Saito rose from dreamless slumber into the moonlight-illuminated room. The fleeting hopes the previous day had been a dream is swiftly dashed by the sight of two moons. Not because the number was wrong, though he had grown tired of hearing older people complaining about 'the good old days', but because their coloring and positions were different from what he was familiar with.
Also, he had become a cultivator. He tried to curb his enthusiasm but a stubborn smile grew from ear to ear at the thought. Every boy in the world wanted to be a cultivator. It was the new meta. Fuck astronaut, rock star, or brain surgeon! Young people nowadays want to be Goku! There isn't a boy with access to the internet who hadn't seen the epic 'sparing' between Zagreus and Gojo, or the Shinjuku footage of a young Tsumiki-sama fighting the King of Curses or how Zagreus saved everyone in the eleventh-hour! Bursting into the scene riding a dragon like a god dammit hero on a rock album!
A part of Saito is grateful to whatever gods exist out there he was born in this new age of dreams. He had been taught about the occult history of Japan and knew things weren't always flowers and rainbows, but that is why this world needed heroes! To correct what was wrong in the world! and there is only one place those who are serious about the aspiration for those 'ivory heights' can go. The Raging Heaven Cult.
Situated over where the Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School had once stood. Cultivators from all over the world can apply for it from the nearest Japanese embassy. For those who aspire to become heroes, it is considered a magical dream school and as a Japanese person Saito had seen with his own eyes the few days in the year it is open to the public. Together with its Kyrios, it is the darling of Japan's eyes. New wonders and miracles that change the world for the better come from it on the regular. Tokyo looks like a sci-fi city from a world a thousand years in the future. The Raging Heaven Cult single-handedly guaranteed Japanese technological superiority while making it look good on the world stage for its generosity to share with the rest of the world, uplifting hundreds of millions from poverty in a few years.
It sure would be a blessing to be born a Japanese… if it wasn't a country full of monsters.
Saito's smile died down and for as much as he tried, he couldn't quite control the violent shaking and sweat as his newly awoken pneumatic sense picked the presence of two impossible monsters in his room.
He reluctantly turned his head from the window to a slumbering Louise accommodated at the side of his bed and the two of the most infamous monsters that call his country home. Geto smiled genially at him while Satoru Gojo gave his (in)famous smug smirk. "Hey, you! Finally awake? You were trying to cross the border, right?"
I had hoped it had been a hallucination! But this cringe line is too genuine and out of touch to be a fake! I am so sorry Louse, I might have just doomed your country by attracting these monsters to Tristania!
Saito's trail of thought, although uncharitable was far from uncommon. While the few records and reports from Zagreus that don't involve him being an underage silly drunkard show a level of intensity and presence capable of overwhelming even the most hardened of souls, it also showed an underlying of… care and compassion for his fellow men. He was capable of inspiring hope in others as casually as one breath and gathered followers with a honey tongue.
His showings after he stopped holding back and went full hero during the Shibuya Incident made its annual anniversary the most popular religious holiday in Japan. While Saito was sleeping due to his young age, his parents said they saw the lights and it was like an aurora of hope. An impossible miracle that would stay with them to their dying days.
Unfortunately, he was just old enough to remember the Moon Rise. It was like the end of the world, beyond any earthquake he would ever experience, coupled with the impossibility of an ever-rising avalanche on the distant horizon. All the while Saito was gripped with fear that the horrible miracle would cease, leading to a rain of stones over his head. That was the day Saito learned gods are things to be feared and witnessed from a distance.
Satoru Gojo was like the Old Testament's God made flesh. He was awe-inspiring, breathtaking, and worthy of respect and reverence. But he exists apart, like an
Island in the Sun. There is no reaching him or bargaining with him. You can only endure him and thank him every day for allowing you to live another day. That is why it is best to keep him out of sight and out of mind. Even for cultivators of virtues, he seems unreachable… except he was reached by possibly the worst person possible.
Geto is the poster child of Japan's complicated relationship with religion. His worldwide influence is seen with trepidation in Japan, like a retelling of an old cautionary tale. The fanaticism of imperial Japan is an old scar that never quite healed, as the Aum Shinrikyo sarin incident madness of 1987 had shown. Japan waits with a baited breath for the other shoe to drop and the guy declares a jihad against ordinary people after awakening as many as he can with his own hands.
