AN: Welcome back everyone!

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the last chapter!

To answer some of the things in the reviews, yes, Sabaton was based partially off of Bad Company, mixed with Highway Star, where it could split apart and reform. I wanted a Stand that would be able to function as remotely controlled, because that was the benefit that Melone had provided to La Squadra. His Stand, Babyface, was a Stand that pretty much generated remote-control drones to hunt down and assassinate targets. With Sabaton, Razione fulfills that role, and more. I have since added to the Stats portion of the previous chapter for more information because it seemed a bit lackluster, so maybe that will answer more of your questions regarding it!

Right, enough talk.

Let's begin!

Disclaimer: I, Beowulf, do not own PJO or JJBA. I only own this plot, my OC, and the disappointing truth that I do not possess D4C. If I did, I'd be jumping around universes like a bunny on crack.

~Chapter 21~

Thalia didn't know what the heck was going on anymore. Cyrus could be a scary person, that was a given at this point. She'd seen just how vicious he could be when he had disposed of Ernesto...but this?

Cyrus...the boy she was so close to...had just brutally tortured and then slaughtered a human being. Was Brandon Blackmore a prick that deserved it...? "I mean yes but..."

She gagged inwardly as Cyrus was absolutely covered in blood. Dark red splattered across his face and clothes, with his arm being absolutely saturated with blood and brain matter.

This wasn't the Cyrus she remembered when they had been traveling to Camp...

"Well...guess I'll have to explain a lot..." She heard as Cyrus muttered quietly.

Her shock and horror immediately burned away, replaced with anger. She grit her teeth as her eyes flashed with static. "Oh you think?"

She strode forward quickly, pulling back a fist and letting it fly.

Crunch!

The teen yelped as punch crashed right into his cheek, knocking him on his back as thunder began to rumble in the distance. Rubbing his cheek in pain, he looked up, seeing her looming over him.

Not missing a beat, she grabbed him by the lapels of his coat, pulling him up as she glared angrily at him. "You, are going to tell us what the hell is going on, right now. No more games, no more deflections, nothing! Who are you Cyrus?! Because I honestly don't know anymore!"

Ignoring the sudden spike of hurt in his chest at that last remark, Cyrus gulped nervously. He glanced his friends for some manner of support. There was exactly zero.

The rest were similarly staring at him expectantly. Zoe and Phoebe were glaring at him, with the former of them looking like she was ready to put an arrow in his skull, while the other already had her hunting knives out. Grover was looking at him nervously, as if he would snap any second, and Percy, who he had just fought alongside in dealing with Rina, was looking extremely conflicted.

As for Risotto and Anette, both looked amused, to say the least. Risotto had on a little smirk, while Anette was stifling her laughter.

Meanwhile, Rina was just completely lost, having not seen nor heard anything regarding her now late father because of Anette covering her eyes and ears.

Cyrus grimaced again inwardly, not letting it show on his face as he turned back to Thalia. His heart cracked further as he noticed her expression.

She looked the same as she did when he had refused to tell her the full truth of what Aphrodite had talked to him about, only magnified to painful levels.

In retrospect, maybe he should have pulled the elder Blackmore aside away from everyone else before he had...disposed of him.

But he'd let his emotions get the better of him.

His felt his heart ache more as she glared down with him, her blue eyes betraying her emotions to him. He sighed and hung his head.

"You're right, it's time I told you guys the truth of who I am."

Thalia blinked, along with the rest of the demigod quest crew. They had been honestly expecting him to try and weasel his way out of it...she let go of him, ignoring Brandon's blood that had smeared on her hands from touching Cyrus.

Cyrus got to his feet, sighing at the currently bloodied state he was in, with some of the red substance starting to dry. He glanced over at Risotto with an apologetic face. "You wouldn't mind..?"

Risotto's eye twitched in annoyance as he kept his serious expression.

To everyone's surprise, the blood that covered Cyrus seemed to start peeling off of him, separating from his skin and clothes as the red liquid pooled around him and the dried blood began to flake off into said pools. Within a few seconds, he was clean. (1)

"Wait how did you-never mind..." Grover began, before just cutting himself off as his head started to hurt again.

The now clean Cyrus rubbed his forehead as he walked off to the side and picked up a chair that laid on its side near the edges of the clearing, dragging it over and sitting down, crossing his arms. "You might want to sit down for this. It's a very long story..."

Once everyone had taken a seat, save for Thalia, who had wanted to remain standing in case she wanted to rush over and give him another lightning punch to the face, Risotto and Anette, the former of which wanted to stay standing and alert, and the latter of which just wanted to stay standing.

"So, you guys know how I'm an unclaimed demigod, right?"

Grover raised an eyebrow at that, "Uh...yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Cyrus ran a hand through his hair. "Well...that's not true."

The satyr's eyes bugged out along with the rest of the group, as Cyrus rushed to clarify. "By that I mean I'm not a demigod in the...conventional sense."

