The last thing Gojou remembered was touching the rope of light before he felt a pulling sensation as he was sucked into the blinding light.
When his vision returned, he found himself inside a small cramped room, not unlike that of a prison cell, but this room had no light source except for dim led lights from hundreds of meters above him.
As he looked upwards, he heard a small sob from next to him. He looked on the ground where he previously hadn't noticed a small child crouched in the corner. She appeared to be crying silently. He felt a pang of sympathy as he crouched down next to her.
"Excuse me, are you okay?" he asked kindly, but the child didn't respond. He furrowed his eyebrows as he went to gently touch her shoulder, but he found his hand passed right through as if she was just an illusion.
Just then the wall behind him moved. He turned and realised the wall was in fact a door. The girl stopped crying and looked up fearfully, allowing Gojou to have a good look at her for the first time, his eyes widening as he stared at the terrified gunmetal grey eyes.
This was undoubtedly Mina as a child. But where is this?
"Move her to the lab and get started on the process, the Magister will be watching this time so we cannot afford to mess this up," came a cold voice from the door. Gojou turned and saw two men dressed in lab coats stride towards him – or rather, through him, grabbing the girl by both arms. She started kicking and screaming, but they injected her with some sort of sedative which made her go limp.
They carefully carried her down corridors and into a large laboratory, with Gojou following behind them. A dozen or so people were in there, looking through strange-looking instruments he couldn't recognise. Everything looked strange and nothing like what he knew. The room fell silent when the girl was brought in.
They carried her into a room with reinforced glass allowing them to see what was in the room. They strapped her into a chair, securing her firmly much to Gojou's consternation as he watched, not knowing what was going to happen to her. The grey looking man in the lab coat walked over to her unconscious form, looking down on her as if she wasn't even human, and carefully injected a faintly glowing blue substance into her system.
There appeared to be no sign of a reaction, causing the grey man to look down in confusion at her unresponsive form.
"Well, is it working?" came a deep voice from behind him. Gojou looked up to an observation room which he hadn't noticed and saw a man watching over the proceedings. Upon noticing his presence, everyone around him bowed deeply.
"I'm not sure sir, it's too early to tell whether it is a success." The strange man nodded thoughtfully.
"In that case, I think it's about time we bring it out and let her fuse with it." The Grey man paled at his words.
"Magister, with all due respect, it's not safe yet for us to progress to that stage, there are so many variables to consider, and we're not sure if the host is strong enough to fuse with it as it might kill her entirely. She still needs more work so-" the man raised a hand, causing the man to choke on his words, his face growing red as he struggled to speak.
"You're one of my best scientists, but I didn't ask for your opinion on this. I alone know what she is capable of, so bring it out and leave it in there." The invisible force choking the scientist released, causing him to drop to the floor, coughing and gasping for breath.
"Yes sir," he croaked as two other scientists came to help him out of the room.
The man called 'the Magister' smiled strangely, his cold violet eyes shining in a sinister fashion as he stared at Mina's now waking form within the room.
Gojou watched as Mina's eyes widened in fear as she realised she was strapped down. She shook the restraints violently, her eyes flashing silver as the devices in the room began to shake. The Magister merely looked on interestedly as she struggled to get out of the restraints. The restraints and the remnants of the sedative made her groggy, and she calmed down when she saw no one else in the room with her. Yet she looked towards the door nervously, as if anticipating something. Limp strands of hair were pasted onto her sweaty forehead as her eyes trembled in fear.
The door opened as two men came in, both carefully holding an iron box. However, an iron box was too simple a term for it. It looked dangerous and oozed bloodlust into the room. It felt completely different from the cursed energy Gojou was used to, but then again, nothing was to be expected when it came to Mina. The people carrying it looked pale and nervous as they carefully placed it down on the floor. Gojou could hear faint whispers coming from the box, and it was clear that everyone else could too, evident from the pale and shaking figures around him. Only the Magister remained unfazed. The girl took one look at the box and began to scream and scream.
"SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!!!" She screamed, causing a few people to flinch.
"Open it," the strange man ordered. The two scientists nodded and poured a vial of blood on the surface of the iron box, the blood running into the grooves on it. The blood sizzled before being absorbed into the box as if it was never there.
"Did her blood activate it?" the strange man demanded. One of the scientists peered over it and examined it closely.
Suddenly, the box exploded, engulfing the room in pitch darkness. The lights above them flickered, causing the scientists to look around uneasily, all except the strange man, who leaned forwards eagerly looking into the room which was obscured.
All of a sudden they heard screaming coming from the room. The voices of the two scientists could be heard. Shrill bloodcurdling screams were cut off as soon as they started. The darkness started to clear as it collected towards the ceiling of the room, revealing a horrific sight.
The girl, who Gojou knew to be Mina, stood in the middle of the room, the restraints torn, standing next to the body of one of the scientists, who appeared to be nothing but a charred corpse. The other scientist was still standing, but that was because her arm was still punctured through his chest. Her facial expression didn't change as she pulled her arm out. She turned around to face the glass and grinned, eliciting a few gasps as everyone saw her for the first time since the darkness cleared.
