The shrine felt emptier after the cultists left, but not safer.
Gojo stayed by the doorway for a while, eyes hidden, his energy dialed so low it was almost nothing—like a predator waiting to see if the prey would return.
Finally, he broke the silence.
"You need answers. And the only person who might give them… you already met."
Sora knew who he meant. The woman. The one who had known his name before he spoke it. The one who had smiled like she was looking at a ghost.
---
They left the shrine before sunrise, the air sharp and cold. The forest smelled faintly of smoke. Every step felt heavier to Sora—not because of fatigue, but because of the way the memory of the red heart kept pushing into his thoughts, uninvited.
Gojo noticed.
"Don't think about it," he said casually.
"Kind of hard not to," Sora muttered.
"Then think about something else. Like… breakfast. Or how much I'll make fun of you if you pass out halfway there."
---
The trail wound deeper into the woods until the air grew still. No wind. No birdsong. Just the crunch of their footsteps.
Then the ash appeared.
It wasn't scattered—it was thick, clinging to the ground in a blanket that swallowed all color. The trees here were dead, their branches reaching like claws. Each step sent a puff of gray into the air.
Gojo stopped. "She's here."
---
Sora scanned the barren clearing. "How do you know?"
Gojo didn't answer. Instead, he lifted his blindfold just enough for one blue eye to glint through. The cursed energy in the air trembled, invisible currents shifting like water under moonlight.
And then—she stepped out.
The woman wore the same black coat as before, her hair pale as bone, her eyes too steady for comfort. She walked like she'd been waiting for them, her boots leaving no prints in the ash.
---
"You brought him back," she said to Gojo, ignoring Sora entirely. Her voice was soft, but every word carried weight, like she was speaking directly into the marrow.
"I don't take requests," Gojo replied. "We're here for information. And maybe an explanation for why a bunch of Hollow Veil freaks just tried to rent space in the kid's head."
The woman's gaze finally shifted to Sora. She studied him for a long time before speaking again.
"They want what belongs to me."
---
Sora blinked. "What… belongs to you?"
Her expression didn't change. "Your heart."
Gojo tensed slightly, the shift almost imperceptible.
Sora's pulse quickened. "You mean—"
"Yes. The red heart in the Moon's Grave."
---
She stepped closer, the ash swirling faintly around her ankles. "Before you were born, it was mine. My curse. My burden. When I lost my body, I sealed it in the Grave. And somehow…" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "…you found it. Or it found you."
Sora's mind reeled. "So… what, I'm carrying a piece of you inside me?"
The woman tilted her head. "Not a piece. The whole thing. And that makes you a target for every cursed thing that remembers my name."
---
Gojo crossed his arms. "Cute story. But if this is all true, why give it up in the first place? No one hides something like that unless they can't control it."
The woman's lips curved slightly—not a smile, but something colder. "You think I gave it up?"
Her voice dropped, almost a whisper.
"It was stolen."
---
Sora felt the air grow heavier. "By who?"
The woman looked straight at him.
"You'll remember, when it's ready to kill you."
---
Before Sora could respond, the ash shifted behind her—like something enormous moving beneath the surface.
A shape rose—humanoid at first, but unraveling into tendrils of bone and ash, its face a smooth oval without features.
Gojo's hand twitched toward his pocket, but the woman raised hers slightly.
"Not yet. If you want the rest of the truth, you'll follow me into the Hollow Veil."
---
Sora's breath caught. "That's where the cult is."
She didn't blink. "And where your memories are buried."
The tendrils behind her reached out, curling in invitation.
Gojo glanced at Sora. "Your call, kid. But if she's lying, I'm the first one dragging us back out."
Sora swallowed, the pounding of his own heart suddenly feeling too loud.
"…Then let's go."