[ After An Unknown Amount of Time ]
Satoru's eyes snapped open.
The first thing that hit him wasn't the light, but the noise—or rather, the sudden, blessed reduction of it.
He looked around and realized he was no longer on the side of a dune in the desert. He was lying on wool blankets inside a room that was strangely similar in vibe of Kamar-Taj's architecture yet not at the same time since it has a 'western' feel to it.
He didn't have his blindfold. Satoru sat up on his elbows and checked his internal energy. It was still completely empty. He couldn't squeeze out a single drop of Cursed Energy to use his Reversed Cursed Technique. He was relying entirely on his mental capacity to endure the overflowing data caused by his Six Eyes.
He decided to close his eyes for now till he gets a blindfold or sunglasses to act as a damper.
"Look who finally decided to wake up," a deep voice said from the corner.
Satoru turned his head. A short woman with brown hair and a sun-darkened face was standing near the tent entrance. She wore a clean, cream-colored kandura and was holding a clay cup of water.
Satoru dusted the sand off his black robes and turned to look at the woman. "Nice place. Where am I? And, who are you?"
"You are in my home, Babylon. In the valley of Mesopotamia," the woman answered, walking forward. She set down the clay cup. "I am Ajak. We found you unconscious in the desert west of here."
Satoru kept his eyes firmly shut, a wry smile touching his lips. "Mesopotamia? Like... the cradle of civilization, Code of Hammurabi, ancient history textbook Mesopotamia?"
"Ancient history textbook Mesopotamia?" Ajak paused and raised a brow. "It's simply our land. You speak of names I do not know. Here, drink. You have been burning with a fever since yesterday."
Satoru reached out blindly, took the clay cup, and drank the water in one long go. As he wiped his mouth, his mind raced. 'Looks like the space-time tunnel sent me through the past in the timeline. Sigh… Saoirse, how am I gonna get out of this mess.'
"Thanks for the drink, Ajak," Satoru said, leaning his head back against the wall of the structure. "I'm Satoru Gojo."
"If you can walk, come," Ajak said, turning toward the arched doorway. "Fresh air will help clear your mind."
Satoru slid his legs off the low bed, testing his balance. His physical strength was perfectly intact, even if his reservoir of Cursed Energy felt like a dried-up well. He kept his eyelids pressed shut, but the visual data didn't stop. His Six Eyes simply bypassed the physical barrier of his eyelids, allowing him to 'see' the world in a monochromatic blueprint of high-density thermals, atomic masses, and localized energy flows.
He followed behind Ajak. The architecture was immense, utilizing thick mud-brick walls etched with faint, non-magical geometric reliefs lit with torches etched on walls.
As they stepped out onto an elevated, open-air walkway, the sheer scale of the exterior layout hit his sensory perception. Satoru stopped right in his tracks, letting out a long, low whistle.
Stretched out across a massive, tiered ziggurat structure right in front of them were cascading terraces of lush, vibrant greenery. Water was flowing uphill through an intricate system of mechanical pumps and channels, feeding thousands of exotic plants that hung over the stone balustrades like a waterfall of leaves.
'The Hanging Gardens of Babylon,' Satoru thought, a dry smile forming on his lips. 'That confirms it. I really am in the past. It looks like the five hundreds B.C. or somewhere around there.'
Ajak stopped a few paces ahead, turning her head to observe him as he stared blindly at the horizon. "What happened to you, Satoru Gojo? Why were you unconscious in the middle of the desert without provisions?"
Satoru deliberately paused for a second. He certainly wasn't going to tell her he had accidentally triggered a space-time rift using two Infinity Stones two thousand years from now.
He didn't know how this baseline human would process the information. Plus, his mere arrival in this era had likely already fractured the timeline. He just had to hope his presence here was resulting in an alternate reality, rather than actively destroying the future he had left behind in his prime timeline.
"I was ambushed," Satoru lied smoothly, shoving his hands back into the deep pockets of his black robes. "A group of those... desert raiders. The nomadic tribes. They took my canteen, my supplies, and a very expensive pair of sunglasses I had on me. I got lost trying to track them down in the heat."
"That's unfortunate. But, what's a pair of sunglasses?"
"..."
…
During their walk, Satoru learned that Babylon had just finished construction. It was one of the earliest major human civilizations.
