I hummed, my brows furrowing as I considered the implications of the scene before me.
The first thing that I needed to address was the state of my body.
That is, the lack thereof.
Although I stated earlier that this wasn’t astral projection, it really did feel like it was.
Having been trapped in the body of an immobile newborn for some time now, I was ecstatic at finally being able to move on my own again.
For the first few minutes, I ignored the baby and the ethereal floating scroll and focused my attention entirely on exploring the environment of the dream, moving through the air like a disembodied spirit.
I found that, not only could I levitate, I could also phase through objects in this disembodied state.
However, I couldn’t interact with the physical world in any way.
Every time I attempted to touch an object, I would simply pass through it as though it wasn’t there.
Furthermore, I couldn’t move too far from the baby.
As this was a dream, everything became more blurry and unclear the further I moved away from him, eventually even forming into a dark void.
I could theoretically go into that void anyway, but I’d most likely get lost and will have to wait in silence until I woke up…
It seemed that, no matter how much I disliked it, my continued presence within this dream hinged on that small infant.
He was the anchor that kept this dream from collapsing.
Realizing this, I returned to his cradle and inspected him closer.
My assumptions about his gender turned out to be correct as he was a boy.
He had black hair and pale skin, whereas his eyes were a brighter shade of brown.
Comparing him to my real life body, I deduced that he must be a few months older than me, mostly by the fact that he was a lot larger and had more hair.
Though perhaps the size could also be attributed to the strange, freakish disease that he was apparently afflicted with.
He was…
what you would call physically malformed.
Extending from beneath his first pair of arms was a smaller, equally functional pair of arms.
That much was already abnormal, but the large, toothy mouth on his midriff made him look utterly inhuman as it seemed to directly lead to his stomach lining.
His face was not beautiful either as he had four eyes, the second pair being slightly smaller and resting underneath the first.
In addition, the right side of his face was dominated by a bony protruding flesh structure that had the texture of old, dried wood, of which his two right eyes were laid on top of.
This gave him the impression of having two faces, one of a demon, and the other a normal boy.
Hm…
‘Doesn’t this guy look a little too much like Sukuna?’ I thought as images of the King of Curses from Jujutsu Kaisen flashed through my mind.
The resemblance was definitely there, but Sukuna had pink hair and red eyes rather than this infant boy’s comparatively more mundane colour scheme.
Well, it’s probably just a coincidence, right?
I lifted my gaze from the scroll, where the words had yet to change.
However, I now saw an arrow at the bottom of the scroll that pointed to the right, which would presumably allow me to access the next entry by pressing it.
So I pressed it with a finger as the surroundings immediately changed.
As it did, I noticed that the lines previously written on the scroll vanished, replaced by a series of new sentences written in the same manner.
[Your name was Sugawara no Michizane, and you were a member of the Sugawara Clan]
[As an unborn fetus in your mother’s womb, your body had inexplicably merged with that of your twin brother]
[The two of you became conjoined as a result!]
[Although you were conjoined, your brother’s brain was absorbed into your own and thus his consciousness remained dormant]
[This process caused your body to overgrow beyond control, leading to numerous abberant mutations.
Because of this, you were constantly at risk of cellular decay and organ failure]
[Were it not for your rich and benevolent father routinely hiring medical professionals to stabilize your condition, you would have passed away long ago]
Conjoined twins with one consciousness?
That’s a bit…
I’ve never even thought of something like that.
This origin made me even more curious as it was very similar to Sukuna’s.
After all, the reason the King of Curses looked like that was because he apparently ate his twin in the womb.
There was never any mention of cellular decay though…
I stood back as the surroundings displayed the scene of multiple men and women entering the nursery from the hallway.
At the forefront of the group was a man that resembled the infant boy underneath his mutated growth.
He was probably the father or some other relative.
I noticed that their movements seemed a bit delayed and cartoonish like an animated comic rather than a life action scene.
