WARNING: This story contains instances of graphic violence, gore, coarse language, and sexual content. A warning will exist at the beginning of a chapter containing anything explicit, and will be sectioned off by another warning right beforehand, and another line right where the explicit scene ends. You have been warned.

"Right then," Kakyoin took a deep breath and sat himself down at the desk in the corner of the hotel room. Guiding the paper he had set on the surface closer to him and propping his open book against the wall, the honor student gently grasped the pencil he held and began to write. Soon, the room was filled with the sounds of scratching, sometimes followed by the squeaks of a rubber eraser against the hard surface. The area was silent otherwise, as Kakyoin's eyes darted from the book to his paper and back again.

His pencil stopped mid stride, as he raised his hand to his stray strand of hair and began to twist it over his fingers. After a moment, he leaned back slightly and addressed the man on the balcony. "Jotaro?" The delinquent backed a pace away from the railing at which he had been lounging, his ignited cigarette still resting between his lips. "Is the logarithmic value of one million five or six? I left my calculator back upstairs."

Jotaro narrowed his eyes in response, removing the cigarette from his mouth before speaking. "Logarithms…We haven't covered those in math yet."

"It hadn't been covered before we left, true, but it is being covered now, according to the syllabus. Wasn't your class also given one of those?"

Jotaro cast his eyes back to the balcony, twirling the thin paper stick between his fingers. "I don't have time to worry about schoolwork."

Kakyoin's eyebrows raised slightly before his gaze drifted back to the small table. "That's understandable. Most people tend to become stressed over schoolwork."

The delinquent nodded subtly before walking back out onto the patio, placing the cigarette back into his mouth. Looking over his notebook paper filled with neat, tiny writing, carefully measured spaces separating each written equation, Kakyoin finally sighed and scooted back from the table. After pushing his chair back in, he joined his fellow student in the warm desert air. He curled his fingers over the railing next to the other man, gazing out over bustling market area below. With more careful observation, he noticed a quartet of familiar faces examining various stalls. His eyes landed on Suki, running from one group member to another, her face bright with energy even under the steadily setting sun. As the honor student spared a glance at Jotaro, he noticed the delinquent watching the same person, the typically tightened muscles of his face loosening into placidity and his eyes falling half-lidded.

"You wish you were there, don't you?" Kakyoin asked.

Jotaro's expression reverted as he seemed to return to reality, as he glanced at Kakyoin from the corner of his eye. "'There'?"

"At the market, with Suki." The other man did not respond, only removing his cigarette from his mouth to exhale a stream of smoke. Kakyoin looked back down to the market. His eyes crinkled as a smile grew on his lips, "She's truly an angel. Just like your mother."

"Stop hitting on my mom."

The honor student turned back to Jotaro with an expression lacking in humor. "I told you before when we left your house, what I said about your mother was completely platonic. I was merely observing how kind she was. Her sincerity touched me deeply," Kakyoin noticed a menacing glare from Jotaro out of the corner of his eye as he spoke, "…And I should definitely rephrase that. But, that day, I was only drawing a comparison between your mother's kindness and the kindness of the person I would want to be with forever. I swear, if I actually was interested in her, we would not be having this conversation."

"Yeah, that's exactly what you said," The delinquent's glare faded, "The way you're talking…You sound like you don't want to be with her."

Kakyoin smiled gently. "I don't want to get in the way."

"We still want you around, Kakyoin."

"That is…"

"She cares about you. A lot," Jotaro admitted. "And you're…You're my good friend, so I want you around, too."

The redhead turned and met Jotaro's gaze, his own expression softening. "Jotaro…"

"Now, stop being so down on yourself, so I don't have to say embarrassing things like that," He said as he turned back to look out over the market.

After a moment, Kakyoin sighed softly, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth as he joined his friend's gaze to the area below. "Right."

The next few minutes were silent, save for the hustle and bustle of the marketplace.

"When everything is over," Kakyoin started, as he felt an errant breeze blow past his face, "I really do hope we can all stay close. Meeting you all…it's been really nice."

The honor student could've sworn he saw a small smile appear on his friend's face for a fraction of a second. "Yeah."

"I bet it would be fun to visit each other's homes."

"Hm. Maybe."

"And you would get to spend more time with your girlfriend, who you think is so cute."

Jotaro's eyes widened slightly, as his gaze darted to Kakyoin. "Wh-When did I…?"

Kakyoin grinned slyly at the delinquent. "It slipped out just now, if that's what you're asking."

Jotaro sighed, his cheeks reddening slightly. "Good grief."

Kakyoin chuckled, as he pushed himself back from the railing and walked back into the hotel room. Moving back to the table, he looked down at his work, sitting untouched. He exhaled a small sigh and gathered his papers and book into a neat pile. Casting his gaze to the television sitting on the shelf pushed against the wall, he carefully sat on the bed closest to him and pulled the remote off the bedside table. Kakyoin made himself more comfortable on the bed as he flicked the television on, resting his back against the pillows and stretching his legs towards the end. As he flicked through the channels, Jotaro walked back in, tossing his extinguished cigarette into the nearby trash can. The delinquent glanced at the TV then looked to Kakyoin. As their eyes met, the honor student darted his eyes to the unoccupied side of the bed and back, inviting his fellow student to make himself comfortable. Jotaro shrugged and settled down on the bed next to Kakyoin, resting his head on his arms as he lay on his stomach.

Kakyoin paused his scan on the channels, lifting his finger off the "Channel " button as the camera followed a tiger shark swimming through murky waters. The word "¡Tintorera!" flashing on-screen in unprofessional-looking, red letters. Kakyoin's eyes narrowed in skepticism.

"And here we have some shark movie that looks like garbage," Jotaro muttered.

Kakyoin's thumb hovered over the "Channel " button for a moment, before a thought occurred to him. "Want to watch it and point out the inaccuracies?" He asked, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Jotaro did not hesitate for even a second. "Shit yes."

Kakyoin dropped the remote between them with finality and relaxed more into the bed as the two kept their eyes glued to the subpar movie beginning to play on-screen.

"Whatcha doin'?" Suki asked, joining Abdul in one of the covered, wooden shops. Looking over his shoulder, she noted a varied selection of differently colored stones and crystals. The fortune teller responded without facing her, picking up one of the gems between his thumb and forefinger.

"Well, originally, I had been perusing this stall's stock of gemstones for decent power stones to give to my patrons, but then an idea occurred to me…" He turned to Suki with a slight smile, "You recall Whit's explanation about Stand Transplants, correct? How they use gemstones to hold Stand power?"

"I do…Where are you going with this?" Suki asked.

"I wish to examine the properties of some of these stones and see if I am able to figure out how exactly Stands are placed into them. If we can deduce that much, then perhaps we can come up with a way to reverse the process."

"You mean…give people their Stands back?" The brunette wondered, scratching her head. "But…didn't Whit say that was impossible?"

"He did, but he seemed to be wrestling with the issue as much as we were. No matter how self-assured he may be of his foresight, it would appear his knowledge is still limited. If the possibility of saving more lives truly does exist, no matter how small, I am resolved to do what I can."

"…That reminds me!" Suki snapped her fingers and reached for her throat, grasping the cord and pulling her necklace out from under her shirt, "Whit called this a Stand Transplant, too. Maybe you could use it as a baseline?"

She removed the amulet from around her neck and held it out in the palm of her hand to the fortune teller. He cast his eyes from the softly glowing star back to Suki. "Are you certain?" She smiled and nodded. Abdul gently took the object from her hand and met her eyes once more. "I'll need to return to the hotel to consult my resources, but I should be able to return this to you at dinner."

"Sounds good!"

With that, the two split off. Suki cast her gaze about the sunny street before her eyes landed on a shop filled with paintings along the wall. In particular, a serene, dark blue painting that rang familiar to her caught her eye. Stepping closer to the artwork in the stall, she was startled out of her thoughts by the merchant.

"Find something you fancy, Miss?" He asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Oh, no, I'm just browsing. Thank you, though!" Suki denied.

After a moment, the shopkeeper nodded and slunk back behind the counter, as Suki continued to stare at the painting, a memory slowly pulling itself into the forefront of her mind.

"Starry Night…"

"Now, this is supposed to be real hush-hush, you get me?" Minaj asked, turning to her friends who had followed her onto the roof of the small shed situated outside her house. Suki, Michel and Kyuu all nodded without a word as Minaj carefully lifted the hatch leading into the structure. With a responding nod, Minaj slammed open the hatch the rest of the way, causing Michel to violently flinch and Suki to tilt her head confusedly, as the leader jumped down into the building and yelled up at her followers.

"Welcome to Art Paradise, mes amies!"

"…I thought you said this was supposed to be 'hush-hush'?" Kyuu asked, staring into the dim room past the hatch, retreating slightly as Minaj rested a ladder against the roof. Her dark eyes and mischievous grin glimmered like a Cheshire Cat's in the faint sunlight filtering through the opening and the cracks in the shoddy shed.