He already knew the basic history, but his curiosity spiked when Ajak casually mentioned that he was lucky he didn't run into any Deviants while he was passed out. Satoru immediately thought, 'What the hell is a Deviant?'
They continued along the stone paths of the gardens under the setting sun, eventually heading toward a wide hall built into a cavern. It was closed off by massive wooden doors. Ajak explained that the others were inside preparing a feast to celebrate the completion of the city.
When Ajak gave the doors a gentle push and opened them, Satoru couldn't help but widen his closed eyes. He 'stared' blankly at the scene inside.
"What the..." Satoru muttered under his breath.
The hall inside was massive, illuminated by a warm, golden glow that didn't come from the torches on the walls.
At the center of the room, a young-looking girl with short red hair stood before a crowd of Babylonian citizens and several figures clad in ornate, futuristic armor. She waved her hands through the air, and shimmering, lifelike figures of light danced above the tables, reenacting a grand battle against monstrous creatures.
Satoru widened his eyes slightly behind his eyelids, his Six Eyes immediately locking onto the phenomenon.
Is this... a Kamar-Taj sorcerer? Satoru thought, his brow twitching. No, it's not. There are no mandalas, no geometric spells. They're not borrowing energy from another dimension. They have an energy source directly within them like me, but it isn't cursed energy. It's something entirely different.
The raw data passing into his mind showed that the energy was cosmic, incredibly structured, and deeply integrated into her very physical makeup. She wasn't human. None of the armored figures scattered around the room were.
Ajak stood at his side, silently watching his reaction. She noticed how his sightless gaze was locked perfectly onto the illusions, tracking the golden light as if he could see every single particle.
"Her name is Sprite," Ajak said softly, breaking his focus. "She tells the people their history. It gives them comfort."
Satoru closed his eyes tightly again, the lack of Cursed Energy making the massive sensory input from the room trigger a sharp ache behind his temples.
"She's quite the performer." Satoru muttered
Before Ajak could reply, the illusions suddenly vanished into a spray of golden sparks. One of the armored figures — a tall man with a sharp jawline and a deep blue chest piece — stepped away from the crowd, his gaze locking directly onto Satoru.
"Ajak," Ikaris said, his voice echoing across the stone floor as he approached. "You brought the man from the dune."
"He was burning with a fever," Ajak explained smoothly, stepping between Satoru and the approaching warrior. "But he has recovered enough to walk."
Satoru kept his eyes pressed shut as Ajak moved forward within the cavern.
"His name is Satoru," Ajak continued, turning to gesture toward the rest of the armored figures who were now gathering around the entrance. "And these are my companions. Ikaris," she indicated the man in blue, then pointed to a large, muscular figure leaning against a stone pillar, "Gilgamesh. Thena," she nodded toward the blonde woman holding the bronze spear, "and Sprite, whom you just saw."
The broad-shouldered man, Ikaris, stopped a few paces away. His cold, calculating gaze swept over Satoru's black robes and his white hair. "You don't look like someone from Mesopotamia. Where did you come from?"
Satoru didn't open his eyes, merely tilting his head up slightly. "A lot of places, blue guy. I'm a bit of a traveler."
Gilgamesh let out a low chuckle, crossing his massive arms over his chest armor. "A traveler who walks the desert with nothing but your feet and black robes? That's a quick way to die out there in the desert."
"I have my ways." Satoru replied, his lopsided smirk slowly returning to his face despite the agonizing pressure building behind his forehead. "Though I wouldn't mind a spare piece of linen if you guys have one lying around. The light in here is a bit much for me."
Ajak walked back to the center of the hall.
She looked back at Satoru, her voice carrying a resonant, calm weight that echoed against the subterranean stone.
"You have stumbled upon something far greater than a mere human settlement, traveler," Ajak stated firmly, her golden-woven energy network pulsing subtly beneath her skin. "Let me formally introduce ourselves. We aren't humans…"
'Shocker.' Satoru thought sarcastically, but he didn't interrupt.
"...We were sent from the stars to guide and cultivate this world. We are Eternals. You are welcome to stay here, Satoru."
Satoru chuckled softly under his breath. He shifted his posture, standing tall in his formal robes.
"...Call me, Gojo."
'Now… How do I get out of here? Can these 'Eternals' maybe help?'
...
[ Author's Notes ]: Stone me?
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