The records show the grim truth both of them are kind of shitty people with more power than they should who were groomed by Zagreus into 'barely passable' adults in his vain hope of raising them into virtuous men. Considering the only other heroic-level native cultivator is the reborn King of Curses, it is no wonder why the Raging Heaven gets so much leeway. As a mystery faith, it keeps to itself without preaching or poaching for more members, plus Tsumiki-sama and Megumi are far less controversial – the faces of the cultivators of tomorrow: virtuous, charismatic, and socially mindful of how the great powers they have affect those around them. Heroic.
Saito was glad people noticed his disappearance and someone came to bring him back home. But honestly? He would take Yuji, the new King of Curses, over these two. He was more of a tragic figure than anything else. After all, how is one to respond to the news he is the reincarnation of Hitler? The ancient sorcerer who created him and unleashed Sukuna in Shibuya also imprisoned Zagreus in the first place. It doesn't help as much as it should, but his dedication to his job is undeniable. He lived for fifteen years like a normal and well-adjusted kid, proof that nurturing is as important as nature.
Saito sighed in defeat, time to face the music. "Thank you for coming out of your way to rescue me, Gojo-sama, Geto-sama!" He tried to stand up so he could bow properly but his body still hurt all over, forcing him back and stirring Louise.
"Saito?... Saito! You shouldn't move! You got really hurt in that stupid duel." Louise chastised the boy while she fussed over him, something Saito was grateful for. Louise might be… severe, try hard even, and the cause of all of his owes, but she was the only one worried for his sake when he was alone. There is this connection between them, and that is why it is Saito's turn to prevent her from getting killed.
"Hey, there Louise. You can tell me why Gojo-sama and Geto-sama are in your room?" Saito asked.
At my inquiry, Louise finally noticed the interlopers with surprise. So they invited themselves in then? Typical.
"Hey, I am thankful to you for helping Saito, but entering a noblewoman's room uninvited is inexcusable! What do you have to say for yourselves?" Louise said with indignation and hauntless expected from the daughter of a duke.
Saito desperately wanted to pull her to the side for a quick update but he knew even the ordinary senses of cultivators were too sharp for the two of them to not overhear. He would have to do things on his own. Before Louise could get to point fingers in their faces, Saito grabbed her by the waist and pulled Louise toward his side and back to the bed.
Louise shirked and moaned with a mix of surprise and … something else. "W-what are you doing with your master, your lecherous dog?!" She tried to fight her way out of Saito's embrace but he was having none of it. As long as he was her human shield Louise would be safe.
"My, my, you two are quite close, aren't you? When I heard you were her familiar, I had been worried for a moment that you were being kept here as a slave, but considering Ms. Valliere's worry for you and how close you two are with pet names and all I feel I can discount the chain and collar youthful indiscretion then." Gojo says while brandishing the dog collar chained by Louise's bed.
Both of their eyes went wide at the sight of the offending item. Louise was as straight as a plank of wood. Saito knew he had no time to delay things. He had two of the most destructive sorcerers of his country in Tristan, as terrible of a stay as it had been so far he couldn't condemn young boys and girls like him to their deaths because of Louise's miscasting.
"T-that is right! It was love at first sight!" Saito said boldly, eliciting a muffled scream from Louise while Geto lifted an amused eyebrow at their expense. "We even kissed. Louise is quite high-strung so she feels embarrassed that you two barged in on our intimacy like that! It is all." Saito finished while laughing lamely and subtly squeezing her shoulder while begging her to agree with him through his eyes alone.
And miraculously enough, it actually works. Something seemed to tip Louise off that he was terrified in the way she looked at him with concern. "Y-yes. T-th-that is right." She agrees while red as a tomato and swallowing dry, "but I am already engaged to another man by my family so it would be bad if people found out so I have been a bit rash with Saito in public."
"You were rash alright, I heard you feed him like a dog in public. Words of advice little lady, you are tipping people off to your… interests." Gojo says while playing with the riding crop he found by the tablet.
Great! Now they think we are a pair of sadomasochists! Louise, you will owe me one for this! "It's embarrassing so can you two keep this to yourselves, please? We don't want to give people the wrong impression."