This point was further exemplified when I heard the people from the crowd mutter and talk, which simply appeared as those individuals moving up and down with their mouths opening and closing.
“The young master’s condition has worsened, if we…”
“Sugawara-dono, you have to listen to me…”
“I believe that’s not really the case, but…”
There were even a few people with blurred or blacked out faces, indicating them as nothing more than background characters.
I concluded that the cause of this effect must be the low rank of my Gu.
Being a Rank 1, it made sense for the Gu to be greatly limited.
In fact, this much was already very impressive for a Rank 1.
Just like Gu Masters, Gu Worms had their own realms as well.
However, they couldn’t cultivate by themselves and had to be refined by Gu Masters to increase their rank.
Moving on from that thought, I paid close attention to the man in front, the boy’s relative.
He raised a hand to silence the crowd and gestured to another figure, an older gentleman who had the beard of a wizened sage and wore an elegant dark azure kesa.
“Everyone, please settle down.
Kamo no Yasunori-sama himself has graced our estate and all of you still dare to babble on like chickens in a coop!?” He said aloud with an authoritative glare.
That much did its job as the crowd went silent.
Yasunori himself, the man with the azure kesa, nodded in acknowledgement.
Meanwhile, the younger man right beside him, who appeared to be in his early twenties and was garbed in similar clothing to Yasunori, interjected as he grinned, “Haha, there’s no need to be so formal, Sugawara-san.
We’re not here on any official duty, after all.”
For some reason, I felt that the younger man that had spoken up was somehow much more dangerous than the wizened sage beside him.
I didn’t know why I felt like this, but perhaps it was because this was a dream created by my Gu.
Dreams naturally had some influence over emotions, but I didn’t know what on Earth the Gu could be trying to tell me by giving me this strange intuition.
I remained wary as the pair approached the boy’s cradle, then stared blankly as they seemingly froze in motion.
‘Huh…?’
Confused, I stared back at the scroll, only to shake my head in exasperation after seeing that the current entry had ended and that the arrow had appeared once more.
‘Right…’
How could I have forgetten such a simple mechanism?
Without wasting more of my time, I quietly pressed the continuation arrow.
[Today, two famous Onmyoji have visited to try and see if they can deduce the cure to your affliction]
[These two Onmyoji are Kamo no Yasunori and his playful companion Abe no Seimei]
[Together, they are known far and wide as the greatest pair of Onmyodo practitioners throughout the land and their abilities will surely do well against your affliction…]
As the scene continued, Yasunori and Seimei carefully retrieved the boy from his cradle as to the crowds’ amazement, he started to float in the air, carried by one of the two’s mystic arts.
Of course, the boy immediately stirred awake from this and panicked.
In order to soothe the child, Yasunori used another spell to pacify his temper.
“As expected of the imperial court’s trusted sages…” One person muttered as the rest startled talking again in hushed tones.
Yasunori took a step forward and recited a few incantations as he held up his prayer beads.
Magical Energy gathered in his fingers to form a small ball of radiant light as he then brought it to the boy’s face.
A few seconds later, he took a few steps back, shock etched upon every inch of his face.
“Impossible!” He proclaimed in disbelief before immediately turning to the other Onmyoji to share his findings.
Seimei looked perplexed after hearing what Yasunori had revealed.
He gazed at the boy, unblinking for a good few seconds.
Seeing this, the boy’s father became alarmed, “What’s wrong, is he possessed by a Yokai!?”
“No, nothing of the sort, Sugawara-san.” Yasunori shook his head, glancing at Seimei’s distant gaze before explaining the situation.
“Tell me, Sugawara-san.
Have you ever done a bad deed?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m any more sinful than the average man, but it would be a lie to say I’m any more virtuous,” the man readily admitted after a moment of hesitation.
“Why would that be relevant?”
“…Oh, you have no idea.” It was the younger man who answered.
