ReBirth

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Prologue – Every Breath You Take

The sunlight was bright and the air crisp, carrying with it the first sense of spring. Jennet sighed happily as the air blew through her hair, sending it flying into her face. Winter had lasted longer than usual the past year, and to finally be outside without the multiple layers needed for the cold was a blessing. The creek that ran near the Garner estate gurgled as the water flowed through it; pieces were still frozen and they knocked together against the soil.

"You seem to like it out here," a smooth voice commented, taking the girl by surprise.

Rather than turning to look, the girl simply giggled and nodded, carefully setting herself down on the grass. "It's so nice, after the winter, don't you think?" Turning again, Jennet was startled to find her companion was blurry, like faded watercolor. "…." Reaching a hand up, the girl gasped as the words failed to leave her mouth.

"It seems you're still ill, Jennet. Are you certain you should be out?" The hand that landed softly on her shoulder felt barely there, and was attached to no more than a fuzzy outline. There were eyes on her, yes, but she couldn't see them.

Jennet struggled to speak again, a hand coming up to her throat. Why couldn't she speak? Slowly, the grass around her began to fade like her companion, merging into a blur of color. Darkness began descending upon the land, choking her more than the words that refused to leave her mouth.

'I'm dreaming,' she thought, still struggling to move her mouth. The air no longer touched her skin. 'I must be….' The water had stopped, and the sky was black. Everything went black then, and Jennet allowed herself to let go with the promise of sleep.

Hanako Garner felt the sigh leave her before she even registered what she was doing. Some teacher continued droning on and on, a speech that had been going for at least a straight hour. Her fellow students sat in similar states of boredom, their graduation caps tilted; one poor guy's cap had nearly fallen completely off. Hanako stifled a giggle.

The day she graduated high school still felt like something that should have never happened. Passed around from house to house for years, never getting too comfortable in any one place – finishing school was like a pipe dream. But here she was, moments from graduating. If the old geezer at the podium could just learn to shut up.

"Hey, Hannah," a harsh voice whispered to her right. The girl passed a bored glance to the boy beside her, eyes narrowed. A growl bubbled in her throat at the obvious mispronunciation of her name; she didn't even remember who this guy was. "Don't fall asleep; might miss your name being called."

Hanako rolled her eyes and gave the guy the bird, turning her attention back to the man at the podium. He was probably their principal now that she thought about it; Barbra would be disappointed that Hanako didn't even care enough about her own graduation ceremony to know who was speaking. Now that she thought about it, Barbra was probably in the audience somewhere, among other proud parents in the gymnasium's bleachers.

Barbra had been the one to finally adopt Hanako; the teen had been sixteen at the time, far past the usual adoption age. Barbra had just been another name in the long string of foster homes, places she stayed at and couldn't wait to leave. But, somehow, the older woman had taken a liking to her and decided to adopt her, not that Hanako minded. After all, Barbra was much nicer to her than other foster homes she had lived in. Barbra had even allowed her to legally keep her original last name, the last tie she had to her parents.

"Hanako Garner," the old man finally announced, after the students that must have been the valedictorian and the salutatorian gave their own far too long speeches. And after so many other students had gone before her.

'Just how long was I spaced out,' the brunette thought, face still schooled into a bored expression as she walked across the stage to accept her diploma. She shook hands with the man – who, yes, was the principal; she recognized him so close – and faked a smile, then returned to her seat. 'Now to just wait till this is all over….'

"What's the cake for?"

Barbra leveled a harsh look at the girl, tossing her black hair over her shoulder. "I'm allowed to bake for occasions other than birthdays, I'll have you know." The stern look remained for a couple seconds before the woman's face broke out in a grin. "Congrats, honey; you made it!"

Hanako, despite herself, felt a small smile slowly cross her face. "Thanks, Barb… You didn't have to do this." The cake was nice, after all: white frosting and what was most likely a chocolate cake. Big red letters declared, 'Congrats on Graduating, Hanako!' Chuckling, the brunette cast a glance to Barbra before taking a place at the table.

Barbra's face twisted into a mischievous smile before she pulled out a box of matches. "There're even candles!" She sang out, giggling as the teen groaned in what sounded like pain. "Come on now; can't have a cake without candles!"

'It's not my birthday,' the girl thought with a sigh, shaking her head but deciding to humor the older woman regardless. Taking a breath, the girl blew out the candles as soon as they were lit, smoke flooding the space near her face for a moment. "There, you happy now?"

Barbra nodded sharply and pulled out a knife to begin cutting the cake. "Very," she replied, snorting a laugh.

The two settled down with probably far too large slices of cake. The small television on the kitchen counter flickered to life without either woman touching the remote. Hanako smiled softly as the stations began shifting before settling on the local news station. Barbra kept her attention on her cake, shuffling through something in her purse after a moment. A small package was slid across the table, and the brunette arched a brow as she turned to look at it.

"What's this?" she asked, taking another bite of cake rather than actually picking up the package.

"A graduation gift," Barbra returned, eyes still on the table. "Tickets to Egypt, I know you've been wanting to go for a while, yes?"

Hanako hummed in response, taking another bite of cake. "Money from your new job, right? Must be nice, if you can get tickets like this."

Her skin crawled slightly in excitement as she thought about the tickets though, barely registering the conversation that Barbra decided to start up now. She'd had dreams since she was a small child, strange dreams that she'd never been able to actually understand. Recently, though, within the last half a year, they'd started pointing to Egypt. A certain building, in what somehow she'd known to be Cairo.

And now she had a way to get there.

The manor was oppressive, the air within dank and heavy. There were zero lights within the entire building and cobwebs covered nearly every available surface. Fleetwood cringed as she made her way through the mansion, footsteps echoing through the halls. The candelabra she was all but forced to carry wavered in the small breeze that blew through the open windows, blowing smoke in her face.

It had been three months since she had been in the service of Lord Dio. The ever-present pulsing in her forehead reminded her that such service was required, not optional. Her stand, Silver Springs, had been used for liaison between the vampire and his many widespread followers. And, just the other day, her Stand had been used to seal the fate of a poor young girl. A pit had been growing in Fleetwood's stomach ever since then, making her ill every time she thought of what had happened.

Barbra Williams had been found by the witch Enyaba perhaps two months previous. She had the potential for a Stand, but that wasn't what Lord Dio had found important. Rather, he found interest in the young woman in Barbra's care. The moment he'd seen that teenager through Silver Spring's mirror, Fleetwood had felt her blood run cold at the look of pure shock on his face. It was almost unnatural, especially followed by the nearly unhinged smile that crossed his face afterwards.

"You have kept your promise then," he had muttered, voice low and barely audible.

Fleetwood continued making her way through the mansion, breath coming in short pants as she recounted that day. Her head began to throb in pain as she thought of running, knowing such a thing was impossible if she did not wish to die. And she was nothing if not self-preserving. Taking a breath to calm herself, the woman set the candelabra on a nearby table and smoothed out her clothing.

She had better get ready soon. After all, the following morning she had someone to pick up from the airport.

A/N: This is the first fanfic I've seriously posted in a couple of years, so I hope people actually enjoy it! I'm not sure what the length is going to end up being, but at the moment I'm estimating around 20 chapters. The content for the most part is going to be rated T, but should that change I will be sure to leave a warning and quickly change the rating to M.

That being said, I hope you all enjoy this bizarre adventure I will be trying to write.

Edits, 6/18/2018 - Grammatical changes from a friend who has graciously agreed to read over this fic. I thank him from the bottom of my heart.