"Sure kiddo! Nobody is allowed to steal the youth from the young. Especially not on your big day! Congratulations on becoming a cultivator!" Gojo says while popping a confetti canon he pulled out of nowhere.
"Just out of curiosity. What would the two of you do if Saito had been kidnapped and held captive?" Louise asked, making Saito want to scream out loud.
Suddenly the room was so silent a person could hear a pin drop. The plastic smiles of the two men shifted into something more predatory and Gojo dropped his glasses enough to show the six eyes. Not that he needed to as the flame burning behind their eyes flared, illuminating the room, giving their faces an eerie countenance. Saito and Louise's embrace becomes more a way to find comfort and support than a ploy to fool the two demigods in front of them.
"Well, we are stuck on this planet for the time being until people from Raging Heaven stabilize the wormhole Ms. Valliere opened when she summoned Saito here so we would have to seize the school. The best way to do so would be by killing the staff since they are the most powerful mages here. It would be enough to scare away all the students so we would have enough food to last us until the egg heads of Raging Heaven can extract us." Geto explained his terrorist plot as one described the weather.
Louise's eyes widened as she watched the two men for any sight of deception or mischief. "Can you do it?" She asked to herself.
"They can," Saito answered without any hesitation or doubt, startling Louise into turning her face toward him. "I told you, Louise, didn't I? About the Moon Rise. Well, he was the one that did it."
Louise was somewhat skeptical of Saito's story. He had told her his country had sorcerers for over a thousand years but they didn't rule as nobility like Tristain and their powers had waned for so long that most people were ignorant of them. Until an ancient god from the Mediterranean resurfaced, rekindling magic in the world.
"He is right, you know?" Gojo pipped in. "The strongest mages here are the baldy teacher and the lecherous headmaster. And neither of them compares to a disaster curse I can kill in my sleep." He says easily with unnerving child-like cheer, he certainly knew how to make an impression. "The only mage I have to be wary of in this school is you, my little void mage." He said while pointing at Louise.
"But I am n-
"Don't try to deny it," Geto interjected, "Even Saito here, who just awoke to his place in the world will be able to notice your element doesn't match any of the four known types. The staff tried to cover up for you but after we held their feet to the coals they confessed. Then there are those Runes on Saito's hands. Did he ever tell you formally educated cultivators can understand any language? Or didn't you notice we were speaking in Japanese until now?"
Saito lifted his arm. To him, they remain gibberish but he was well aware of this 'cultivator privilege'. Another thing that made the Raging Heaven Cult who created the Babel Shard manuals so enticing for cultivators.
"What does it say?"
"Gandálfr," The two spoke at the same time yet what was said was heard as
The Left Hand of God. "One of the legendary familiars of the Founder, capable of wielding any armament meant for combat and reputed to defeat armies of thousands. Irrefutable prof of a void mage." Geto then retrieved a book from out of nowhere, opening a page bearing a picture of his runes and depositing it to Louise.
She took it with shaking hands and started to read and re-read the pages in a quiet frenzy. Her expression was unreadable but she was clearly shaken. "What… do you want from me?" Louise whispered.
"That is the thing Louise," Geto began as diplomatically as possible. "While we understand it wasn't your intention you still kidnaped a Japanese citizen, and a cultivator at that. And no Saito, it doesn't matter that you awoke after, the Olympia Thread is very clear about that, since you were kidnapped by magical means. The crux of the matter is that the same thread qualifies the two of you as Lesser Mysteries, making you living national treasures of Tristain. Do you understand, right Saito?"
Saito dropped back in his bed dragging Louise down with him. She complained a bit but the look on his face drove home how serious things were.
The rest of the world did not take Japan's head start in the race of divinity in a sporty manner. While Zagreus was quite the wandering god that patronaged foreigners, he is still the 'son of raging heaven'. The only surviving piece of the Olympus that still exists at the heart of the occidental world. And America saw itself as its rightful inheritor.
Kenjaku, that accursed body snatcher, had tried to start World War III as a contingency in case his plan failed. A final curse on his way out. The global rise of magic and resurgence of cultivators somewhat mitigated this, but it only made undeniable the worth of such a legacy. The botched attempt to kidnap Tsumiki and other founding members of the Raging Heaven Cult just months after Moon Rise resulted in a game of escalation that pacified the question of who was stronger, cultivators or atomic bombs.