Seimei spoke loudly for everyone to hear as he turned back, ever so slowly.
“You, and I, alongside all living creatures in this world, have karma stemming from our past deeds.
It is thought to be impossible not to as we naturally accumulate these karmic marks throughout our lives.
Our souls are much older than our current bodies, after all.”
He paused for dramatic effect.
“Michizane on the other hand, has no such karma in his soul.”
The revelation caused quite a stir indeed among the crowd.
However, as a common man uneducated in the mystic arts, the Sugawara Clan Head was unable to determine whether this was a bad thing or not.
“What does that mean, Abe-sama?” He asked with tense shoulders.
“I don’t know.”
Sometimes, the truth was scarier than any lie could possibly be.
If even Abe no Seimei didn’t know what this strange condition implied, then what hope did he have?
Seeing the dread building up on the Sugawara Clan Head’s face, Seimei raised a hand to reassure him, “Now, now.
This isn’t necessarily detrimental.
It’s just very…
interesting.”
“The body is a reflection of the soul.
We originally intended to cure your son by altering the shape of his soul, but now that seems a tad bit too risky,” He revealed and gazed at the floating boy.
“We can provide a remedy to Michizane’s suffering.
He won’t be at the threat of death nor will he have to endure the rot that’s already consumed some parts of his body.
However, I’m afraid we can’t do anything about his strange physique for now.”
“In the future, that might change.
How about this, Sugawara-san…
when this boy turns 10 summers old, I’m willing to take him as my personal disciple.
From that, I’ll take it upon myself to study his strange condition.
It may take decades more to properly deduce a cure, but it will certainly be better than nothing.”
“O-Of course!” The Sugawara Clan Head was astonished at this turn of events and decisively agreed.
To be a personal disciple of such a famous Onmyoji was a great fortune indeed!
I couldn’t fault him for doing so.
If I remembered correctly, Onmyodo should be a type of Japanese Magecraft.
Rare and exotic in the modern day, and a powerhouse for the era this dream was set in.
Despite taking place in Japan and having a primarily Japanese cast, Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night actually only really depicted European Thaumaturgical Systems.
The three main players of the Holy Grail War naturally portrayed this as the Tohsaka were descended from evangelized Magi, the Matou were originally from Ukraine, and the Einzbern were obviously German.
As for Onmyodo, there should be no better teacher for that school of Magecraft than Abe no Seimei.
This guy was regarded as a legendary figure in modern times, after all.
“That’s great to hear, but the boy should have some say in the matter as well,” he said with a smirk, turning his head to the boy floating in mid-air.
“What about it, kid.
Do you want to be my disciple?”
The Sugawara Clan Head was left speechless and wide eyed, “Is asking an infant really necessary, Abe-sama?”
Abe no Seimei laughed in response as the sequence halted to a stop, then resumed not long after as I pressed the continuation arrow.
[Unfortunately, even the greatest could be at a loss]
[Your nature as a being without karma was mysterious and otherworldly.
The two Onmyoji decided it would be best to observe your development for now rather than jump to conclusions]
[Abe no Seimei offered to take you in as his disciple]
[Your father was overjoyed at this, but much to his confusion, the Onmyoji asked for your opinion as well.
Faced with this sudden dilemma, you decided to…]
[A.
Accept his offer to become his disciple.
You displayed this clearly with a cheerful laugh, befitting the baby that you were]
[B.
Reject his offer to become his disciple.
You had other plans in this life and you showed your unwillingness by giving him a stone cold stare paired with a distinctive frown]
[C.
Test his resolve by pissing on him to assert your dominance]
I firmly believe that Sugawara no Michizane is Sukuna as Ryomen Sukuna is just a title and not his actual name.
that’s my own theory, though Gege has mentioned anything about the matter.
Regardless, the Sugawara Clan depicted here won’t necessarily be completely accurate to real history, and my version of Sukuna is no doubt different as well.