I open my eyes and to my surprise, I'm in an abyss underwater simply adrift in its emptiness. I look to my left and I see an elderly woman with gray-ish blue skin, white hair, and yellow overgrown nails. She reaches out and caresses my face and her yellow-gold eyes pierce my soul as she lets out a petrifying wail. The sound had no substance at first but then slowly I started to make out the words.
"YOU'RE SO WEAK! WEAK WEAK ELLIOT!" the screaming woman insults me. This banshee wasn't a random monster, it was me. I had cursed myself, this monster yelling these insults at me is what I used to feel about myself, that's what I felt all along.
"We're different now..." I say as I caress the banshee back, she smiles and nods her head.
I wake up from the fever dream. And I look around and I'm in a hospital room with Naofumi and a mysterious woman with shoulder-length coral colored hair and an orange dress. She was beautiful, her eyes were a magenta red and she had a weird serpent across her mouth, she soon rushed over to me.
"Tuna!" She exclaims. Was I still dreaming or did she seriously say that?
"Excuse me?" I say, Naofumi gets up from his seat and he explains to me.
"I know you're new to all of this but to avoid cursing someone she and her brother use rice ball filling names to talk to us." He says calmly while smiling.
"She just said, "Wow you're up now!" He says with a bit of confusion and hesitation. She smiles and nods. I look at her and I sign to her.
"Do you know sign language?" She smiles and nods aggressively she signs "Yes!" Naofumi looks with great happiness and watches in amazement.
"I never knew she knew sign language especially American.." Naofumi exclaims. The woman introduces herself.
"My name is Haru Inumaki and I am the teacher of Naofumi and Bobu, as you know already my power is Cursed Speech." she signs elegantly. Bobu walks in with Chipotle and hands the food to everyone. Bobu hands me a bowl.
"I had no idea what you wanted so... I got you what Naofumi usually gets." He says while laughing. Haru tugs on his ear.
"Dried bonito!" She yells at him while chuckling. These people seem really fun to be around and their cursed energy is through the roof.
"But back to business, we're faced with two options. Your curse; The Crying Banshee Spirit is a special grade curse that you've developed. If you don't join us or report to Tokyo we'll have no choice..." The whole mood of the room changes, what once was a peaceful and playful room was now a hostile situation.
"But to exercise you here and now." Naofumi finishes. A sharp chill shoots down my entire body. What choice did I even have they'd kill me if I said no. But... It's not even a matter of that, Shinzo needs to be exercised before he can enact his plan to the fullest. It's the most I can do to avenge my friends. I rise from the bed and I get on my knees.
"I'll join... but you have to let me be the one to kill Shinzo!" They look in complete surprise. They all look at each other and smile.
"We were hoping you were going to want vengeance," Bobu says in an excited voice. Haru shakes my hand and smiles, Naofumi and Bobu come from her sides and extend their hands out.
"Welcome to the World of Jujutsu!" Naofumi and Bobu exclaim.
After a few days, we arrive at what seems like a shrine and multiple dorms surrounding it in a U-shape. The center was a tiny shrine with pools of koi surrounding it and a pebble road leading into a dark room. We walk in directly and there's an old black man with monk heads surrounding his arms and legs. He turns and his eyes burst into tears as he runs in to embrace me.
"I'VE BEEN AWAITING YOUR ARRIVAL YOUNG ONE!" He says in a sobbing deep voice. He places his hand on my head and his hand is ginormous compared to my head.
"I could sense your cursed energy awakening all the way here. It was beautiful, you finally let yourself feel those emotions in their entirety, normally that doesn't work well in Jujutsu but I'm glad it worked for you." He explains to me with deep and vast knowledge. He hands me the same uniform as Naofumi, Bobu, and Haru. There's a subtle change like all of them, Haru's uniform has a skirt, Bobu's has a hoodie underneath, Naofumi's seemed to be fairly default though. My pants were very baggy and my sleeves drooped significantly more than most. One thing that remained the same was the button that was constant between all outfits. It was a gold pin that resided on one side of the uniform.
"There are not many domestic members beside you and me, I was the first black Jujutsu Sorcerer, I was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement, I'm originally from Louisana; the home of voodoo. That's where I got my start, I expect great things from you understand?" He says proudly, that made me feel so small, but I don't want to let him down, he was a strange man; I'm glad he's my principal. We leave the shrine and we go to the dorms and I get settled in. I look at my phone and I decide to call my parents.
"BABY YOU'RE OK!" My mom yells.
"COME HOME RIGHT NOW!" My dad sobs in the background.
"IS IT TRUE THAT..." My mom stutters in complete terror and sadness.
"No mom, I didn't," I say calmly I hear the faint screaming of Kingsley's hysterical mother.
"HE'S WITH HIM RIGHT!!" I begin to cry, I can't fathom saying it. Soon after I can hear Alan's mother and Jason's parents run to the phone and scream so many questions. Each one hacking away at what sanity I had left.
"TELL HIM TO COME HOME RIGHT NOW! TELL HIM I LOVE HIM! TELL HIM WE'RE HEADING OVER RIGHT NOW!" They bombard me. I couldn't take it I grab and clench my outfit from the back. I muster the strength to wail out a response.
"I-I couldn't... THEY'RE GONE! THEY'RE GONE AND I'M THE ONLY ONE LEFT! I DON'T DESERVE TO BE! BUT I AM! I'M GONNA LIVE EVERY MOMENT REMEMBERING MY FRIENDS GETTING SLAUGHTERED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" We all let out a gut-wrenching wail of sadness. We grieve for the next few minutes.
"We're sorry Elliot, we didn't think about it from your perspective." They all apologize.
"Thanks... but Mom and Dad ... You know I can't come back until all of this is over right," I say almost beginning to cry.
"Baby... Please don't die." My mom cries to me.
"I love you forever," I say sobbing.
"We love you more." Everyone says before ending the call.
It's dark now, the moonlight floods the room as my teardrops splash on its surface. I hadn't cried so much in years, I thought it was strong not to cry. Now I know it'll healthy and pretty normal too. I hold my dreads with one hand as I look into the endless night as I fall asleep in the puddle of tears and slobber.