"It is! My pap just needs a little more faith in what he makes!" Minaj explained. Suki was the first to descend the ladder, stepping off the worn rungs with an odd care to her step as she cast her gaze about with little rhyme or reason. "Well, don't be shy! Come on, Kiki!" Minaj took both of Suki's hands in hers as she led the small girl to a wall covered in paintings, despite the disapproving look of her older brother. Minaj turned on the lights to reveal wall-to-wall paintings, no matter where one cast their gaze. Big, small, subtle and blunt, colored paint was everywhere in this room, save for a large closet built into the back wall. Each painting popped off the wall in its own distinct way, but the colors seemed to be blended according to placement so as not to hurt the eyes of any observers who dropped in.

"So coooooooool…" Suki murmured, excitedly looking from wall to wall.

"Right, right?" Minaj clapped her hands together happily, thoroughly enjoying the preteen's amusement.

Kyuu and Michel, who had descended into the shed while Minaj and Suki were chatting, began to observe the different paintings. The boy stopped in front of one painting with a skeptical expression, while Michel decided to pay more attention to the sketchbook she had brought with her. As Suki walked around the room with an awed expression, akin to a kid in a candy shop, her attention was captured by a dark blue painting.

Stars shined as brilliantly as summer fireflies against a night sky that was a blue as deep as an ocean. The swirling spiral pathways the brush of the painter had seemed to take instilled a calm, quiet inspiration in the girl; yet, at the same time, the blending colors of the golden stars, indigo sky, and black tower, alongside the muted shades of the sleepy town past the large structure, made her fall into a slight daze, as if she were listening to a lullaby.

"This one is really pretty!" She exclaimed, pointing to the art she had been examining.

Minaj approached from behind, taking Suki by the shoulders as she joined her gaze with the young girl's. "I thought you'd like this one. You seem like the type of…guy who would enjoy art. And, since you like stars so much, I thought you'd like Starry Night. Why don't you go look at the other paintings, too?" She suggested, patting Suki on the shoulder awkwardly.

The girl smiled up at her with a happy nod, walking over to another corner of the room. Looking around the shed, Minaj noticed Michel standing by herself out of the corner of her eye, focusing more on her furiously scratching pencil than the paintings in front of her. "Come on, Mick!" The girl in question flinched at the other girl's loud voice next to her, casting her gaze to her addressor, "Don't you wanna look around?" Michel bit her lip and shrunk back. After a moment, she turned her eyes back to her paper and pencil. "Uh, sorry," Minaj apologized, "I guess you don't have to, if you don't want to…"

"Hey, Minaj," The boy called.

Minaj turned to Kyuu. "What's up? Like what you see?"

"It's…It's cool…" The teen trailed off.

Minaj raised her eyebrows. "I'll take that as a 'no'?"

"It's not that, just…" Kyuu seemed to have difficulty putting the words together before he spoke again, "your dad can't…seem to decide on a particular style."

The girl shrugged. "I mean, yeah, but, isn't it neat, how he can make so many different styles of paintings?"

"Yeah…neat…" He said distantly. Minaj rolled her eyes, seeing Suki wave her over out of the corner of her eye. With a smile, she walked over to the smaller girl. "If 'neat' means 'jarring,' in this case," Kyuu muttered under his breath.

"You're right, your dad should have more faith in his works, these are great!" Suki marveled to Minaj, her eyes sparkling.

Minaj smiled and nodded. "I knew you'd understand, Kiki."

"This one…" Michel started.

Minaj turned upon hearing the quiet girl speak, her expression brightening. "Ah, find one you like?"

"Die Rosen-Wunder Hymne…" Michel pointed at a canvas centering on a scene of a woman lost in playing the piano, alone on a platform in the middle of a sky-blue sea. On the tumultuous waters' surface floated countless pale pink roses, all under a sky as rosy as cotton candy.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Minaj asked.

"…Melchior Lechter," The timid girl stated.

"…Who?" Minaj asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And this one…" Michel pointed to another painting, one of a pale background dominated by a large tidal wave looming in the foreground, threatening to sweep off the page and capsize the small boats floating harmlessly on the right side of the canvas. "The Great Wave off Kanagawa… Katsushika Hosukai…"

"Who's having katsu?" Suki asked with a tilt of her head.

"Then, this one…" Michel then directed Minaj's attention to a painting of an abandoned night street looking in on a sparsely populated bar, the bar being filled with inviting, warm colors, while the street was filled with cold, lonely shades. "Nighthawks…painted by Edward Hopper…" Minaj was shocked upon seeing Michel's expression, as the normally quiet, emotionless girl turned to Minaj with burning eyes, looking as though she were about to scream. "Minaj…" Michel's voice was strung so tight, she sounded like she could boil over at any moment, "Do you honestly have no idea what kinds of paintings these are?"

"What…What do you mean?" Minaj asked, taken aback.

Michel inhaled stiffly and exhaled in the same manner before responding. "Your dad…isn't the one who originally painted these," Minaj's expression became confused before the other girl continued, "Rather, he isn't the one who came up with these images to put to canvas. He stole those images."

"You're saying…he's an art thief?" The noisy girl wondered.

"'Forger' is a more accurate term," The quiet teenager explained.

Minaj went quiet, closing her eyes as she tried to turn over her friend's words in her head.

"All of these different styles being kept by one artist would make sense, then," Kyuu added, putting a hand to his chin.

"The slight, almost imperceptible color shade differences, the unwieldy brushstrokes compared to the original piece…I'm ashamed that I didn't notice immediately," Michel mused, folding her arms.

"Besides, doesn't only one of each painting exist in specific museums around the world? Why would they all be in a dingy shed in a Cairo suburb like this?" Kyuu questioned.

"Shut up…" Minaj spoke quietly, clenching her hands into tight fists as she opened her eyes and raised her voice. "Just shut up!" She whipped around to Michel as she ranted, "What right do you have to call my dad a forger?!"

Michel stood firm. "I'm…an artist. I have to know the difference between the real and the fake."

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you the official art expert around here?" Minaj stormed over to Michel and poked her chest to emphasize her point, "Don't act all high and mighty just because you have some artistic ability!"

"Minaj," Kyuu placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, pulling her back from the target of her anger, "I'm not an artist, but I can tell these aren't the genuine article, too. It's difficult to believe, but you need to calm down and stop yelling at Michel." Minaj glared daggers at Kyuu. The teenager met her gaze with an icy stare of his own.

"Uhm…" Suki spoke up, walking towards the small group, "Why does it matter if they're not the actual painting?"

Kyuu ran a hand through his long black hair, exhaling an exasperated sigh. "Because making paintings this way is illegal, Akizuki. Her dad could be arrested for this."

Suki lowered her gaze to the dusty floor, losing herself in her thoughts. Then, she looked back up and turned to Minaj. "Does your dad like making these paintings, Minaj?" After a moment, Minaj nodded. Suki smiled in response. "Then, I think it's okay for him to do what he's passionate about, if he isn't hurting anybody."

"No, it's not okay," Michel spoke up, her voice firm, "What he's doing is hurting people. It's hurting the original creators of the works by having their pieces taken, copied, and twisted to be slightly different."

"I'm…not an artist like you, Michel, but…" Suki scratched her cheek as she continued, "I think I'd be happy if someone wanted to make more of my work and share how they see it with more of the world. It might not be the exact same, but maybe a different take on the original could make some people happy. Not just the creator of the changed work, but the people who see the new work, too." Suki looked back up at Minaj, who looked as if she were about to cry, with a gentle smile.

Minaj reciprocated with a shaky smile of her own. "Suki…"

Suki's eyes darted to Kyuu, who looked to be upset. The little girl opened her mouth slightly as if to correct Minaj, but, after a moment of thought, she closed it and stayed silent, instead choosing to wrap her arms around Minaj in a light embrace. Minaj was surprised at first, before embracing her back.

"I really don't think you understand the situation, Akizuki," Michel started.

Minaj shifted so Suki was pulled further away from Michel. She cast an icy glare at the artist. "Just shut up, Michel."

"I'll shut up when you get it through your skull that-!"

"Michel, that's enough," Kyuu cut in exasperatedly, "She clearly doesn't want to listen."

Suddenly, the door to the shed unlocked, and Minaj's behemoth of a father stormed in.

"What are you kids doing in here?" He bellowed.

"Pap!" Minaj let go of Suki and walked up to her parent as she explained the situation, "I was just showing my friends your paintings!"

The man's eyes widened, as he cast his gaze to each of the kids' faces, watching as Kyuu and Michel trembled slightly under his fiery brown eyes. With a sigh, he addressed his daughter. "Minaj, honey, I told you several times. You aren't supposed to go around showing people the pieces in this shed!"

"But, Dad, you can't just let these works rot in your shed!" Minaj explained. "Art is meant to be shown to other people, and if you won't show them to other people yourself, then I will!" The father was struck speechless as he held Minaj's gaze. "I just want people to appreciate your paintings as much as I do, Dad. I wouldn't be who I am today, if I hadn't seen what you can make with your own hands."

"Minaj…We need to talk," The father said. The girl's expression softened, as she nodded slowly. Her father turned his gaze to the other children. "You kids should go back home, alright? And not a word of this to anyone, you understand?"

