466Summary: A very old soul finds herself in an unfamiliar world where she has no idea what's going on but damn it could these people please stop trying to exorcise her?
Genres: Dark Comedy / Parody, Feel Good, Family Focus with a side of RomCom, Sprinkle of Satire, and a Dollop of Angst
Warnings: Murder, violence, depression, desensitization, death, standard Jujutsu warnings.
Note: This old soul is one I have used for a lot of my stories. You don't need to read them to follow along–I will add plenty of explanations for what is relevant–but heads up as some of my readers like to make comments / references to those stories.
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April 13th, 2000
Éclosion was a town of over 25,000 citizens in France. It was a suburb a few hours from Paris, and was known as one of the safer towns in France.
On April 13th, in the year 2000, the entire population of Éclosion instantly died from an "unknown" cause.
To most of the world, it was a bizarre tragedy, something to be marked down as an unsolved mystery for the history books. Each citizen had simultaneously suffocated within a few minutes of being exposed to… something.
Something that could not leave behind a physical trace of its existence yet was so overwhelming it simultaneously strangled over 25,000 living beings within Éclosion.
To a very small group of people, they knew the truth.
That town did not die by ordinary means, rather, from the sheer pressure exerted by a very dangerous being.
To that small group of people, they assumed it was the work of a Curse.
Curses were created when Cursed energy leaked from humans as a result of their human emotions. Cursed energy would build up in areas like sediment until it became strong enough to manifest a form. They were known to be lethal when left alone.
Populated locations such as schools and hospitals were hot spots for creating Curses because many negative emotions were associated with those places. The same concept applied to humanity's collective fear and hatred. An image of fear shared by the masses could create a powerful Curse even if the subject was not real, such as famous monsters or ghosts. The negative emotions that humanity directed at that singular fear would cause it to manifest as a Curse and in time… a Cursed spirit.
Cursed spirits' bodies were entirely made up of Cursed energy—or spiritual energy. Their metaphysical existence made it impossible for normal humans to perceive or touch them.
Only a small group of humans were able to interact with Cursed spirits, and in turn, combat them.
They were known as Jujutsu Sorcerers.
Jujutsu Sorcerers formed a society over the past thousands of years to work in the shadows to suppress Curses in an effort to protect humanity.
All Jujutsu Sorcerers were trained in their youth at one of the two Jujutsu educational facilities in either Tokyo or Kyoto in Japan. They were primarily based in Japan as the country, for an unknown reason, had the highest rate of generating Curses. At those facilities, they were taught how to utilize their own Cursed energy in order to exorcise Cursed spirits.
After graduating, alumni Sorcerers who remained aligned with the schools typically used one of the two facilities as a home base. Those facilities served as the cornerstone for the Jujutsu Sorcerer community. They mediated issues, assigned missions, and officially established a payroll for all their employed exorcists. The higher-ups were in charge of the schools and by extension all Jujutsu sorcerers.
Sorcerers would be dispatched wherever they found a gathering of Cursed spirits. They were dispatched based on how strong they are in comparison to the spirit they face. The Jujutsu society would rank spirits—and Sorcerers—like so:
Grade 4 - The weakest; a tire iron would be plenty to deal with it.
Grade 3 - Slightly harder than Grade 4; handgun or something of similar power recommended.
Semi-Grade 2
Grade 2 - An average Jujutsu sorcerer would not come out unscathed.
Semi-Grade 1
Grade 1 - "Even a tank might be insufficient."
Special Grade 1
Special Grade - "Cluster bombs might work."
For reasons not yet known to the Jujutsu community, Curses and Sorcerers were most commonly found in Japan. While some could crop up in other countries, it was exceedingly rare.
That meant only a handful of Sorcerers were dispatched on rotation to monitor countries outside of Japan.
For example, France.
There were only three Sorcerers stationed in France and they would handle the Curses and Curse Users that appeared in France.
Three Sorcerers.
Who, at best, could handle a Grade 1 spirit.
But on April 13th that year, something truly horrific happened.
A Curse within minutes of being born had simultaneously slaughtered thousands of civilians. Its mere presence could be felt by the Sorcerers not only in France but in the surrounding countries across Europe.
It was only felt for five minutes, and then it vanished.
And so while the majority of the world was in a panicked frenzy over the mysterious massacre, the Jujutsu world was in a different kind of panic.
For a spirit that went beyond their measurement system had just been born… and they had no way of dealing with it.