Gojo was furious and he made his displeasure known by sitting on the head of the president after invading the Oval Office. There simply didn't exist a weapon capable of harming him. To be frank, it was a bit of a global crisis as the only one who ever reigned Gojo in had been Zagreus. Gojo had just won a civil war among sorcerers in Japan as well, so there was little opposition. Could anyone even stop Gojo from conquering the world now that Zagreus was gone?
But that was when Tsumiki-sama rose to fulfill her destiny! In the same way she had risen to fill the shoe of her missing foster father when he was imprisoned by Kenjaku, she now stood to prevent world war! She dashed to Washington with the help of an undisclosed teleporting sorcerer and stood up to Satoru Freaking Gojo! She actually fought the strongest sorcerer of today the same way she had fought the strongest sorcerer in history!
She broke his nose! That punch was probably the most popular meme in the world followed by one of the most important speeches in history, spooked by a voice capable of breaching any barrier language. Broadcasting the message that cultivators are more than weapons.
More than the power to kill what cannot die Zagreus valued the power to heal what could not be mended. Before being tyrants, heroes, or philosophers, cultivators are people and cultivation of virtue can only make them more of what they already were, not something else! That is why you can't keep me away, Satoru-san, you cannot sever yourself from your human heart! So, I am not letting you galivant adrift like an untouchable god until the day you ascend you belong among us.
It was the most badass thing Saito had ever seen and it somehow touched Gojo enough for him to stand down for long enough that a cease-fire could be settled. Then came the peace talk and Tsumiki-sama had been put on the front and center of it once again, despite being less than twenty years old. A sharp contrast from the wizened politicians of today. Something that youth from across the world took notice of. She was the person who knew the most about cultivation now that Zagreus was gone and she designed the basic accord that would inspire all laws that ruled cultivators. Which was sorely needed since only Japan had experience with sorcerers and cursed spirits until then. It also led to the current arrangement that created the Raging Heaven Cult, an institution responsible for forming cultivators in the Greek style who would then return to their countries to fulfill their duties as men and women of virtue.
These laws happen to include that all cultivators would be reservists in the military of their countries to deal with domestic threats like cursed spirits, rampaging virtuous beasts, and rogue cultivators. Said service granted them some rights, privileges, and protections, which include the right to declare war against any country trying to seize of sabotage cultivators from other countries. Among these regulations is how Natural Mysteries were to be handled as semi-divine cultivators are the foundation of heroic cults. Unless said cultivator denounces their home country, natural mysteries are considered property of said country. Making his nature as Gandalfr a serious grey area.
Geto said they were opening a portal following the trail left by Louise. Which mean he will be able to get back home, but due to being this Gandálfr people of Tristan don't want to give up on him so easily. It will be a diplomatic incident and there is no way people back home would trust Gojo or Geto to negotiate, which means
"Tsumiki-sama is coming to Tristain to rescue me. I am going to meet her in person!" Saito screamed at the top of his lungs like he had just won the lottery. Which was common among boys in his age range, much to the silent seethe of the female population worldwide. And unfortunately for Saito, Louise doesn't have the familiarity or restraint to watch him gushing over another woman while he held her in his arms on her own bed!
By the time Saito noticed the way she was trembling in rage over him he just noticed Gojo offering the riding crop which Louise silently took by reflex while Geto was holding the door for a retreating Gojo who was already laughing at his expense.
They didn't even get to close the door before Louise exploded. "Your dog!" She screamed as she too became a cultivator through sheer feminine fury. "Your lecherous horny dog! I am furious at myself for trusting you for even one second! You would tell anyone you like them, wouldn't you!? Good thing you are already shirtless, brace yourself, pervert dog!"
"Wait Louise, wait, wait, wait! Mercy! PLEASE! I BEG YOU!"
"HAAAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!"
Ah, the beauty of puppy love.
-//-
Having assessed the young couple, the two veteran sorcerers returned to the accommodation graciously provided to them by the facility. In the end, the headmaster had enough political power to gravitate to the inner circle of the high court of Tristain to give them a direct line to royalty but not enough to make decisions on his own. Bullying Jean Colbert had been mean but Gojo's only talent in showboating, he knew how to make a statement and they needed to know where everybody stood with each other; like Zagreus liked to say when reminiscing about his blacksmithing days – to reveal the truth of the steel one must temper it in flames.
