Butterfly's Curse

Fading Away

He stared at Satoru seeing the flowers around him change to a red color, trying to reach out to him while calling his name.

"Gojo..."

But it did not matter how many times Mifuyu called out to him, he wasn't waking up. When his able to reach out to him, he touched his hands feeling how cold he is. For some reason when Mifuyu laid his hand on Satoru's, he couldn't feel his warmth anymore, and at the same time he felt his life drifting away.

The leaves of the tree slowly started to change into a bloody-red color, even the dark-blue sky started to change into that color. The flowers' dust started to lose their glowing light, leaving the place in almost complete darkness.

"You're so cold, Gojo," Mifuyu managed to breath out. "Please... Tell me that you're still--"

He paused his words after he started to hear the footsteps of someone getting closer, fearing that the red butterfly had already found him. The footsteps were slow and made almost no sound, confirming that indeed could only be one person in particular: the red butterfly.

She walked towards Mifuyu and Satoru, admiring the realm Hifumi had brought the foolish child, offended by the thought of Hifumi thinking she wouldn't be able to enter this place. 'Did Hifumi really believe that his grandson would be safe here?'

Once she's close enough, she spoke with amusement in her voice: "Did you really think you could escape from me? Now look how pathetic you look right now, unable to move and do anything," She let out a laugh. "It seems the life that Yugen has giving you is about to come to an end."

Not understanding what she was saying, Mifuyu repeated her words, "To come to an end?"

"That's right, the little life that is left in you is fading away. In other words, you're dying. But don't be sad, you're not the only one who is dying."

"I thought I couldn't die?" Mifuyu asked, struggling to stay awake.

"That's right, you can't die, but that's only if Yugen keeps consuming human souls," she crouched down, to have a better look at Mifuyu's pathetic state. "Did you know that Yugen has to consume human lives to keep you alive?"

She waited for Mifuyu's answer, soon bursting into a laughter after not hearing a reply from him. "You totally didn't know that, how interesting. Then, I should tell you everything. The blue butterfly to be able to fulfill his wish, he needed to consume human souls. Only because you died before your wish was granted, and that's why since you returned from the dead, he had been consuming the souls of the children living in the shadows' forest."

Mifuyu couldn't believe what he was hearing. If this is the truth Yugen and Hifumi struggled to tell him? All this time Yugen had to consume humans souls to be able to keep him alive. He had to do something terrible like that only because Mifuyu couldn't accept his fate. Now those poor children trapped by the hatred of the red butterfly, would not be able to reborn in this world ever again. Now their existence was completely erased from this world.

With difficulty in his actions, Mifuyu lifted his head to look at the red butterfly seeing her next to Satoru.

The red butterfly was staring at him, not having any interest in looking at Mifuyu anymore. "If it makes you feel better, you have been consuming those children's lives too. After Yugen consumes a new life, he will always come to see you again to feed you."

Mifuyu was now speechless, unable to mutter a single word by the sudden confession of the red butterfly. What she was saying was it really true?

Mifuyu's reaction amused the red butterfly further. "If only you had listened to Yugen none of this would be happening, your grandmother would still be alive and this man wouldn't be dying right now," she touched Satoru's face with the tip of her fingers. "It's a shame that a man like him has to die."