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January, 2001
"This… isn't the outside of my house—?"
The soft murmurs of a young woman echoed in a tiny little tea shop. The young woman had meant to grab a bite to eat, but as soon as she stepped out of her home she was surprised that the familiar streets did not greet her. Instead, she had stepped into a shop.
She looked behind her. Her house was still behind her.
She was alarmed, yet not afraid. As soon as she caught the whiff of strongly brewed tea, an odd sense of calm washed over her. What was happening to the young woman was otherworldly, but she could not find any fear in her.
That place was not meant to be scary; it oozed relaxation and trust.
She slowly closed the door behind her, peering around.
It was a single room with two other doorways aside from the front. The furthest from the entrance was a doorway that lead to some stairs. There was an invisible barrier placed upon that doorway, only those the owner allowed could pass through.
(That was because the stairs lead up to a living space for the owner and her family.)
The second doorway was behind the red oak counter, and it acted as a type of closet.
(The owner could access their void storage from it without needing to exert herself, and thus was able to procure and maintain special ingredients for her drinks and food.)
The tea shop's one room was cozy. It was Victorian in design; it leaned heavily into dark woods, reds, and creams. There was a fireplace that was constantly lit, filling the entire room with its comforting scent.
It was an odd place, that tea shop.
It existed nowhere and everywhere at once. There was only one way to access it, and that was through the front door. But, that door was by no means ordinary.
"Welcome!" chirped a small voice. The woman looked over at the counter to her right, surprised to find a small child with pale pink hair and ruby eyes staring up at her. "You're my first ever customer."
The woman was startled. "Oh! Customer—?"
"Mm-hmm. This is a special tea shop. Not just anyone can access it, you know," the child said cheerfully. "See that door?"
The woman looked behind her. At a glance it appeared the door she had come from was a plain red oak door. "Yes?"
"That was given to me by a witch named Sophie," she said. "It's got a mind of its own. I asked it if it could make my first customer super special. And now you're here."
"And where… where exactly is here?" the woman hesitantly asked.
"Here and There, a place of In Between," said the child. "Come sit down. Let me serve you something warm."
"Oh—oh thank you."
"As a thank you for being my first customer," the child continued, "I'd like to give you something—in fact, I'll grant any wish you like!"
"Any wish?"
"Any wish," the pinkette promised her.
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Lilly - April 13th, 2000
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Lilly stared in grim resignation at the hanging corpse. The woman didn't even reach her thirties before throwing in the towel. The body swayed side by side, still warm. Still leaking. The woman hadn't hung herself from far up enough to snap her neck, so she strangled slowly and painfully.
Dumbass, Lilly thought, finding it hard to scrounge up sympathy for the woman.
The woman could have saved herself the painful death if she just chugged sleeping pills with wine.
But people that desperate to flee reality rarely thought that rationally.
"Geh," Lilly gasped, clutching at her head as another burst of pain shot through her. She was blinded, her vision going completely white at the influx of memories.
She fell to her knees, struggling to breathe from the intense pain. Her body quaked and trembled, unable to cope with the weight of her soul.
Too many memories. Too many lives. Too many deaths.
If she could forget, then the body would carry on without needing her entire soul to be there. She could rest a bit more. She could sleep in death's kind arms—
Death, please.
But, no.
Again.
Again.
She woke up again in a body too small and immature to handle the weight of her memories.
Lilly was what many referred to as an old soul.
It was not that her soul was older than the surrounding others, more so that her soul tended to retain the memories and knowledge of her previous lives.
Whereas death granted most souls a clean slate before their next life, Lilly was not permitted the same courtesy.
She was, mockingly, a Blessed being.
The pain subsided, the small body quivering.
How old am I now? Lilly wondered. Which world is this? Where—?
Panting, the old soul glanced around the house. Most of it looked like an average house on Earth from the early 2000s or late 1900s. None of it was in disarray, so probably not apocalyptic.
Not completely normal though, Lilly thought, feeling how sensitive her spiritual energy was in her current body.
If she was born in a powerless world, she wouldn't have woken up. The fact that she woke up meant there was something about that world that made it special.
Maybe a Hero will be born here? Will a Story happen?
Her head throbbed again, her soul and energy aching from the strain of being awoken in a premature body. Lilly stumbled around the house, every so often feeling another spike of her insides burning.
It was not too dissimilar to swallowing lava. On top of the pain, she was nauseous, unbearably hot, and had significant difficulty in trying to focus on what was in front of her. Every step was a milestone. Her soul yearned to burst out of the fragile body, to preemptively rejoin death.