Kyuu and Michel nodded vigorously, before making their way to the door. Suki followed close behind, before stopping in front of Minaj. "You'll be okay, right?" The little girl asked.

Minaj smiled softly, patting Suki on the head. "I'll be just fine."

With a small smile, the little girl rushed out of the shed after her brother and friend.

"Hey, earth to Suki! You still in there?" Suki blinked and turned to Polnareff standing beside her. "We were just about to head back to the hotel," He stated. As he got a better look at her face, he asked, "Are you all right?"

As she opened her mouth to speak, she realized she had been keeping a tight grip on her thumb with her teeth. Putting the red skin and indentations out of her mind, she scratched her head absentmindedly. "I've just been a little worried. I really shouldn't fret so much, but I can't help it." The Frenchman shrugged as he made his way out of the shop, Suki following close behind. As she cast her eyes to the slowly darkening sky, the memories Michel had shown her that belonged to her comrades surfaced once again. The woman found she couldn't stop herself from asking the question at the forefront of her mind as she remembered the rain-soaked graveyard. "Polnareff, where are you gonna go after this?"

"Uh, the hotel...?"

"No, no, I mean...once we've defeated Dio."

The man stopped and turned to Suki. "Why are you…" He sighed. "Right. You, and Mr. Joestar, and Abdul all saw…that." The brunette met his eyes with a solemn nod. Polnareff weakly kicked up some dirt from the road. "…I don't really know, in all honesty. I'll figure something out, though."

"...I'd have to ask my mom first, but maybe you could stay with us for a while, until you did."

"Huh?! Oh, no, I couldn't do that!" He denied.

"Why not? All you'd have to do is not be an asshole and refrain from hitting on her. I know you're capable of at least one of those things."

"It's not that, just…" Polnareff trailed off.

"Your next line is, 'I have principles, as a gentleman,'" A deeper voice chimed in.

"I have principles, as a gentleman. Wait, what?!" Polnareff was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Joseph, before he grew defensive, "What's the big idea, barging in on our conversation like that?"

"You guys were taking so long to get back to the hotel, I thought you'd been attacked by an enemy Stand. I wanted to make sure we all got back before the sun set, at the very least," Mr. Joestar explained with a shrug. "Now, come on. The others have probably already gotten a table at the restaurant in the building in the meantime."

"You're sure there wasn't any trouble while we were at the market?" Abdul asked.

"Abdul, I don't think you need to ask again if they said 'no' the first time," Joseph remarked.

Abdul folded his arms and sighed. "I never can be sure, sometimes. Do you recall the encounter with the user of The Devil?"

"…I'm pretty sure I made it clear how much trouble there had been, Abdul," Suki added.

"…You did," The fortune teller admitted, "however, no one anticipated the police becoming involved."

The woman shrugged and took a sip of her water.

"If watching a subpar shark flick counts as 'trouble,' then, yes, I suppose you could say we did have a bit of a run-in with it," Kakyoin responded with a strained tone.

"Less a shark flick and more a soap opera about a three-way," Jotaro grumbled.

"Did you guys confuse Pink TVwith Planète or something? That sounds like something you'd find on an adult channel," Polnareff snickered.

"Well, if you'd consider one of the men in that relationship being torn in half by a tiger shark and the other man choosing to go after that same shark and losing an arm in the process to be even remotely arousing, then perhaps I could see someone making that mistake without realizing it," The honor student snapped.

"Hey, Nori," Suki spoke gently, placing a hand on his forearm, "you said before that it was just a subpar movie, right?"

Kakyoin met her eyes for a moment before his expression softened. "Right. That's all it was."

"I thought you said you'd wake me up when the shark came back in," Jotaro commented.

"I, uh, must have forgotten, then," Kakyoin said. "My apologies, Jotaro."

The delinquent shrugged. "It wasn't very shark-centric in the first place."

Suki's attention was drawn away from the conversation by a tap on her other shoulder. She turned to see Abdul holding her necklace out to her. Her eyes lit up. "Ah, right! Did you find anything?"

"Unfortunately, no. I found I was unable to identify what exactly your amulet was made from," Abdul explained with narrowed eyes. "The only conclusion I was able to come to after thumbing through the books I have was that the material is definitely not of this world, as far as we know."

"Not of this world…" The woman muttered, her own eyes narrowing. With a nod, she reclaimed her possession from Abdul's hand. "Thank you for looking into it. Sorry it didn't turn up much, though."

"It's not a problem. If anything, the research did open more avenues as to what a Stand Transplant could be, if Whit is to be believed."

Turning her gaze from the fortune teller to the elder across from her, Suki announced, "Mr. Joestar, I'm gonna go back upstairs. I've got some studying to do."

"By yourself?" Joseph asked.

"Well," The brunette started, "if no one else is going, I can-"

"I'll go," Jotaro spoke up, standing from his seat. "Make sure you actually study."

"That was the plan," Suki expressed with pursed lips as she stood and pushed her chair in.

"Don't study too hard!" Polnareff joked as the two walked out away from the table.

"Yeah, yeah," Suki dismissed with a roll of her eyes.

After the two were out of earshot, Joseph turned to Abdul. "What did you need Suki's necklace for?"

"She offered to allow me to examine it for research into a potential method of reversing Stand Transplants," The Egyptian replied.

"Oh, yeah, I remember you mentioning that at one point," The old man recalled.

"Stand… Transplants…" Polnareff mused.

Kakyoin folded his arms as he remarked, "I know he wasn't the most likable person, but don't tell me you weren't listening to anything Whit was saying back on the sub."

"Hey, I was listening!" A moment passed before Polnareff snapped his fingers as he recalled, "Right, that was that creepy human experimentation thing, right? Moving Stands from one person to another, and using a bunch of people's souls for…energy?" He shook his head, "I wouldn't forget something that screwed up."

"You still seem to have been barely listening," The honor student muttered.

"Regardless…" Abdul started, "He specifically claimed that a gemstone is required in the creation of a Transplant. I wished to see if I could figure out what properties determine how compatible a Stand Transplant and a new user are. Perhaps then… We could find a way to return Stands to their original users."

"But, didn't Whit say that people who had their Stands confiscated would die?" Kakyoin asked.

"Yes, however, he seemed uncertain if that was a guarantee," Abdul brought a hand to his chin. "I may be lacking in knowledge concerning research of this particular topic, but my area of expertise may be able to assist in finding a way to save the lives that have been lost."

"You're gonna use fortune-telling to help?" Polnareff suggested.

"In a sense. More specifically, I will be using the knowledge of gemstones I have at this time, until I can conduct a more in-depth form of research," The fortune-teller replied.

"Right, you mentioned back on the sub that they had metaphysical properties and were used for healing, among other things…" Joseph pointed out.

"Correct," Abdul closed his eyes in thought as he continued. "Crystals and stones have long been used for body, mind, and soul healing since before recorded history. Evidence exists that points to their therapeutic uses being capitalized upon even thousands of years ago, hence why I believed the ruins Whit showed us pictures of could have been buried for a similar period of time."

"Wait, wait, back up," Polnareff interjected, causing the fortune teller to open his eyes and turn to him. "How do people use them to heal themselves, exactly?"

Abdul smiled as he began to explain. "Those minerals are used to balance the body and restore energy, stimulating the natural healing within the body, mind and spirit. They are used to promote peace and tranquility, as well as remove blockages from the flow of energy that is our body and aura. Each mineral represents different organs, astrological signs and emotional attributes and, most importantly, resonates individually with each person. People tend to wear crystal and stone jewelry to increase energy and heal the body. Each transmits its power through color and vibration. As we are well aware, Stand Transplants do not possess the same uses of precious gems; however, perhaps Stand Transplant functions were brought into creation through lateral thinking of the functions of those minerals."

Polnareff hummed as he closed his eyes in thought. "…So, if each gem resonates individually with each person based on what you told us, wouldn't the combinations of people and gemstones have to be really specific?" He speculated, folding his arms. "Not only that, but if you're moving a Stand from one person to another through a gem, wouldn't it have to resonate with the giver and the taker?"

The Frenchman opened his eyes to see shocked expressions surrounding him. "Wh-What? What are you staring for?"

"We weren't expecting logic like that from you, Polnareff," Mr. Joestar admitted.

The silver-haired man shook his head and turned to Abdul. "Look, this is important to you, right? I…wanted to help as much as I could, even if it wasn't much."

Abdul smiled. "I really appreciate that, Polnareff. You did bring up something important, though. I had pondered how exactly the Stand donator and recipient needed to be related beforehand, but I had not yet deduced how specific the attributes of the Transplant needed to be…"

"We only have Whit's and Suki's as examples, correct?" Kakyoin wondered.

"Suki has a Stand Transplant?" Polnareff asked.

"That is what Whit explained her necklace to be, I believe," The redhead answered, bringing a hand to his chin, "Considering she said he had her place the necklace on the wall painting he showed us pictures of, he likely expected a similar reaction to what he received when he created a connection between the painting and his own Transplant. There is…no concrete evidence to prove this, but… I believe this may be the situation."

"Much as I would like to compare the two…" Abdul started, "Her necklace…It isn't like anything I've seen before…Comparing her accessory to Whit's, it's as if they were not even found on the same planet…"

"Let's just look at Whit's, then," Joseph suggested, "What did you say you thought the gem was again?"