Gojo might be a little remorseful about the whole ordeal since Colbert turned out to be the kind of teacher he respected but fortunately, Geto is used to playing the good cop. It might no longer work like in the good old days since there isn't a soul who doesn't know about the two of them but Geto hardly saw a need to mop over it. Cultivation made a man greater and more terrible; it is only natural for most people to respond with wariness or awe at the presence of men 'worth hearing stories about'.
"What is with the bad mood, Satoru? I am pretty sure Zagreus-sensei warned you enough times about how that attitude of yours wouldn't help any to ingratiate yourself with others. Of course, Tsumiki-chan would be more popular than you."
"Shut up! And she is more popular than you too!"
"That goes without saying. But I don't regret my role in the balance. The current peace is still a tenuous thing and we all have our roles to play. The past shapes the present, and that young people like Saito could grow to aspire for the best this life has to offer shows that we succeeded. Isn't that what you always wanted?" Geto said and to drive the point home he punched his arm with a little bit too much strength.
Gojo's face grew into a full pout as he massaged the sore limb yet a stubborn smirk grew in the corner of his face. Once his teacher had asked what it was like to be so strong it even stole your dreams, fortunately, these days of alienation have long since passed.
What he always loved about his teacher is that he always looked at his strength as a wall he wanted to overcome. While Gojo died more times than he cared to admit their fights had been fun. Zagreus always fought to win with his life on the line, always giving his all without concerns for appearances or the future. After Gojo became the 'strongest' that foreigner sorcerer had become the only one who bothered to dare the climb to the peak Satoru had been born into.
Gojo had thought those days would be things of the past now, but to his surprise the peak he was exiled into turned out to be just the visible cliff. Zagreus revealed there were far greater heights to aspire for. For someone who loved jujutsu like him, there couldn't be better news. Or so he had thought. Before he realized Geto had caught up with him and they were standing at even eye level once more, like a blast from the past.
More than that, he could see the fire in the eyes of young cultivators, like he was just another tribulation they had to overcome on their way to the top –
the climb to Olumpus Mounds was narrow enough for only one person to cross at a time, so those fleet on foot have to go over the head of the man standing in front of them. Peers are just rivals that you have to outgrow and leave behind, all true sons of raging heaven are alone when challenging the Fates. The only uncertainty is how many lesser men stomp down on our way up… but that is stupid! Who can stand by themselves against Heaven? And who wants to go through all this trouble just to look down at the bleak sight of a bunch of assholes tripping over each other? – and he was right. As always.
It was electrifying to be challenged. Even if the opponent is weak Gojo could see they want to experience for themselves the distance between Heaven and Earth. His loneliness is a thing of the past. He has rivals constantly bumping elbow with as he climbs, audacious juniors pestering him, and the distant shadow of Zagreus ahead growing larger every time they meet in dreams. Even if the number of people that worshiped and fear him had increased, he didn't feel alone or bored or adrift anymore. The world is big and in the eyes of many, he was just another person in this rat race.
That is why Gojo punched Geto in the arm to get even, he was prepared and blocked but the use of blue made the experience just as painful. They walked through three more steps before Geto retaliated and so they went with their little stupid game the rest of the trip. It was rare they could spend so much time together or even work in tandem like this. So until the crown princess comes to the academy and the Silver Gate is constructed they are on guard duty. How ominous.
Another thing their old teacher had been spot on about was how people never really changed. Nothing gets a bureaucracy moving like the threat of irresistible force. Even if there were only two of them it had been enough to ensure a conference between Tristain and Japan. Tsumiki is sure to carry the dead weight of ambassadors of both Japan and the United Nations. Megumi and Yuji will have to stay out of this one. Just to be sure Elon Musk or another out-of-touch billionaire doesn't attempt to land on the Tengen's prison. Or someone else tries another megalomaniac plan while all the heroes are busy.
They retire for the night in the accommodation provided to them more out of courtesy than fatigue. Cultivators of their level can operate for months without feeling any straight, something that is not liable to change; Zagreus said tyrants can fast for a mortal's lifetime even. How he knew that he never bothered to answer, one of the few infuriating times he was close-lipped about a topic.