Not yet. I woke up here for a reason. There's always a reason, Lilly thought. She fumbled around the house, searching for anything that could give her a better idea of where she was.
No computer. I think I see a landline phone, though, Lilly thought.
When she went to use it, however, only silence could be heard. She frowned, then hesitantly moved to flick on the lights.
Nothing happened.
Uwa… did I accidentally fry the tech trying to contain my energy? Lilly wanted to groan.
She hated being reborn in tech-sensitive worlds. If her spiritual energy was too overwhelming for the technology, it became such a hassle. It meant she had to consciously filter, repress, and refine her energy any time she had to use it when around technology.
Whatever.
Time to find a neighbor then, she thought.
Stepping outside the house, Lilly found a bizarre scene. There was a mailman who collapsed right at the door and judging from how still he was, she could tell he wasn't breathing.
Lilly stared at the dead body. She looked up and found several crashed cars and more dead bodies.
Oh.
"Oops," she said.
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She knew she could not linger for long. Her body was weak, and she could feel her spiritual energy fighting to be released again. She did not want to know what the world would want to do with her if they found out she was responsible. She had no idea what kind of world it was to begin with.
The only solution she could think of would be to head into the In Between.
The In Between was a type of pocket dimension that existed between Life and Death; Then and Later; Here and There.
It was a place accessible to any who had a doorway, and it was a favorite spot for her to linger in between reincarnations when Death could not keep her.
As long as she had access to her spiritual energy, she could go to the In Between.
There, she would rest until her soul settled down and her body could handle it.
And, most importantly, if she was pursued because of her accidental massacre, she'd have a better chance defending herself in the In Between than here.
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
January, 2001
Which lead her to the current situation.
Lilly had not left the In Between since entering it. No one had followed her, which meant either no one could or no one cared. Either worked for her.
Lilly could have chosen to stay in isolation, but she preferred company when she could.
She didn't want to risk leaving the In Between while her body was still maturing, and so she decided to invite people in instead.
Thankfully, during her time spent in Ingary she met an exceptionally talented witch named Sophie and her wish-washy partner named Howl. Sophie prepared a special door for Lilly to use in the In Between as a parting gift.
The door would appear before anyone it thought Lilly should meet. It was such a vague direction, Lilly honestly had no way of knowing who it would choose. Sometimes they were enemies and sometimes they were allies. It was a roulette of surprises.
But it would be fun regardless!
After Lilly had set up her special little shop in the In Between, she was so excited to have her first customer.
"Someone special," she begged of the door. "Someone—someone—-someone important to this world! Someone I can grant a wish for."
The door did not respond, but she sensed it acknowledged her request.
Then came the woman.
Lilly was so excited to meet her first customer.
And then she noticed something… something.
See, the woman was pregnant.
That alone wasn't too alarming—Lilly had been a mother herself before—but the woman had her hair tied off to the side.
Holy crap that's the dead anime mom hairdo, Lilly thought, suddenly anxious as she stared at the woman's hair. Oh my gosh. If she's nice too, she's so super duper dead. If the door picked her as my first customer, that means she's the mom of a protagonist or antagonist, I bet.
Lilly still smiled at the probably-soon-to-be-dead-mom. "Come sit down. Let me serve you something warm."
The woman had a kind smile. "Oh—oh thank you."
"As a thank you for being my first customer," said Lilly as the woman took a seat at the tea shop's counter, "I'd like to give you something—in fact, I'll grant any wish you like!"
"Any wish?"
"Any wish," Lilly promised her.
The woman giggled. "Oh gosh… I wouldn't even know what to ask for."
"You can think on it while I make you some tea," Lilly encouraged her, red eyes bright and welcoming.
"Hmmm… let's see… I guess if I were to wish for anything…" The woman placed a hand over her round stomach. "I wish for my son, Yūta, to grow up strong and healthy."
Dead anime mom hairstyle, check. Kind, check.
Lilly bowed before her. "Then I'll make it so! Ah, before I forget, might I ask you something?"
"Of course."
Too nice, oh dear, dear, dear.
"You, um, have any other family?" Lilly asked curiously.
The woman shook her head. "No. My dearest passed away a few months ago. It's only us now…"
Aaaaaand guarantee for the protagonist to end up alone if the mom dies. Check. Better luck next life, my dear.
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March 7, 2000
Lilly sighed as she held the infant in her arms.