"Garnet," Abdul explained, "I have yet to determine whether its species is Almandine or Rhodolite, though…"

"What's the difference between Rhodolite and Almandine?" Kakyoin probed.

"Both are very similar shades of red, hence why I'm having difficulty determining which species Whit's collar belongs to," The fortune teller's expression grew contemplative as he described the differences between the species. "Almandine garnet is used as a means of giving the spirit a form of grounding, thereby warding off negative energies or entities. Meanwhile, Rhodolite gives the spirit inner alignment, giving the holder knowledge of the correct steps to take down a spiritual path. In addition, this species offers emotional healing, particularly concerning guilt and shame, overall strengthening the emotional body."

"I see…" Kakyoin responded.

"Man, this is a lot to think about…" Polnareff confessed, scratching his forehead, "I'm not sure I can come up with an answer right now…"

"As I stated before, this is mainly a theoretical pursuit, at the moment," Abdul consoled, "It is quite alright if you can't get an answer immediately after I gave you all this information."

"Alright…" The Frenchman begrudgingly gave in.

Turning his gaze to the honor student, Abdul noticed he was staring critically at his stray strand of hair as he twirled it between his fingers. The fortune teller addressed him, "Kakyoin? Is something the matter?"

The redhead blinked several times before turning to Abdul with a sheepish smile. "Ah, no, I merely had a thought…" As the others waited for him to continue, he cleared his throat, "You said you wanted to find a way to return Stands to their rightful owners, correct?" Abdul nodded. "Perhaps…and this is just a shot in the dark, but perhaps we could do more for Stand users than just return what has been lost…I had been thinking, what if we had come up with a way to take Holly's Stand away, in a way that wouldn't harm her, and then return it when she would be able to properly control it? That seemed inhumane to me, so the next question came to me: what if we created a way to inhibit Stand activity?"

"Inhibit it?" Joseph asked.

"Yes, particularly for people who do not possess a strong fighting will, or who have yet to develop it. Taking someone's Stand is much like taking a part of them away, so if there was a method for the user to keep their Stand, while also learning to maintain control over it at their own pace…maybe, then…" He shook his head. "My apologies, this is purely theoretical."

"Please, don't apologize," Abdul said, "I think it is a worthwhile theory to pursue, Kakyoin. Stands are quite powerful beings. If left unchecked or without the proper control, who knows what could happen? Finding a way to facilitate Stand safety would surely benefit future generations of Stand users. I guarantee it."

Kakyoin smiled and nodded.

"Oh, God, it's getting late," Joseph expressed, looking at his pocket watch, "You two should get back to your rooms." Polnareff and Kakyoin stood, making their way to the lobby. "Oh, before you go back, though-" The two turned upon hearing Joseph's voice, "Could you check on Jotaro and Suki? They should be in one of their rooms, but I just want to make sure everyone's…up to standard, for tomorrow."

The two cast a glance at each other before they nodded to Joseph and continued on their way.

"Are you certain your idea will work out, Mr. Joestar?" Abdul asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Come on, Abdul, have a little more faith in me! Of course it will!"

The fortune teller sighed. "If you say so."

"Didn't expect there to be a library in the building…" Jotaro muttered, falling into step with the girl beside him as they walked back through the lounge to the staircase. Craning his neck slightly to scan the spine of the book she was carrying, he raised an eyebrow at the title. "So, you were serious about studying, then."

"Look, being a horndog doesn't make you stupid. Not as far as I know," She explained, beginning to scale the stairs up to the third floor. "Although, I didn't really pick this up with practicing English at the forefront of my mind, even if it is written in English."

"Why the meteorite book, then?"

"Abdul told me that he thought my amulet was 'not of this world,'" Suki stated, glancing down at the beat-up, dark blue book in her hands titled Meteorites – Messengers from Space. "I wanted to see if this had any records of meteor crashes, or, at the very least, information about what people have discovered about rocks that aren't found on this planet. It's a shame this was the only one I could find about this particular subject in the astronomy section, though…"

As the two reached the hotel room, Jotaro unlocked the door and let Suki walk into the room before shutting the door behind him. The woman set her satchel on the floor next to her and sat in the middle of her bed without a word. Jotaro sat down on his bed for a moment, merely watching as Suki carefully examined each page, silently mouthing the words she read. The delinquent reached into his pocket and closed his hand around his box of cigarettes, but the sound of rustling fabric caught the girl's attention, causing her to dart her head up and look towards the source of the noise. She met his gaze and smiled sheepishly before turning her attention back to the book.

Suki only drew her attention away from the book once more as she felt weight being added to the bed. She nervously rubbed the page she was about to turn between her thumb and index finger before she relaxed into the man behind her.

"As several hundred meteorite falls have been observed in the last ken…century," She murmured slowly, "the reports of eye…eyewitnesses comprise vol…volume…volume-inous…Dang it."

The girl made to reach for her bag, but the delinquent reached down and pulled the satchel up by the strap and handed it to her. She smiled at him and fished through the contents of the bag before she found the small red dictionary close to the bottom and removed it. Thumbing through the pages near the back of the book, she quickly found the word.

"Voluminous…Occupying or containing much space. When referring to writing, very lengthy and full," She read, turning back to the blue book on her other side. "…Voluminous literature…"

A few minutes later, Suki reached a chart that detailed the various compositions of meteorites.

"Oh, okay, I see," The girl realized. "So, there's iron meteorites, made up of more than ninety percent metal, mainly composed of nickel-iron; stone meteorites, made up of more than seventy-five percent stony material, and those can be either chondrites or achondrites, depending on whether they have chondrules, millimeter-size silicate spheres; and stony iron meteorites, divided further into pallasites and mesosiderites…"

"So, what does that say about your necklace, then?" Jotaro asked.

Suki rested her chin in her palm as her eyes narrowed. "I'm not quite sure. I might need to get a geologist or astronomer or something to look at it. Even then, though, until we find out what exactly ties Stand Transplant properties and gemstone properties or properties that my amulet has together, that information won't do much…" She muttered, turning the page. As she did so, a single folded paper fell out of the book. The girl's expression grew quizzical as she shut the book and picked up the paper and unfolded it. The sheet had an elegant border with a rose-and-vine motif, but, aside from a heading in the top left that read, "ROSES"-

"It's blank…?" She placed the sheet between her palms and rubbed them together slowly, "This is, but someone wrote on top of it, I think…" Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her notebook and pencil. "It's kind of like with the secret letters Kyuu would send to me alongside the ones for Mom, while he worked for Dio…So maybe I can…" She scratched her pencil across the page, creating broad strokes with the lead that revealed white markings against the greying surface. "There is something, but," She squinted and brought the paper closer to her face, "this writing is so tiny…I don't think I can make it out…"

"Let me see," Jotaro suggested, holding his hand out to her. Suki placed the now grey slip in his palm as he examined it himself. Silently calling Star Platinum out, he let his Stand scan the near microscopic writing. A moment later, the spirit tilted his head with a confused expression. "I…can't understand it."

"Maybe if…" Suki handed her journal and writing utensil to Star Platinum. "Try writing it down. If neither of us can understand it, maybe we can show it to someone who can," She suggested. With that, the Stand began to quickly transcribe the letters on the paper into the notebook. Less than five minutes passed, and the Stand nodded as he reached the last letter, handing the supplies back to Suki with a small smile. Flipping through the pages onto which he had neatly copied what he saw, the girl's eyes lit up. "This is Arabic! I can read this."

"What does it say, then?"

"Well, let's see," Suki cleared her throat and began to read. "Should anyone find these notes and be able to read them, even then, I shall not divulge the identity of those I choose to assist. With what I have seen, nothing surprises me anymore; however, with my poor memory, I must keep some form of record of my time with them. All will be lost, otherwise.

"All they tasked me with, in return for continued study of their society, was finding the scattered fragments of their home. Earth is but one of the many landing sites of some of the shards that had been spirited away. When asked what exactly these pieces were, they merely dismissed that their way of referring to them would be lost on a being as weak of mind as I. As such, they supplied me with a colloquialism: Tears of Ash.

"I must confess, after finding one of these said 'Tears,' the tag 'of Ash' does not a fitting name make, unless they are colorblind or some such nonsense. The Tears of Ash are in fact not gray or even silver, as I had imagined, but various shades of glowing green. They are warm to the touch; just holding this fragment, about the size of a human infant, makes me feel at ease.

"Despite this, the chieftain has warned me that I, as well as the rest of my species, would surely self-destruct, should we uncover the truth of these Tears. Of course, I asked why, to which they replied, 'Your world is all you know. If you were to experience something beyond the true limits of imagination, your body, mind, and soul would cease to exist as entities you can grasp. Even if you were to limit yourself in pursuing our knowledge, the consequences would be ill-defined by any human language.' I did not ask further about what he meant.