But now Gojo finally realized his position. He and Geto had nothing but each other's company until the sun rose. When was the last time something like this happened? They used to be inseparable, back then they were young and stupid and laughter was easy. There would be nothing wrong in picking up things from when they had left them but the real world wasn't so easy.
No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he is not the same man, except for himself. This curse etched into Gojo's soul is something he first heard from Zagreus in one of their many lectures he cleverly disguised as conversation 'for the sake of irreverent and proudful youngsters'. Zagreus always had a way of cleverly weaseling his way past Gojo's walls and brushed off his bad attitude and cheek like water falling from his back. Something Gojo came to appreciate more and more as the years passed, as the 'wheel turned' and the world moved on and changed while he remained the same.
Geto and him have patched their strained friendship in the years Zagreus went missing but there is a… distance that still separates them. A chasm not measured in miles but in years that neither of them quite knows what to do with. There are moments of levity like those where behave like beans in a pod until reality kicks in, like now. 'Unconcealable differences' and baggage. Except… Geto was so absolved watching Saito he had been rooted in the spot and while he feared that had been just a mirage born of his hopes, Gojo couldn't quite crush the sparkle of hope at seeing his old friend behaving as he should. As he would have if their world hadn't been so cruel. So cursed.
There had been nobody to stop Geto from going on a rampage as far as he had been concerned. And he had a reason. The Geto that haunts his dreams would have done it, undoubtedly so. And he wouldn't have felt an ounce of remorse either, like if they had been cursed spirits to be exorcised. For that is his
Zeal, the compass that guides Suguro Geto's virtuous black heart.
Zagreus explained it plainly - a Dominating Soul's instinctive will-to-power is a fundamentally neutral impulse while Good and Evil are merely a matter of aesthetics. Geto found his vocation at an early age, protecting people and exorcising curses. His crisis of faith merely shifted the focus, on what he must protect and what he must destroy. That is why
truly hurting Gojo that day had shocked him enough to make him backdown from his genocidal path. It hadn't been anything he had said that day but how he said it – the strongest sorcerer begging on his knees while choking on his own bile and nursing his heart from a wound he didn't know he could suffer. From pain, he didn't know to be possible.
The second man worthy of his deference as a teacher had once said emotional pain registers just the same as psychical pain to the human brain. Yet for someone who leverages their own torment as power, Zagreus had always been overly concerned with healing and nursing the human spirit. Gojo knew down to his very core he would have died from it if it wasn't for his interference. He noticed how said wound festered and gangrenated on his heart, poisoning him, making a demon of his heart.
When does becoming the strongest become a curse? This title had been a yoke to his neck his entire life and the older he got the more it sounded like a curse to his years. Yet, for all his power, he kept on failing to save those around him. He had failed to protect Riko, he could not stop Geto, and in the end, he could not even save himself, said the stranger with his face. He disdainfully assessed Satoru Gojo would amount to nothing but a powerless god, impotent to bring real change for his existence was the towering pillar that supported the rotten jujutsu society. If he truly wanted change then he was better start by killing himself; and young as he was, he had no words to counter the demon back then. For he had yet to be taught that challenging the Fates meant discarding both the good and bad they had in store.
The situation had been serious enough for Zagreus to tip off his hand, revealing for the first time the second greater mystery endowed on him. It had been an unusually messy process for him, which was more than enough to drive home how much he loathed said cursed technique. Zagreus had rescued him from his own mess, again. And that shit was starting to grate.
If there was a thing both Gojo and Geto felt in common was that they were fed up with Zagreus cleaning after their messes, like they were clumsy children, and he was the responsible adult. It was something that had to be rectified. The fact he just laughed it off instead of lording it over their heads like any of the worthless adults surrounding them only aggravated things. And for a while, they thought they had done it too, that is why the end of the sorcerer civil war and Tengen subjugation had been so sour for both of them.
While Kenjaku went down in history as the man who sold the world, fooling everyone, even Zagreus. It didn't change the fact Zagreus was a foreigner yet Jujutsu Society imploded the moment he stopped greasing its wheels, just to come back at the eleventh hour, blazing like a fucking hero, to fix their messes. Kenjaku, Tengen, and Sukuna were the reason Japanese people looked unfavorably over their native sorcerous tradition.