The woman died at home after giving birth. The paramedics arrived in time to successfully deliver the child, but the woman died regardless of their efforts. Lilly could have tried to save her—healing her would have been easy—but she saw Death's hold on the woman and knew it wouldn't be worth the effort.
When people were meant to die, trying to keep them alive past their due date was like trying to keep a baby chick alive in a cage full of starving tigers.
Possible, certainly, but the old soul didn't see much point to it.
She had lived through enough Stories to recognize the signs. Sometimes Fate could be fought, and sometimes it was better to accept what was coming. The Ending could always be changed, but on occasion, it was prudent to keep certain pieces as they were.
For one reason or another, this world had determined that this woman had to die.
That this boy had to be alone.
Yūta, huh? Lilly thought, looking down at the infant.
Lilly would let Death take his mother.
But she would not let Fate take his life.
I've got a wish to fulfill, she thought. You're going to grow up strong and healthy. You will not be left alone like Fate wanted you to be.
Lilly looked up at the ceiling.
She had cast heavy illusions on the paramedics after they arrived. She kept them silent and still while she pondered what to do.
He can't live exclusively in the In Between, Lilly thought. Ugh… okay, let's go get his birth certificate and ID and blah blah blah.
Lilly would have to start going out in the world again. She needed an official identity to tie herself to Yūta. He'd have to attend a school, right? Grow up and get a job? All that required a paper trail.
This body is… seven years old? Lilly thought. I'll have to set up multiple lives. One to act as his official guardian, one for back up, and I guess one to be accurate to whatever this body's life was meant to be. Hooray for work…
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March 8, 2001
Lilly was minding her own business the following day. Yūta was swaddled and placed in a baby wrap carrier that Lilly tied around herself. She kept his head well supported, it rested in the crook of her neck.
It had been a while since she had repeatedly cast so many illusionary and compulsion spells. She knew it couldn't be helped—she was in the body of a seven-year-old, of course, the adults wouldn't take her seriously.
She had finished authenticating his birth certificate, adoption papers, and was on her way to handle funeral arrangements for his mother. Lilly had already made a few tentative and brief ventures into the world to (shamelessly) steal money so she had cash on hand in case the woman hadn't made prior plans for herself—which guessing by how optimistic she was, Lilly assumed the answer was no.
Yūta was an easy crier, which made what would have been a thirty-minute errand into a two-hour errand since a lot of that time was spent soothing the infant.
Lilly could feel he had more spiritual energy inside him than some of the adults she had previously encountered, but it was still growing.
If her hunch was correct and he was a protagonist—or antagonist—then she figured his energy would only continue to grow.
Maybe I should start feeding him some of mine? Lilly pondered. If she doubled or tripled the raw power of someone important, what would Fate do? Would it increase the power levels of everyone else to match, or would it give away under her pressure?
She didn't know the story—if there even was one in that world—so she had no way of knowing what to anticipate. She could only catch the common signs and draw her own predictions from her experiences.
Let's find out, Lilly thought.
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Daiki Choki
Daiki Choki was had recently completed his mission to vanquish an A-Grade Curse at a nearby graveyard. It had gone much smoother than he anticipated, and the Jujutsu Sorcerer was looking forward to his pay.
As he was leaving the graveyard, however, he felt something… odd.
It was indescribable. A sensation he had never encountered.
Similar… very similar… to encountering a powerful Curse, but…
It was a Curse, yet it was not.
It clearly had a presence. He felt an uncomfortable heat wash over him, as if the thing was projecting an aura of fire, but it was not malicious. Curses were filled with malevolent bloodlust, but what he felt lacked that intensity.
It was still dangerous, that heat.
Perhaps not directly evil, but…
If he had to put it into words, it was as if he had stumbled across a forest fire. The fire held no ill-will, but it was a dangerous force that if left unchecked would devour the entire forest.
Daiki did not feel that it was especially powerful, however, so he made his way over to it.
To his surprise, it took the form of a small girl holding something in a bundle of cloth. She was entering the funeral parlor.
Daiki frowned. Curses had never looked human before.
Suppose there's always a chance it's possessing her corpse, Daiki thought. He may not have encountered that specific scenario before, but he didn't see a reason why it couldn't happen.
Curses weren't human, but they were tricky by nature.
Daiki lingered outside the mortician's office, wondering if he would need to follow after the Curse. He hated fighting near civilians, but—
The Curse left, as if sensing something was wrong.