"Unfortunately, I was unable to find the Tear that had crash-landed in England during the Victorian era. I know not to where it was relocated, but my only hope, if the warnings of the elder are to be believed, is that it sleeps somewhere where no one of weak a mentality as humans will discover it. My next order is to find the one that struck a small city in Japan rather recently. If my sources are to be believed, it must have-"

"…That's…all there is," Suki concluded, coming to the last word that had been written. After tucking the paper in the pages of her notebook and placing it on the bed, she pulled out her necklace and stared intently at the star centerpiece.

"So, your pendant is part of one of those 'Tears of Ash' the writer mentioned?"

The girl did not respond to Jotaro's question at first, turning the object over and over again in her hands. "…My great grandma told me her husband found this material while mining and worked for a year to fashion it into something that would play her favorite song whenever she liked. He proposed to her with it, since he couldn't afford a ring. My granddad used it to propose to his wife, and my mom, being an only child, decided to buck the trend and propose to the man she loved herself. Even having done that, she still gave it to Kyuu, who, in turn, put it in my hands…" She stilled her hands. "What this is…has it just been a lie?"

Without a word, Jotaro reached forward and took the necklace from her hands. He turned the small knob and allowed the soft tune to fill the room, placing the object back in her hand. Suki smiled softly. She placed the notes back in the book and turned around, wrapping her arms around her partner and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I don't know what to make of all this…" She murmured.

"Hm."

"Hey, so, would you maybe want to…?" Suki mumbled half-heartedly, reaching down and thumbing the rough material of one of his belts.

Her hand was firmly grasped by the wrist and pulled away. At this, Suki looked up to see Jotaro meeting her eyes with a stern gaze. As her eyebrows raised, he slowly let his hand fall from hers, as he cast his eyes away. "Maybe…later…"

"…Maybe later, it is, then," She responded with an accepting smile. The girl then moved so her legs dangled off the side of the bed, resting her head on Jotaro's shoulder. Her cheeks heated as she felt his arm slide across her back, resting his hand on her side.

A firm knock sounded on the door.

"Fucking…" Suki muttered with a sigh, reluctantly peeling herself away from her partner and stepping over to the door. Upon seeing Polnareff and Kakyoin outside, her mood immediately brightened, as she opened the door. "What's up?" She asked, standing in the doorway.

"You got something to hide in there that you don't want us seeing?" Polnareff teased with a mischievous smile.

Suki rolled her eyes and stepped out of the way, as the two men walked into the room. "Look, Officer, you can check wherever you want, there's no contraband anywhere, I promise," She snarked.

"Oh, that's not the kind of evidence we're looking for, Miss."

"Polnareff," Kakyoin warned, as the Frenchman snickered. The honor student shook his head and turned to Suki with a soft smile. "Sorry to barge in. Mr. Joestar was adamant about us checking up on you before bed."

"It's no problem," Suki shrugged. "There sure was a lot of time between when we left the restaurant and now, though. Did you guys lose track of time talking?"

"In a sense," Kakyoin admitted. "Abdul wanted to speak about an idea he had."

"It didn't make a lot of sense," Polnareff added.

"That may have been because you hadn't been paying attention when Whit first explained STs," The redhead shot back.

"Well, I'm never gonna use one of those things, so I didn't think there was a point to listening! But, on another note," Polnareff said with a grin, "wasn't that girl out there by the entrance a cutie? I'm gonna go see if I can chat her up later!"

"You should go for it," Kakyoin encouraged, "30,000 yen on you failing."

"That's just mean!" Polnareff whined.

As the two men chatted on, Suki noticed Jotaro looking up slowly from his more reclined position on the bed, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the door. "Jotaro?" She called.

Polnareff looked over upon hearing Suki's voice, his gaze turning to the delinquent. "What's up?

"It's just…"Jotaro muttered, "I felt a presence outside that door…"

As Polnareff and Kakyoin looked to the door, the honor student walked over and opened it, looking down both hallways before speaking to the people behind him, "No one's out here."

"Maybe it was just that asshole bellhop fucking with us again…" Polnareff muttered.

"No, it wasn't him," Jotaro claimed, "He knows what he's doing when it comes to stealth. It's weird, but…It felt like whoever was outside that door wanted someone to notice."

"Well, all the more reason to keep our wits about us, then," Suki concluded.

The next morning, after breakfast, everyone was called to Mr. Joestar's room…

"Everyone, take a look at this!" The old man announced, gesturing to a large pile of random clothes and accessories that littered one of the beds and part of the floor. "It's your turn to take up the mantle!"

Every person in the room besides Joseph and Abdul looked on in confusion. After a silence that lasted way too long, Jotaro spoke up. "Hey, old man, what kind of party game is this?"

"What, don't you get it?" Joseph asked.

"Apologies, but I have no idea what you're trying to get at here," Kakyoin expressed, folding his arms.

"I've been thinking about this for a while," Joseph began, "but the conversation you said you and Jotaro had last night made me certain of one thing! Don't you…Kind of stand out too much?"

...

"That weird dangly noodle hair, your telephone-pole-like height, and that foreign school uniform! You stand out far too much! Me, Suki, and Abdul are the only ones who fit into our surroundings! Abdul looks like a local, and Suki and I look like travelers, so you should be the same!" The old man shouted.

"Uhm, why…?" Suki trailed off.

"Why are you only making a deal of this now?!" Polnareff fumed.

"There's that," Suki agreed, "but also why make a deal of this, period? We weren't exactly planning to be stealthy to begin with…"

"We're always being targeted by the enemy, so we should have a little more self-awareness!" Joseph argued.

"You say that, but can't Dio see our every move and stuff anyway?" Polnareff bit back.

"He isn't watching our every move at every second of every day, but he kind of…I guess he 'locks on' to the Joestar bloodline and finds us that way. That's how I gathered it when I saw him do it a couple of times," Suki explained, bringing a hand to her chin.

"Yeah," Polnareff agreed, raising his fist in victory, "so us being targeted has nothing to do with us looking obviously like the targets! Duh! Ain't that right, guys?"

Kakyoin appeared to agree, as he slightly raised his fist to mirror Polnareff in a show of support.

"I certainly see your point, but…Imagine if we had outfits that made us not, say, instantaneously recognizable? Then we could be the ones launching the surprise attacks!" Mr. Joestar pointed out.

"And even still, we'll be a group of incredibly tall men and one small woman," Kakyoin stated, folding his arms.

"Hey!" Suki called out. "I'm only small compared to mammoth men like you guys!"

"Ah, that is true," The honor student admitted, blushing slightly.

"I don't think that's completely true, though," Polnareff said, "She still has to look up to talk to some people, after all."

Suki pouted. "Knock it off…"

"Can we get back on subject, please?" Joseph asked irritably.

Jotaro sighed. "I don't see what any of this would achieve. More importantly, that mysterious presence from last night-"

Before he could finish, Joseph got in his grandson's face and pointed at him with both index fingers, "Ugh! I'm not going to hear any more arguments from you lot! Just hurry up and get changed so we can practice! We'll play a game in the hotel lobby!"

"A game?" Kakyoin asked.

"Here are the rules," Abdul explained. "You must disguise yourself. You must place a cigarette on Joseph's table. Joseph must not notice you."

"If I catch you, you're out!" Joseph chimed in, "The lobby is a large, open space. The start point is the table where Abdul is sitting, so go look for him! I'll be in disguise too, so you'll barely recognize me!" With that, he walked to the door with Abdul, holding open the door for him and waving to the rest of the group. "Goooooood luck!" The door shut behind the two men.

"I guess we're doing this, then," Polnareff sighed.

"What would make a good disguise, though…?" Kakyoin mused, sifting through the mountain of disjoint outfits.

"Hmm, what indeed…?" Suki wondered, stepping up beside the redhead and eyeing the pile.

"You're playing, too?" Jotaro asked.

"Hey, a lesson in subtlety never hurt anyone," Suki said, her eyes glinting, "Besides, it could be a bit of fun!"

"Oh, are you the competitive type, Suki?" Polnareff asked.

The woman grinned impishly. "Maaaaybe…Whaddya say? May the best disguiser win?" She asked, casting her gaze between the others.

Jotaro sighed. "Whatever."

The hotel lobby with bright white floors bustled with the midmorning crowd of tourists and employees, as the plethora of people all talking at once submerged their ears in nothing but noise. At a table closer to the hallway leading to the first floor accommodations, Abdul sat quietly with a pack of cigarettes in front of him. He removed his dark sunglasses as a pair of men approached him, and he couldn't contain a small snicker.

Kakyoin was fully outfitted in a dapper black suit with a red tie, and a black fedora to match, with no sign of his one red bang in sight. He adjusted his grey rimmed glasses as he stopped at the table with Polnareff, who sported a short sleeve hoodie over his tank top and his hair falling loosely at the sides of his head, with a few stray cowlicks sticking up from the front of his hair.

"Jeez, he's made this into an enigma wrapped in a mystery," Polnareff complained, placing his hands on the table, "Is this the start point?

Kakyoin cast his eyes about the busy lobby. "There's a lot of people here."

"While I know you two have a lot of complaints about all of this, why don't you try to enjoy the game?" Abdul suggested.

"Well, I plan to play along to the best of my ability," Kakyoin said with a mischievous smirk.

"We're going for the win!" Polnareff affirmed.

