened.
"Will do, dad."
Saying what he needed to, Arai left the twins and went inside. He noticed them training a while ago but only greeted them when they finished. Their determination should not be meddled with, simply helping them grow by their own effort was important. He himself cannot control everything, so letting allies enough freedom to grow was crucial.
"Come out, Malenia." Arai said as she showed herself, looking at the two child unaware of her presence. She could not help but narrow down her eyes in pityness. Children thrown away because they had defects reminded her of her siblings.
A memory she did not want to remember.
Malenia shook off those thoughts. "What did we come here for?"
"To experiment."
Following Arai downstairs, Malenia could see the arrays of barriers and seals that he had put into place. She knew he was cautious from her fight with him but this was something else. There were so many seals and barriers that she couldn't even count them correctly.
"We're here." Arai broke her out of her stupor as they arrived at their desired destination.
A large room made out of seals, there was nothing else other than that it was a circular room and that at the center was a large circular bowl with a rectangle platform.
"What is this place?"
"Hopefully somewhere you perform a ritual. Well... at least a successful one."
"Ritual?"
Malenia widened her eyes as she realized what this place was for. A ritual was performed with a sacrifice being offered. Her body tensed up but before she could try anything Arai placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'm not sacrificing you or something. I just need you to watch me." He said before going to the bowl in the middle of the room.
"And why would I watch over you?"
"To prove that I am someone worth following on your own accord."
Arai looked back to her, she could see that he was as serious as he always was but she could not take her eyes off his face. And that was because he had just shown her something incredible.
White smoke began emitting from his body.
His previously unskinned arm was slowly being healed at a visible rate and the face that was previously rotted was now perfectly normal. He clenched his fist and nodded feeling that it was at its normal state.
'Reverse cursed technique?!'
The Death Painting knew that Arai was not capable of using it before but now he was perfectly capable of it. If he had that capability he would of used it in the fight, then there can only be one thing.
Arai had grown even more than she had thought in that very fight.
After her defeat, Arai had asked her to join him. She knew he could control her yet did not. Having no choice but follow the victor was what she had thought she needed to do. But now, maybe following someone this powerful was not such a bad idea.
Maybe he could even help her free her brothers.
"We're not done yet." Arai broke her out of her stupor.
She gasped before looking away in disgust as her eyes witnessed probably the strangest thing she had ever seen before. Claws and hands came out of his ear, humans and cursed spirits had crawled out of somewhere impossible.
They now being freed all kneeled down to him. He said nothing before reaching into his ear and pulling out a sword and a man. His appearance resembled the clothes that Arai wore when he was inside his mind.
Malenia stood still like a tree as she witnessed this ceremony.
The man walked to the opposite side of the bowl and laid down. Arai unsheathed his blade before slashing all the cursed spirits and cursed users. And threw their bodies into the large bowl letting their blood seep into it.
"Let's start."
Arai placed his hand on the man's forehead.
"What are you doing?" Malenia asked curious as to Arai's actions.
''I'm starting a ritual to connect the body of two people, the twins you saw upstairs are what I want to re-create but unlike them I want the two to be able to use multiple cursed techniques. After all, the soul is the body and the body is the soul."
His eyes lit up green as he used his cursed technique.
"Jujutsu works in the way that one has to give to receive. Normally it should be giving a part of what you have but since my cursed techniques revolves around control I can just use others I control over to give their life for the ritual to work. Aren't you glad that I didn't forcibly control you."
She gulped understanding what the offer entailed. Unlike the other servants of his, he didn't place a pact on her. He asked her if she voluntarily wanted to follow him. His reason was that people shackled by others could never truly bring out their full potential.
If she didn't have that potential, then she would be mindlessly follow him like he was a god.
'That power... it's frightening.' She thought unknowingly losing the will to oppose Arai.
Arai's hand was filled with cursed energy, the man's body began fidgeting uncontrollably. The veins on his face began being more apparent and his eyes became bloodshot. Larges gusts of winds flowed throughout the room and pushed Malenia back forcing her cover herself with her arms. The two man could no longer be seen from the immense wind created through cursed energy.
"Wind?" Malenia shielded her eyes as she was baffled by having wind underground.
The wind eventually stopped and Malenia dropped her guard. She could slowly make out a figure from the fading wind and there she saw Arai enwrapped with cyclones of wind. His body was completely engulfed with them. She could faintly see his figure but it wasn't identifiable.
"The soul is the body and the body is the soul, the cursed energy and technique of an individual lies within their body. So wouldn't that mean that if I can make someone's body become a part of me result in I gaining their cursed technique and energy?
Of course something like that isn't normally possible. My technique creates a string of connection between myself and another individual in the form of a pact whether it would changing its conditions or severing it so what would be the reverse of that? Wouldn't it be making it so that the connection would need no string? As in making it become a part of themselves."
Arai talked with a twisted yet clear tone comprehendible to Malenia, the cyclones of wind died down before Arai was now alone with the bodies of cursed spirits and sorcerers alike all gone. Arai closed hi eyes as he felt the addition of cursed energy ran throughout his body.
And with a new technique in his armament, he could not help but grin gleefully. He turned around and saw Malenia baffled.
He turned around with a victorious smile on him. "So? Have you decided yet?"
Malenia couldn't help but sweat seeing the new power he possessed. Her cursed technique Rot was nowhere near the level of his but Arai now had multiples unrelated techniques now, she could now say with full conviction.
If the Arai she fought was just above her in scaling, the Arai now would absolutely demolish her in combat.
Though instead of being angry, she was now calm. 'I can never save my siblings with my power, even when I was roaming around the world I knew there are people I can't beat but if I can follow someone great enough... then it would not be such a farfetched dream.'
She kneeled on one knee and bowed down.
"I swear my unconditional loyalty to you, as long as you promise to save my siblings."
"How insincere."
Shaking his head, Arai walked up to her and kneeled down face to face. "No need, a pact would only make it seem as if I'm controlling you. I'll let you free and I promise I will help save your siblings. As long as you don't betray me of course."
"I will not do so."
"Then it's settled."
Arai put on the clothes that the man but not before cleaning it with his new technique. It was hard to control it since it still felt foreign to him but he got the job done. He walked upstairs with Malenia closely following him behind.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
Arai sighed and turned around. "To hear some geezers talk about their insecurities."
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{AN: Originally I was not going to use the whole ritual thing. I wanted to actual contract gods using shrines as the medium but then Akutami introduced a god cursed spirit so that kinda made it weird for me to actually use gods. So then when the bath chapter happened, I was like 'huh, wouldn't it be great if I can actually use a ritual to make it happen?' and so that's how it works now.
I've got a good idea of which cursed technique I'll add but recommend some if you've got an idea.}
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