📕 Chapter 11: The Flame Beneath
Moon of the Fallen King
The stars had already begun to fade by the time dawn's first light pierced the thick forest canopy. A hush clung to the world, heavy and still, as if the earth itself waited for something to awaken.
Lucius stood beside the Master, the morning breeze brushing through his hair. The silence felt too deliberate, the forest too watchful. His hands trembled slightly, even though he had already accepted the truth.
"I've accepted it," Lucius thought. "But accepting… doesn't erase the fear."
The Master turned, speaking softly. "Come. There's something you need to see."
They walked in silence through a narrow trail, deeper into the woods, until the trees turned black and brittle. Charred trunks loomed like the skeletons of giants. The ground was cracked and cursed symbols shimmered faintly beneath the dirt. Lucius glanced around in unease.
"What happened here?" he asked.
The Master ran his palm across a gnarled tree, its bark etched with ancient burn marks and clawed sigils.
"This is where Sukuna's rage once broke the land."
Lucius stepped cautiously over jagged stone, taking in the scorched remains of a battlefield. "You brought me here… to show me destruction?"
"No," the Master replied as he knelt beside a broken altar stone. "I brought you here… to awaken your flame."
From within his robe, he produced a scroll wrapped in crimson cloth and sealed with blood-red wax. The aura it gave off was warm — not fiery, but alive.
"This was meant for you," he said, offering it. "Since the day you chose your path."
Lucius hesitated, then accepted the scroll. His fingers tingled from its heat.
"It's warm…" he whispered.
He unrolled it slowly. Fiery runes rose from the paper like smoke, swirling in the air before fading into memory.
In that moment, he saw it — himself, as a child, alone beneath a pale moon, sobbing into the cold night.
"Why was I born…?" the boy asked.
A large clawed hand, somehow familiar, gently rested on the child's head.
"Because power chooses those who suffer," a deep voice answered — Sukuna's voice, echoing like thunder in the soul.
Lucius gasped and let the scroll slip from his hands. His breathing grew rapid.
"That voice again…"
The Master nodded. "He's not just within you. He watches your heart."
Lucius swallowed, trembling. "He's waiting for me to break…"
"No," the Master said calmly. "He's waiting for you to surrender. But you won't."
Lucius clenched his fists and closed his eyes. A red shimmer pulsed through his skin — faint veins of cursed energy flickering along his arms.
"If he's going to live in me," he thought, "then I'll make sure he sees exactly who I am."
Deep inside his mind, beyond the light of thought, the chains that held Sukuna began to rattle. A single crimson eye opened in the darkness.
"Tch," the voice murmured. "Finally showing your teeth, kid?"
"Not teeth…" Lucius replied silently. "Just fire."
His eyes snapped open. For a heartbeat, red patterns flickered within them before fading.
"Good," said the Master. "You connected. Only for a second… but it's a start."
Lucius staggered, knees weak. "But it… burned."
"That," the Master said with a faint smile, "was just the first spark."
They continued walking until they reached the top of a nearby hill. From there, the world stretched beyond the forest — vast and distant.
"The world out there," the Master said, gazing toward the horizon, "is far more dangerous than anything you've seen."
"Even more than cursed spirits?" Lucius asked.
"More than curses… are those who fear them."
Far in the distance, behind rolling mist and shadow, towers stood tall behind glowing barriers — the outer edge of the Jujutsu Sorcerer School.
Inside those walls, the Gojo Clan Leader moved through a long corridor, arms crossed, gaze firm.
"They vanished," he said to no one in particular. "But we'll find the boy."
Beside him, a stern Zenin Elder nodded. "He carries Sukuna's soul. We cannot allow that to mature."
Back on the hilltop, the sun finally rose over the treetops, lighting the world in gold and crimson.
Lucius sat beside the Master, watching it all unfold in silence.
"You said Sukuna fought the Devil King," Lucius said. "Is he really gone?"
The Master's eyes narrowed. "Not gone. Just waiting… like a storm that hasn't broken yet."
Lucius nodded slowly. His eyes didn't waver.
"Then I'll learn to fly before the storm hits."
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📘 To be continued…
✅ End of Chapter 11