"Well, Mr. Joestar probably thinks this is a fun change of pace, too, I'd say," The fortuneteller predicted, chuckling. "Enjoy yourselves."

"Yeah, I got it," Polnareff took a cigarette from the box and observed the large room dominated on one side by lavish sofas and chairs. "So, where is this Mr. Joestar?"

As Kakyoin obtained his cigarette, he noticed one was missing from the small carton, apart from the one Polnareff grabbed. "Jotaro and Suki left the room before either of us. Has one of them started playing?" The honor student asked. Abdul nodded.

"Oh, hey, that area's a little busier," Polnareff noted, pointing toward the center of the lobby. "That girl over there is kinda cute, too."

The eyes of the other two men landed on the couch in the middle of the leisure area with a table to its left, where four people had gathered. Kakyoin and Abdul looked to the right side of the sofa, where a pale, black-haired, purple-eyed person sat, wearing a crop top with separated sleeves extending from the hands to just past the elbows, elegantly designed breathable-looking matching pants (Abdul later informed the pair that those were called a sirwal), and a matching headdress and veil that only covered the mouth and nose, all in a rose-red color with golden accents. The person appeared to be socializing quietly with another person sitting in the middle of the couch, but…

"Polnareff," Abdul started with a sigh, "you are aware that that is a male you're pointing out, correct?'

"No, not him! The person on the other side of the couch!" Polnareff corrected.

The two men looked again to see a much more feminine figure with waist-length blonde hair and silver eyes standing on the other side of the couch, wearing a very similar outfit, but in an oceanic blue color, with golden bangle bracelets on her right arm and anklets of the same making on her left ankle. In contrast to the quieter man, she seemed to chime in giddily every once in a while.

"Her?" Kakyoin tried, pointing at the long-haired woman.

"Not her, either!" Polnareff denied. "The girl on the couch on the other side!"

Directing their eyes to the person sitting on the other side of the person in the middle of the couch, they saw a woman with darker skin compared to her two companions with sharp, catlike features, brown hair that just reached her shoulders, and brown eyes. Her milky pink outfit matched those of her friends in structure as well, save for the many belts criss-crossing across her sirwal legs. She sat silently with her hands in her lap, rubbing her finger over a bracelet on her left wrist.

"If you say so, Polnareff," Abdul said, chuckling.

"Aw, come on, she's adorable!" The silver-haired man shot back.

Upon further examination of the girl Polnareff had pointed out, Kakyoin recognized the curve of her grin under her face mask. He smiled. "She's pretty cute, I'll give you that, Polnareff."

"See? Even Kakyoin agrees with me! He never agrees with me when talking about girls!" Polnareff looked over to the group again. His smile fell as he pointed at the one person in the middle of the couch. "Wait, hang on, that's…

Wearing purple high heels with white bows, grey pantyhose, a black pencil skirt, a white blouse and purple open sweater, gold necklace, a purple hat with a black ribbon, and garish, overwhelming makeup…

…was Joseph.

Polnareff rushed up to the old man and shouted, "You think you can pass for an old lady!?"

Joseph shot Hermit Purple out from his hands, instantly tying up Polnareff. "Gotchaaa!"

"Aww, crud," Polnareff groaned.

The man in red and the women in blue and pink raised their hands to their mouths in exaggerated surprise. "Shock!" The red man and blue woman cried.

"You're Polnareff, aren't you?" Joseph jumped for joy as he cheered, "You! Are! Out!"

"Aww, c'mon, this is cheating!" The Frenchman complained, writhing in his restraints on the floor. "Not fair at all, right, Kakyoin!?"

Kakyoin was about a meter from the table he had to place the cigarette on, as he couldn't hide his surprise. "You idiot! Don't say that out loud!"

Hermit Purple manifested on Joseph's hand, as he raised his palm menacingly. "Too late!"

Kakyoin immediately took a defensive stance. "I swore I wouldn't run from another fight," The honor student proclaimed. "This…will be the one exception."

With that short statement, Kakyoin turned on his heel and sprinted back past Abdul down the hallway. Joseph leapt to his feet and yelled after the redhead, "You are sorely mistaken if you think you can outrun me!" He bolted after Kakyoin at full speed.

Polnareff sat on the ground in front of the couch, as he sighed. "Man, that Mr. Joestar is something else…"

"I'll say," The woman in pink agreed, standing up and walking over to the table next to the couch.

"I've done quite a few female performances myself," The man in red huffed a sigh as he carded his fingers through his hair, "but, running in heels is something I have yet to master."

"I hear ya, Kasey!" The woman in blue nodded. "I've been doing this for years, and even I can't run in heels that have platforms longer than an inch!"

"Miss Kanao," Kasey began, turning to the woman in pink, "how long has Mr. Joestar been dressing in drag like this?"

"Uh, I haven't asked him…" She responded.

"Wait…Miss Kanao..." Polnareff turned to the woman in pink as his eyes widened, "Suki…?"

The brown-haired girl raised a finger to her lips and winked, removing her hand from the table to reveal a single cigarette that she had placed. After a moment of realization, Polnareff winked back.

"Alright! Both of you are out!" Joseph announced, walking back into the lobby with Kakyoin trailing behind him, tied up with Hermit Purple. After being released, the honor student removed his hat with a sigh and knelt next to Polnareff, who was in the process of fixing his hair back into its usual style. "Man, you two are no good at this!" Mr. Joestar said with a laugh, taking his hat off and fanning himself with it as he sat back on the couch. "It doesn't even feel like you two were even trying to blend into your surroundings!"

"Like you can say that!" Polnareff shot back.

"Jotaro and Suki are still out there, eh?" Joseph wondered with a hand on his chin. "Have they got their own plans? Or, have they formed an alliance?" He directed his voice to Abdul, who had since approached the couch. "Abdul!"

"They have both already started playing, yes," The fortune teller replied. "Actually, if you would direct your eyes to the table…"

Looking at the table, Joseph's eyes widened. "What?! When did that happen?"

"Likely when you went rushing after me," Kakyoin hypothesized, "and left the table unmanned."

"Hmm…But why wouldn't they come out after they won the game…?" The old man asked no one in particular.

"Weren't you the one who made the rule that one cigarette counts for one person?" Abdul queried. "Whether they're working together or not, each of them has to place a cigarette on the table."

"Right," Mr. Joestar agreed, "but, one of them had to put the cigarette here, so why wouldn't they just come out? Maybe they wanna see how long they can hide from me, or…" He grinned, "Maybe one doesn't want to finish without the other."

The woman in pink snickered as her cheeks grew red. Joseph turned to her with a knowing gaze, as the woman's eyes widened. "Uh, ha ha…" She laughed nervously.

"Your perverted sense of humor screwed you over," The woman in blue shrugged with a sneer.

"Shut up, Silva," The woman in pink pleaded through a forced smile.

"Well, I may have noticed you, but you did put the cigarette on the table before I noticed," Joseph admitted. "Unless, that isn't yours…"

"No, she put it there. I saw her do it," Polnareff chimed in.

"As did I," Abdul added.

"So did me and Silva!" Kasey agreed heartily, pumping his fist.

"I guess you get the point, then, Suki," The old man conceded.

"Sweet!" The brunette grinned.

"But, the game is still afoot!" Joseph proclaimed, replacing his hat on his head and rubbing his hands together. "Alright, time to see what he's got, 'cause I'm ready! I'm gonna catch you, Jotaro!"

"Do you mind resuming our conversation from before?" Kasey asked meekly.

"Oh, right," Mr. Joestar responded, his expression becoming serious, "where were we?"

Keeping a close eye on his surroundings, Joseph continued to chat with the man in red. Kakyoin looked about the lobby from his place on the floor. But...Where is Jotaro? The honor student thought, I assumed he'd be milling around...But, surely to notice someone so tall...But then again, we didn't even notice Jotaro at the start point... Looking towards the table, he saw an entire box of cigarettes sitting next to Suki's single cigarette. "Mr. Joestar!"

Seeing where Kakyoin's eyes were directed, Joseph turned to the table. "Wha-! What!?"

"When did that happen!?" Polnareff shouted, his expression equally shocked.

"W-Where is he?" Kakyoin asked, looking about frantically.

"This is ridiculous! I have no idea where he is, still!" Mr. Joestar complained.

Spotting movement out of the corner of her eye, Suki looked down at the floor to spot a large man covered in flour, perfectly matching the stark coloration of the floor, crawling on his elbows and covered in barely noticeable footprints. The man looked up at the girl, his blue eyes making direct contact with hers, as he slowly brought a finger to his lips. Suki's eyes widened, and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Mr. Joestar, I'll be right back," Suki announced, as she walked towards the front desk.

Joseph merely raised an eyebrow before he sighed. "I can't believe this... Did he manage to outfox me, of all people...?"

The girl came back with two green towels, wiping her face off with one of them and throwing the other over her shoulder. "Isn't that what placing the cigarettes on your table without you noticing means...?"

"By that logic, I think both Jotaro and Suki managed to outfox you, Mr. Joestar," Kakyoin explained.

"Heheh, only barely, though..." Suki smiled sheepishly.

"Don't sell yourself short, Suki," Abdul explained. "He was completely fooled."