Zagreus had not only saved the world but also paved the way for those who would come after him. Gojo felt like he had a debt he would never be able to pay back and so did a good part of Japan. The fact he had to sacrifice himself to save them all had been a bittersweet conclusion of his story for the world, but for those directly involved, it had ever only been bitter. Once again Gojo had been a powerless god, helplessly entombing the man he respected the most with his own hand. But if helplessly watching Zagreus die had been painful it did not compare to the posthumous humiliation of not even being deemed worthy to set foot on the battlefield.
Tsumiki and Geto have ascended out of sheer dissatisfaction at their own powerlessness. And now that they are by themselves in a foreign land it would be only right to take a page from Zagreus' book. Halkeginia might very implode in infighting like Japan did through their interference disrupting its scales, but it is only Justice that this transformation comes from their own hands. It is justification enough for him to try and overcome the chasm separating himself from Geto, at least. For the time being he is the only keeper his friend will have to ground him.
"It was nice… what you did for Saito boy." Gojo tried, cringing at how awkward that approach had been. He never had been the best at broadcasting his own feelings.
Geto at least took to his comment with grace, but the calculating look in his eyes knew what he was hinting at. He hides his shame well but unfortunately for the both of them, they knew each other far too well to miss those cues. "There was no sense in sullying Saito's victory. He had more than enough chances to cut the blond fop. I had no right to interfere."
"Even then. It made things easier. It would have been a hassle to babysit the two brats while fighting off Tristain. I agree we don't owe anything to them… but this doesn't mean rolling through our opposition would have accomplished anything."
"Well, it is the first contact with another civilization. Tsumiki and Megumi plus all inner circle members of Raging Heaven treat the legend about the ages of humanity as factual true yet when pressed on said issue they all become tight-lipped. Zagreus said human memory and records can be easily falsified by Higher Power. There are good odds this Halkeginia civilization has tied that lead back to our own world."
"If this is true then it bears investigation before Tsumiki arrives. But since they can see cursed spirits this surveillance, cloak-and-dagger crap is best left to the ravens of Raging Heaven. So, what do you want to do about those two?" Gojo asked, even though he already knew the answer. Geto is just as bad as Zagreus when it comes to the whelps.
"Saito and Louise are at the age where they need a firm guiding hand in their lives. The neglectful approach toward void mages might very well be a calculated ploy to make them easier to manipulate by feeding their hunger for acknowledgment and preventing them from getting an inflated ego."
Like yours, went unsaid and Gojo could not help but snort in answer. "Besides that, Saito is too enamored with the concept of cultivation and heroes, the monkey staff is already calling him 'their sword'! That is why I hate shameless monkeys!" Geto said incensed.
Times like these made Gojo want to throttle his friend. How he could so selfless look for the wellbeing of total strangers like old Geto while at the same time throwing shade at helpless serfs like they were lepers. He knew where said grudge came from, Gojo would have gone the deep end himself if it wasn't for Geto stopping him back then. Yet this was part of their impasse, young Geto had become his moral compass at some point, partialy due to his virtue. His inability to move on.
Zagreus had once said it was not necessarily a bad thing, to stand against the Diminishment of the World. That the world had been golden bright once and that if more people like him existed maybe it still would be nowadays.
It was comforting, to be validated like that. Being praised for something that had nothing to do with his strength. That is why Gojo could never give up on Geto, even if it meant their story ended in tragedy.
-//-
[AUTHOR'S ROOM]
And we have come to our second chapter. A lot of worldbuilding. Saito and Louise are a blast to write. Watching Familiar of Zero it no wonder Louise stood out from the sea of Tsunderes. Because she was for more obviously interested in Saito and the boy had this uncanny talent of digging his own grave. This made them a far more dynamic couple and their dance of two steps forward and one back is far more amusing than aggravating.
The same can't be said about Geto and Gojo. The Rent a Girlfriend of Epics in the worst way possible. I had already showed how Yuji was faring so now was my chance to show Gojo's own perception of events. His motivations are different from his canon self but he still has other struggles that also plagued his original. This is important because while a pratyekabuddha saves himself a bodhisattva saves others, even if that other is for the sake of a single person. Gojo's captain virtue is pretty out there, befitting an endless soul and capricious nature. They are still cultivators of virtue.
Geto in comparison is far more straightforward in both soul nature and captain virtue.