But that's silly, thought Daiki.
It headed straight past the building, making its way to the graves behind. Daiki followed behind it, slowly pulling his gun.
The Curse stopped, turning around to face Daiki. Its eyes were a vibrant red.
"Why are you focusing on me?" it asked.
Oddly articulate for a Curse, the Sorcerer thought, raising his gun and taking aim. He smirked. "Don't worry about it, Curse."
"Curse? What—?"
He fired, and then his whole world tilted upside down. He hadn't even felt it happening, let alone seen it, but somehow his head had been chopped off his body the moment he pulled the trigger. The Curse, who had been several steps ahead of him, was suddenly crushing his gun in her bare hand, scowling at him.
"If I had let that gone off, you woulda woken him," she scolded the decapitated head. "Rude."
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A week later, Tomoe Ai
Tomoe Ai sighed.
Last week Daiki Choki, a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, had been murdered. There was residual energy at the crime scene, which told the Sorcerers he had been slain by a Curse.
A tragedy, really.
But because he had died from a Curse, that meant the Curse still had to be exorcised.
Which was where Tomoe Ai came in. She and her sister, Yume Ai, scouted around the graveyard.
"Huh," came Yume. "Do you see this?"
"The residual?" asked Tomoe. "Yeah, kinda weird, huh?"
"It doesn't feel like a regular Curse," Yume commented.
Tomoe nodded in agreement. There wasn't much residue left behind from the Cures' presence, and what was available for them to see was odd. There was an unnatural heat to it. Normally Sorcerers could only see residue. Some veteran Sorcerers could feel malice from the residue, but that was the extent of it.
Yet the energy left behind whatever killed Daiki was warm.
Like a fire.
"It disappears at the edge of the graveyard," Yume said. "We'll need to survey the area."
"Mn… I'll head to the main street, then," said Tomoe, looking up at the darkening sky. "Looks like it'll rain soon."
Of course as soon as she said that the first raindrops fell.
Yume giggled at her sister's sour expression. "Let's finish this quickly and get something warm, yeah?"
"Yeah, yeah…"
Tomoe headed out of the graveyard, nodding politely at the mortician who noticed her from his office window. Stepping out onto the main street, she glanced up and down the road. The streets were relatively empty.
Her nose twitched.
Huh?
It was through pure happenstance that she turned right. She spotted a small child carrying something wrapped up. Despite the downfall, the child appeared unminding as she walked through the rain.
No—wait—
Tomoe's eyes narrowed.
The rain wasn't hitting her. For some reason, it looked like there was an invisible force above the girl that kept the rain from touching her. The longer Tomoe stared, the weirder it looked.
Wait—could the Curse be targeting her?
Alarmed, Tomoe sprinted in the child's direction. "Oi!"
The girl paused and turned to look at Tomoe. The moment Tomoe saw those ruby red eyes, she felt it.
That fire.
She did not even think. She reacted purely on instinct, whipping out a gun and taking aim.
That's not human!
The child glowered at her and suddenly Tomoe was flying up into the air. For a split second she found herself staring down at the pink-haired girl.
Then gravity pulled her in and she collided onto the sharp-tipped fence that surrounded the graveyard. Pain was all that Tomoe could register as her lungs filled with her blood and she dangled helplessly on the fence. She looked up, staring in morbid horror at seeing the fence poles poke out of her abdomen, chest, legs…
"Unlucky for you, it wasn't an instant death, huh," dryly said the evil Curse. "Maybe don't pull your gun on a child next life, yeah?"
"SISTER!"
No… don't… die for me…
Yume had come out of the graveyard. Either because she saw Tomoe up in the air, or her twin instincts sensed something was amiss.
Tomoe tried to warn her, tried to tell her to run—
Yume attacked. The Curse raised a hand and right before Tomoe Ai passed away she saw her sister turn into a splatter of gore against the building.
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Lilly
Lilly exasperatedly stared at the corpses.
"I think," she whispered to the sleeping infant in her arms, "I need to interrogate before I do that because I am super confused right now."
Yūta let out a soft murmur that was honestly so cute Lilly couldn't resist kissing the top of his head.
How can I stay in a bad mood when I have such a cutie patootie to look after?
Lilly nuzzled him.
Don't worry, sweetie. I'll keep you safe. I promise.
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As promised, the winner of the poll is here!
Updates sporadic like Satoru.
Question: Who would you want to be raised by in the Jujutsu fandom?
Reviews are love!