"You don't have to tell her again!" Joseph stood, taking a step towards Abdul. Not feeling solid ground under his heel, he looked down and spotted his grandson.

"Seriously!? Jotaro!?" Polnareff exclaimed.

"Nice work, champ," Suki congratulated.

Eyeing the two towels she had on her person as he rose to his knees, Jotaro raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why'd you get-" His question was cut off by Suki throwing the unused towel at his face, completely blanketing his vision in darkness. He could hear her stifle a laugh when he sighed.

"I thought you were gonna catch it!" She said.

"Warn me next time," He responded, removing the towel and beginning to wipe his face.

"Oh? When's 'next time' supposed to be?" She flashed a naughty grin.

He pulled his hat down. "Dammit, would you just-"

"Jotaro!" Joseph yelled. Jotaro pushed his hat back up and rolled his eyes, continuing to rub off the flour as Star Platinum phased into existence and began to dust off his back. The delinquent didn't seem to mind the shouts of the old man. "That doesn't even count as a disguise!"

"Shut up. A win's a win. And I'm not hearing that from you, old man," Jotaro snapped.

"Besides..." Suki started, moving to her bag that she had left at the start point.

"'Disguise. Noun. A means of altering one's appearance or concealing one's identity,'" Kakyoin rattled off.

"Ah, you beat me to it!" Suki said, turning and walking back to the sofa.

"Do you just memorize dictionary definitions like this?" Polnareff asked.

The honor student smiled sheepishly. "It's a little bit difficult not to, when you're working part-time as an English tutor."

"Well, I guess that was kind of fun," Jotaro stated as he rose to his feet, throwing his towel at Joseph's face, "but disguises are boring. It's not something I could keep up 24/7. I'll just stick with taking my enemies head on and punching their faces in. That alright with you? What I'm saying is just let me do what I've always done. On that note..." He stood up and looked about, "where did those Stand users go?"

"Stand users?" Polnareff asked.

"They responded with surprise when Joseph caught you with Hermit Purple," Kakyoin explained. "To any ordinary person, it would just look like you couldn't move anymore because another person held his hand out to you. I may be making assumptions, but I don't believe that would warrant a 'Shock!'" As he repeated the phrase, he mimicked the gesture the man and the woman in blue had performed.

"They're the guys who were outside the door last night. I know it," Jotaro asserted.

"Suki," Joseph turned to her with a grave face, "they knew about Whit, and they were talking about enemy Stand users that would attack us in Egypt. Who were they?"

"All will be explained in due time, Mr. Joestar," She replied with a knowing smile.

"When's that?" Polnareff asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, I don't think it would be a good idea to talk about this out in the open, so I thought just after we got back to the room? Maybe after we've changed back into our regular clothes?" She suggested, lapsing into a sheepish smile.

The Frenchman sighed. "Jeez, don't scare me like that. You sounded like that bellhop bastard for a moment there."

"Let's head back to the room, then," Kakyoin suggested. Polnareff and Suki nodded as the three stood up, Jotaro following close behind as they made their way back to Mr. Joestar's room.

"Mr. Joestar," Abdul walked over to his friend, a clean towel and a camera in his hand.

"Oh, Abdul...How did it go?" The old man asked, accepting the cloth and cleaning his face of the heavy makeup.

"Well..." Abdul started, handing the camera to Joseph, "see for yourself."

As Joseph began to look through the pictures that had been taken of the events of the game, he remembered the last conversation he had had with his daughter before he left on the journey.

"Papa..." Holly called weakly from her futon. Joseph knelt down next to her as she held out a camera to him. "Could I ask you for something?"

"...What's this?" The father asked.

"I'd like you to take some pictures of Jotaro for me, Papa. And of his two new friends. I want to see the kind of fun times you have on your journey..."

Joseph smiled gently and ruffled his daughter's hair slightly. "I understand, Holly."

"Man, these pics turned out pretty great!" Joseph enthused.

"Are you sure about that...?" Abdul asked, looking over the old man's shoulder. "All the pictures of Jotaro are of him crawling."

"That's fine! It's cute! Gap appeal!" Mr. Joestar explained.

"Honestly, when I noticed him, it was utterly terrifying..." Abdul shook his head. As Joseph flicked to a photograph of himself talking with Kasey, as Suki and Silva watched from where they were situated, the Egyptian questioned, "What about those two Stand users in the shot? Kasey and…Silva, I believe?"

"Ah, yeah, them...We could just say they're some tourists we ran into," Joseph said.

If that man is truly who I think it was…and he himself noted that he had ties to Whit, then…Abdul thought. "If Whit is to be believed, then this journey will contain events of even greater magnitude than we had first thought."

Joseph brought a hand to the back of his left shoulder, his expression contemplative. "It just might, Abdul." Breathing a sigh, he stood and began to walk back to the hotel room, his friend following close behind.

Once they arrived and everyone had changed, Suki carefully explained what exactly had happened on her end leading up to the game.

"Man, this is way too big for me…" Suki muttered, looking at herself in the mirror. The red belly dancer outfit she had donned was clearly designed with a larger body type in mind. "Did…Did Mr. Joestar expect one of the guys to wear this?" Shaking her head, she decided to work with what she had and exited the bathroom. "Good luck, guys!" She called behind her as she stepped out of the hotel room, not even sparing a glance back as she shut the door behind her. The woman quickly picked up her stride as she walked down the hall, formulating a plan of attack in her head as she turned the corner on her heel.

"Oof!" Suki grunted in pain as she ran into someone. Opening her eyes as she sat up, she saw a person dressed in a very similar outfit to the one she was wearing, albeit with golden bangles adorning the wrists and ankles and a deep blue color dominating the cloth. The clothing was also considerably tighter on the wearer she had encountered, accentuating very pale skin. "Ah, I'm so sorry, ma'am! I should've been watching where I was going!"

"Ma'am...?" Looking closer at the person she had barreled into, Suki saw that the person was no woman, but a gangly man.

"Oh, uh..." The woman started.

"W…" The man tipped his head back and laughed boisterously, "Wa ha ha! I do make a convincing lady, after all!"

"Kasey!" A blond woman with silver eyes in a milky pink version of the outfit with belts criss-crossing over the legs walked around the same corner the man had. Suki noted the woman in pink was also wearing clothes that were too tight for her, as she leaned down to look at the two grounded people, puffing out her cheeks and narrowing her eyes. "Bah, you had me all worried with the yelling and the laughing."

"Hah," The man huffed a sigh, his black hair falling forward and covering one of his deep purple eyes, "Well, Silva, worried or not, you owe me. I got this gal to believe I'm going to college to get more knowledge, instead of going to Jupiter to get more stupider."

"Wait a sec…" Suki closely examined the man in front of her. "I…know you from somewhere…"

"You know her?" The woman raised a hand to her mouth in surprise as she leaned back.

"Hm hm, perhaps this will refresh your memory," The man pushed his hair back from his face and flashed a polite smile. "You borrowed quite a bit from the library, but is Paulie, Gam and Me! to your liking? That one seems to be hit-or-miss for most patrons."

That one book I borrowed from the train… Suki thought. "Curt…Curt Kobain? You're that conductor from the Roundabout, the one with the three brothers!"

"In the flesh, Miss Kanao," The man affirmed with a devilish smirk. "At the time they were unable to do so, but, please, if you would allow my brothers to introduce themselves."

Curt rose to his feet and held his hand out to Suki. After accepting it and standing herself, the man retracted his hand.

The man placed his hands on his hips and laughed loudly, giving a firm salute and standing at attention with a cheeky grin.

"Captain Kristovo Kobain of 174th Infantry Brigade of United States Army Forces Command, reporting! I'll gladly serve, even in the afterlife! It's a pleasure to meet you, Suki, and fight alongside you in the crusade against Dio!" He announced with the charisma of a commanding general.

The man then heaved a sigh and allowed his hair to fall forward and cover one eye, as he folded his arms and pursed his lips. "I'm Dagro Kobain. I'm a thespian, but people call me 'Casanova'. You probably don't believe me now, but if I still had my own chords, I'd have you begging on your knees. At least, that's what people told me," He huffed with a matter-of-fact tone.

Pushing his hair back from his face, the man bowed. "I have already introduced myself, but it is a pleasure to once again make your acquaintance, Miss Kanao," Curt said, standing up straight.

"He's Kasey to me, though, and he is to everyone else, so you better call him that, too!" The blonde woman explained, putting a hand on her hip and poking her chest with her thumb. "And I'm Silva! It's nice to meetcha!"

Suki took a moment to turn over everything she had just learned in her head. "I have…many questions, but I'll start with 'What the hell are you doing here?'"

"Well, Mr. Houston explained to me that it would be best to tell you in due time, not at this particular moment," Curt said.

Suki groaned. "He roped you in, too?"

"Don't misunderstand," Silva chimed in, pouting. "He gave us a very clear out, but we chose to go all-in. Any way we can fight Dio, we're gonna do it."

"Uh-huh…" Suki agreed with uncertainty.

"For the moment, though, we need to speak to Mr. Joestar. Rather, I need to relay information Mr. Houston asked me to give to him," Curt stated, scratching his arm.