Her eyes had changed. Her silver eyes now glowing a brilliant amber.
She looked up as the smoke surrounded her and disappeared into her skin. The room began to shake as she began to spasm and twitch, her knees hitting the ground. Gojou could only watch in horror as her breathing grew laboured.
"Leave...me alone!" she moaned through her teeth. She was clearly in pain as she was silently fighting against something. The arms propping her up grew weak as she sunk to the floor, her head touching the blood-splattered floor as she lay there, twitching.
Suddenly she flipped onto her back and was pinned to the ground as if by an invisible force. Tears escaped her eyes as she struggled to get up as her eyes turned amber again.
That's when the glass exploded, freezing in mid-air before flying outwards and hitting its targets.
Piercing the hearts of every scientist in the room. A shard of glass shot through Gojou, causing him to jump in surprise, but her turned around and saw it hit a man standing behind him.
Gojou turned to look back in the room in shock and saw that Mina was now unconscious.
"Go check her vitals NOW!" the strange man barked towards two of the men standing next to him. They nodded and rushed into the room with their equipment.
They checked her pulse and appeared to do a few readings before taking a blood sample.
"Sir, we need to run a few more tests but it appears... that the fusing was successful."
"Continue with proceedings," the man responded, his lips curving into a terrifying smile as he stared at the girl's pale unconscious form.
One of the men opened a strange device and gingerly took out what appeared to be a small, glowing orb and placed it onto her forehead where it glowed a blinding white before disappearing into her skin.
Suddenly her body began to convulse, causing the two men crouched beside her to scramble away in terror, afraid of another outburst as light surrounded her form, obscuring her from view.
As the light faded, everyone peered at the girl and noticed a change.
Her hair now had white streaks running through it.
"The process was successful Magister, PYRA has integrated with her body on a molecular level. They are now one, with his consciousness suppressed, with training and a few more tests, the child should have access to his power and be able to harness it."
"Indeed. But she needs to be tamed first."
Gojou's surroundings began to flicker as he felt pressure build up at the base of his skull, causing him to grimace.
All of a sudden he found himself violently pulled from the memory and back into the training room where he and Mina now lay, both of them shaking.
"What the hell did you do?!" Mina hissed, sweat beading on her forehead.
"I have no idea, I was in darkness. I saw a cage in the darkness and then a glowing thread of light. I touched it and I think it showed me one of your memories."
As Gojou spoke, Mina felt herself growing paler and angrier.
"Don't you dare speak of what you saw," she hissed as she stood, dusting her coat off and heading to the door.
"What is Pyra?" he asked. She flinched and turned to face him, her eyes flashing silver.
"How do you know that name? What did you see?" she demanded before stopping in her tracks.
"Did you see it merge with me?" she guessed. Gojou nodded.
She looked at him, chuckling weakly.
"I've killed more people than you can imagine, so I guess your elders were right. I am a threat," she said quietly.
"But you weren't in control of yourself back then," Gojou retorted.
Mina cocked her head.
"No, I'm not sure who was in control back then," she murmured.
"I think our training session is over, don't you think?" she muttered, moving as if to leave. However, Gojou blocked her path.
*** *** ***
"What are you going to do when you get the Codex?" Gojou asked suddenly.
"I intend to destroy it."
"Why?"
"You are asking too many questions for someone who isn't telling me where it is," Mina hissed.
"Why do you only have six months?" he asked a question that had been bugging him.
"It's my theory. This is my third time travelling, the other two were when I was being tested. They are also looking for the codex, but they have to work harder finding the right universe, and the risks for them are... more challenging."
"What do you mean?" Gojou asked.
"In my world, jumping universes can be done, but it requires blood sacrifices," Mina responded coldly as if remembering something.
"The only reason I am able to find the right ones is because I have a direct link through Pyra. However, they are always adapting, always evolving, and they are catching up."
"So when you say six months...." Gojou trailed off as Mina shrugged.
"A rough estimate, but they may show up sooner, which is why I need to leave as soon as possible."
"Tokyo Jujutsu High."
Mina frowned at his words.
"What?"
"The Codex is inside a storage facility in Tokyo Jujutsu High, but it's impossible to get in without authorisation from the elders."
"Leave that to me."
Mina got up as if to leave, but Gojou stopped her.
"Mina...you're hiding something, aren't you?" Gojou guessed.
Mina bit her lip. She'd thought of Geto's offer. However, Geto and his curses would be natural enemies of Gojou and the others.
Would this count as a betrayal?
Gojou sighed.
"Whatever it is, don't do anything too dangerous."
"I'll try, but no promises." Gojou suppressed a smile at her sarcasm, but a small part of him couldn't help but worry for her, especially after all she'd been through. He strongly suspected that what he'd seen was only a fragment of the horrors she had endured. Even if she was a dangerous figure worthy of elimination, Gojou prayed it wouldn't come down to that.
Because he'd be the one who would have to kill her.
***