Chapter 19: Just You Wait

 

One Year Ago Signal Hill, Cape Town

Cyan slipped through the shadows just beyond the outer wall of the Mowbray compound.

The world folded inward.

Darkness stretched out then swallowed her .

She reappeared at the edge of Signal Hill, boots crunching softly against dry stone and grass. The night air was crisp, carrying the distant hum of the city below.

Her heart pounded from excitement.

She’d finally done it.

Being able to teleport long distances, with no backlash.

Cyan straightened, brushing dust off her jacket, then looked toward their usual spot.

Lisa was already there.

She stood near the slope, black uniform pressed and neat, the Liebert emblem clipped into her straight, dark hair catching the moonlight.

Calm & confident.

Cyan grinned.

“Showoff.”

Lisa turned, eyes lighting up instantly. “Oh please,” she laughed. “Black wouldn’t suit you.”

Cyan scoffed and stepped forward, punching her lightly in the arm.

“Rude.”

Lisa bumped her back with her shoulder. “But not inaccurate .”

They walked together toward the edge of the slope, where Signal Hill dropped away into a breath-taking view of Cape Town—streets glowing gold, the harbour lights blinking like distant stars.

Lisa sat first. 

Cyan followed.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Lisa broke the silence.

“Twenty-one thousand murders a year,” she said casually. “That’s Cape Town’s average murder rate.”

Cyan blinked. “…Why would they teach you that?”

Lisa glanced at her, then back at the city.

“Because cursed energy doesn’t come from nowhere,” she said. “It’s formed by human emotion. Anger, hate, regret, malice and all other negative emotions.”

A pause.

“All of that builds up. Ferments, and eventually creates cursed energy.”

Cyan frowned thoughtfully. “So that’s why cursed spirits exists.”

Lisa nodded. “Precisely.”

She stood, stretching her arms over her head, the city reflected in her eyes.

“That’s why jujutsu sorcerers exist too,” she continued. 

“To protect humanity from what it creates.”

Cyan watched her quietly.

“One day,” Cyan said, soft but certain, “that’ll be me.”

Lisa looked back over her shoulder. “What about your family?”

Cyan sighed. “They’ll survive.”

Then she smirked.

“Actually—watch this.”

Before Lisa could respond, shadows rippled beneath Cyan’s feet.

She vanished.

Lisa’s eyes widened.

A second later, Cyan reappeared several meters away, arms raised in victory.

“Told you,” Cyan said, breathless and proud. 

“I can finally teleport short and long distances. I just need to figure out how to do it quicker.”

Lisa stared at her for a beat.

Then she laughed—loud and genuine.

“No way,” she said, walking over quickly. “You really are a genius.”

Cyan nodded. “Ever since I awakened the Shadow Garden, it’s like… I understand it better- like having a user’s manual.”

Her voice hardened with resolve.
“Soon they won’t be able to ignore me anymore.”

Lisa studied her best friend carefully.

Not the crying girl she used to patch up after putting herself through gruelling training. Not the one who used to hide behind her.

Someone who was growing stronger by the day.

“I’m proud of you,” Lisa said quietly.

Cyan looked away, embarrassed.

“Besides,” Cyan added quickly, “I’ve got a promise to keep. Remember?”

Lisa grinned. “You better.”

She pointed at Cyan teasingly. “Because I’m not slowing down for you. I’m already special grade, remember? I’m like… fifty steps ahead of you.”

Cyan laughed, leaning back on her hands. “It won’t be long. Just you wait.”

Their laughter carried softly into the night.

From a distance, Nathan watched them.

He simply turned away—
believing there would be many more like it.

 

“Just you wait.”

The words echoed in Cyan’s mind as she walked toward the now-repaired arena.

Every step was measured.

Every breath steady.

The Big Three of Japan watched her closely—tracking her cursed energy, her posture, the way the air seemed to bend around her presence.

From the stands, Phillip’s hands tightened. His jaw clenched as he watched his daughter descend.

“She’ll be fine,” Elle whispered beside him. “She’s stronger than you give her credit for.”

Cyan stepped onto the arena floor.

Across from her stood Fugaku Kamo.

He looked her over once, unimpressed.

“So you’re the vessel,” he said. “Must say… I expected more.”

Cyan didn’t flinch.

“I’m not in the best of moods right now,” she replied calmly. “So I’d be careful if I were you.”

Kusekabe raised his hand.

“Are both participants ready?”

“Yes,” Fugaku said.

“Yes,” Cyan answered.

 

Fugaku lunged first.

A straight jab shot toward Cyan’s face.

She parried it instinctively and countered with a tight body hook.

Fugaku lifted his knee, blocking the strike, then drove it forward—hard—into her ribs.

The air left Cyan’s lungs in a sharp gasp.

She staggered back two steps, forcing herself to breathe.

Fugaku didn’t give her the chance.

He swept low for her legs.

Cyan reacted on instinct, springing into the air.

Fugaku clapped his hands together.

“Blood Convergence.”

The blood around him twisted, compressed—then launched.

A crimson spear tore through the air at near-supersonic speed.

The moment Cyan’s feet touched the ground, her shadow swallowed her whole.

She vanished.

A hush fell over the arena.

Tengen’s voice carried calmly from above.

“So that’s the Mowbray Clan’s infamous Shadow Garden Technique,” he said. “Said to awaken only once every three hundred years.”

Cyan emerged from the shadows behind the arena wall, heart pounding.

What the hell was that attack? she thought.