"Why can't he do it him-" Suki stopped herself, "wait, let me guess: he is, at present, preoccupied with many an other endeavor. Right?"

"Wow, you even got the wording right!" Silva enthused, putting her hands on her cheeks. "How'd you guess?"

"…Lucky guess," The younger woman deadpanned. "Back on topic, though, if you've got critical information, we need to get it to Mr. Joestar as soon as possible. Knowing him, though, he would probably get suspicious of you, if I said someone had info Whit wanted to tell us."

"Isn't that always the way?" Dagro asked, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes, "Why would he be suspicious?"

"The only other person who knew about Whit that we've met was Enyaba, and she was a pretty devout follower of Dio," Suki noted. "I can be a bit too trusting of people, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they immediately thought we should leave if I brought you guys up."

"What a pain," Silva muttered, scratching her leg. She perked up a moment later as she explained, "Oh, hey! Why don't we just play along with that game that you guys talked about earlier?"

"But we weren't…" Suki folded her arms. "So, you were listening in on us? I assume that was you guys last night, too."

"You'd be right," Silva answered simply.

"Way to keep confidential information confidential, Silva…" Dagro sighed.

"We weren't gonna do anything to 'em, Kasey. If there's no harm meant or done, Suki won't bat an eye," Silva said with a shrug. She then smiled deviously. "How do you think Whit's managed to keep in her good books, even with all the stalking he's done?"

"Hah! You've got a point there, Silva!" Kristovo laughed.

Suki sighed. "Sure. I guess I'm not standing right here, then."

"Anyhow," Silva started, turning back, "we could walk in with you and talk to Mr. Joestar when we get close!"

"Somehow that would make you less suspicious?" Suki asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I…I can help with that…" Curt spoke quietly, fidgeting with his hands. Meeting Suki's confused gaze, he mumbled, "I'm Nirvan. The youngest."

"So, even your baby brother got tangled up with this, huh?" Suki asked.

"He wanted to come along and help. I couldn't stop him, once I had a bit of assistance keeping everyone in my mind," Curt explained.

"How…?" The brunette asked.

"Sorry, but that is no-kay info for you to know, little lady!" Kristovo proclaimed, as he and Silva each formed an "X" across their chests.

"But, we digress," Curt said. "Nirvan's Ever Minded can twist the memories of others. If he can get close to Mr. Joestar, my brother can make him recall perhaps running into us as helpful allies at one point."

"That…He can just do that?" Suki queried.

"It's just the memory, though, so how he chooses to perceive the memory is up to him. I have high hopes for little Nirvan, though," After giving his explanation, Nirvan grabbed the veil on his head and brought it over his face, covering his red cheeks. "Curt, stop it…" Curt brushed the veil back over his hair and smiled sheepishly. "He tends to grow very shy when receiving praise, so I guess I shouldn't announce it from the mountaintops."

"Okay, well, if we're gonna do this…" Suki started, "I wanna make the most of this little alliance. This outfit is a bit too loose for me, and you seem to be a bit uncomfortable in your own outfits, right?"

The two shrugged stiffly. "These outfits are a bit too tight for us!" Kristovo agreed. "Are you suggesting we do a little swap-around?"

"You can give your outfit to Kasey, he can give his outfit to me, and I can give mine to you!" Silva added, putting her hands on her hips. "Plus," She pouted, leaning forward with a hand on her chin, "you could do with a little makeup…" Suki was silent. "You…do know how to put makeup on, right?" The blonde asked, tilting her head. The brunette slowly shook her head. "Well," Silva gestured to the two of them to follow her, as they walked down the first floor hallway to a room relatively close to the entrance to the lobby, "I can teach you a bit, and give you a few of my stray supplies. Dang, I feel bad, I haven't even torn the plastic off…"

"Anyways," The blonde turned and walked backwards towards the door with a grin, as Curt pulled the key out, "in the words of my mentor, 'Makeup is for women who want husbands. It is for women who want to leech the souls of their dead lovers...And collect the inheritance of their ex-boyfriends who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. If men find out that we can rearrange the bones of our face, we're finished. We might as well pack our bags and go to the nunnery. There will be nothing left for us here!'"

"Is that word-for-word?" Suki asked with a skeptical look.

"She was very passionate about our craft…" Silva admitted with a laugh. Entering the small hotel room, Silva all but flung herself into the bathroom and shut the door behind her, leaving Suki alone with Curt.

"So, what exactly did you want to tell Mr. Joestar?" Suki asked.

"Ah, well, this should become common knowledge to all of you in the group. You see, it's this:" Curt's expression turned grave as his voice grew quiet. "Before you even enter Dio's stronghold, gather as many allying Stand users as humanly possible. Some will be friends, some will be previous enemies. Regardless, it is imperative that you keep an open mind, in order to defeat the many enemy Stand users Dio has called forth." The man took a deep breath and spoke his next words slowly. "If you fail to do this, you will all meet with a terrible fate."

In an off-road driving through the desert, after meeting with the Crusaders…

"Hey, Kasey. I've got a question." Silva said.

"What's that, Silva, my dear?" Curt responded, smiling at her but keeping his eyes on the road.

"How come you count stealing from Dio as stealing from the mafia?" She asked, looking out the window to her right.

"Well, my dear Silva, are you well-versed on the dictionary definition of a 'mafia boss'?" He asked. When Silva shook her head, he continued, "A mob boss, crime lord, king pin, crime boss, or even Don, is a leader of a criminal organization. While they may not call themselves a mafia in words, they do partake in less-than-legal affairs on a day-to-day basis as a collective. Dio's influence is spread across the world, and those he keeps in contact with operate under a complex and ruthless behavioral code. No matter how much they may choose to deny it, they are a mafia, albeit with an almost religious devotion to their leader."

"They certainly aren't like the mafias I've seen, though," Silva mused with a smirk. Her expression hardened almost imperceptibly as she continued. "No mafia's ever managed to get to me. Not before this one. Anything they've got has my name on it, and that's a promise."

Curt sighed with a smile. "You may very well get us killed at this rate."

"Hey, I'm careful, Kasey, we've been over this!" She turned back to Curt with a pout. "You don't seriously still think that selling makeup has been my core source of income all these years, do you?"

"Hence why I said 'may,' Silva. Hence why I said 'may'. That applies to percentage possibilities of less than even one percent."

"Hmm, hmm, you're such an enabler, you know that?" Silva said, intertwining her fingers with Curt's free hand.

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked, glancing at her with a knowing glint in his eye.

"Not at all."

Several minutes of silence passed, save for the sound of the motor running through the coarse desert sands.

The blonde looked back to the younger woman in the backseat, who had been preoccupied with threading red string through black fabric in an extremely intricate pattern. Despite the shaking of the car, her hands moved with self-assured movements that never seemed to stray from their marks.

"You nervous?" Silva asked.

"Not at all," The previously silent girl replied, scratching at the bandages that wound around her head, obscured by her black curls of hair. She looked up from her work briefly to give a confident smile, her blue eyes glinting in the midday sun. "If anything, I'd say I'm quite mentally prepared for what's in store."

Silva smiled and turned back in her seat. "Good to hear, Michel."

Those warring against the turning gears of destiny are slowly gravitating to the one focal point…

Where The World, representing the end and the potential of perfect union with the ultimate power of the universe, lies in wait…

They will converge with the warriors of fate, those who have engaged in combat with The World many, many times…

The Magician, representative of skill and thought…

The Hermit, representative of introspection and independence…

The Hierophant, representative of wisdom and convention…

The Chariot, representative of resolve and initiative…

The Fool, representative of new beginnings and adventure…

The Star, representative of hope and renewal…

Alongside them, the Knight of Cups, representative of opportunity and change, battles against the slowly tightening grip of the future…

The dominos are in place…

Now to watch them fall.

Chapter Sixteen - Ashes of Dreams

-END-

|To Be Continued|\|/

Fun fact: The disguise game is actually from an Omomuki High Jump doujin known as "Underground 2"! I own nothing of what they have made, I thought it would just be a fun side story to bring in. Their works never fail to bring a smile to my face, I highly recommend you guys check them out, too! I know you can purchase them somewhere, but I can't for the life of me figure out where. Please support them as well, they make great content! If you want to follow the links below, you can place the reddit thread after the reddit html, and the link for the actual story I referenced after the html for imgur.

Also the scene where Jotaro and Kakyoin watch a garbage shark movie is a reference to a really nice picture drawn by herzspalter on tumblr, who gave me their blessing to reference it in this chapter. Check out their work, I love their Jojo drawings, they're so stylized and colorful.: D If you want to check out their work, just put "herzspalter" before the link to the tumblr homepage (herzspalter. tumblr. com)

Thanks again for all of your support, and I would like to continue to thank Squirrelj and WindSymphony for being great editors that have helped me improve by the day! Hope you enjoyed this, and I will see you in the next chapter!

-Bluebow

Reddit Thread for Omomuki HJ - /r/StardustCrusaders/comments/73g4r3/fanart_under_ground_zero_part_1_part_2_doujin/

Underground 2 on imgur- /a/4GGG8