Zoe got over her surprise quickly, glaring suspiciously at him. "What art thou talking about? The 'conventional sense'?"

Rubbing his temples a bit more as his head began to ache a little, the Stand User sighed. "Okay, time to back up a bit. You know how there's the Multiverse, right?"

Everyone nodded. "Well to put things bluntly..." Cyrus took a small breath and held it for a second, "I'm not from this universe...one where there were no Gods or anything."

"..."

"..."

"HUH?!"

The sheer sound of that surprise was almost deafening. Even Risotto and Anette seemed shocked. "B-but then that means you're not a demigod at all! Demigods are born from the union of a God and a mortal!" Phoebe exclaimed in shock.

"Well...not exactly." Cyrus sighed in exasperation. "This is a lot harder than I thought..."

"As I was saying, I was born in a different universe, to two normal people, and I lived that way for about seventeen years. No Stand or anything. I was perfectly normal...that is until I erm..." Cyrus scratched at his stubble with a slightly perplexed expression on his face. "How do I put this delicately..."

Risotto snorted as he quickly got over his surprise, earning a mild glare from Cyrus. Figures, nothing ever really shook the assassin. "Delicate is the very last word to describe you Cyrus."

"Oh shut up..." The teen grumbled before just opting to rip the bandaid off. "I ended up dying in a freak car accident on the highway." He said bluntly, wincing as the phantom pain from his first ever death twinged in his chest.

Thalia flinched at that, while Percy blinked. "Wh-how did you die?" The son of the Sea asked incredulously.

Without missing a beat, "A metal pipe through the chest." Everyone winced while some turned a bit green at that. How many times had this guy died?!

"The point where things change is when I died," He continued onwards, earning confused looks from everyone. "I ended up in what everyone called Limbo. And I wasn't alone. There was someone else there...someone I will not name because I'm not sure if he wants to be revealed or anything just yet and I respect him too much to do so," Cyrus added, earning scowls from a certain demigoddess and looks of intrigue from all others.

"I will say though, that he had divine nature to him. He offered me a choice. Either pass on to Heaven...or be resurrected in a different world, to serve as his 'emissary'." He explained, doing air quotes on the last part.

Percy tilted his head at that. That was...rather generous...most of the Olympians would never do something like that for such a tiny request.

"I chose to be resurrected, and to do that, my mysteriously divine benefactor gave me his body parts." Everyone's eyes widened in surprise at that. Here, Cyrus pulled his coat open a bit further, baring his chest.

On his chest over his heart, was the word 'Conscience' written in a strange S-shape(2). "Specifically, he gave me his Heart and his Rib-Cage to replace what I'd lost."

Grover nodded as it clicked together in his head "So that's what you meant by not a demigod in the conventional sense...you're a demigod because you have body parts from a divine being!"

Cyrus nodded. "And in doing so, he gave me my Stand." He summoned D4C to his side as he continued, turning to Thalia. "You asked me in New Mexico about how to get a Stand, and I responded that you either are born with one, or you're granted one. I was granted one by my...mysterious benefactor."

Thalia's eyes widened in surprise as she glanced up at D4C as it hovered next to Cyrus. "He gifted me D4C along with my Last Word before resurrecting me in San Francisco in this world. A few weeks later, I ended up meeting Annie."

The punk girl mulled over the information, which explained some of her questions...but not the big ones. It still didn't explain Risotto and Anette, among other things. "Okay...but that doesn't explain everything else. What's Passione supposed to be? The Old Blood? And who are these two, really?" She asked in rapid-fire, pointing at the two in question on the last question.

Cyrus smirked a little at her questioning, dismissing D4C as she did so. "Well, my mysterious benefactor sometimes opts to give me advice here and there in the form of dreams and little nudges here and there...one example was before we left the Camp and another time when Grover's best pig friend showed up."

Risotto and Anette raised an eyebrow at that, exchanging glances. Pig friend?

Scratching absently at his stubbled chin, Cyrus continued with his tale. "So, about two years ago, he contacted me again. By now, I'd already figured out how to use D4C enough to fight. I knew that there were other Stand Users in the world, but I was always surprised as to why I never ran into any. Then he contacted me and pointed me to Italy."

The two adults faces darkened a little, while the rest looked on in confusion. Percy spoke first. "Why Italy specifically?"

Cyrus grimaced a little as his features took on a more serious look. "I asked the same question...until I did some digging. In Italy, government isn't exactly like how it is here in the States...in Italy, the reigning Mafia command everything. Imagine my surprise when I find out that a number of bizarre occurrences are going on in Italy."

"Stand Users attract other Stand Users, and all of them were being funneled into Italy. I took the hint and hitched a ride on a plane, courtesy of my divine benefactor, to Naples...and well, lets just say, my suspicions were confirmed."

The teen adjusted in his chair. "The Mafia organization was called Passione, and they had control over at least half of Italy. Naples, Rome, Venice...those cities were theirs with Naples being their base from what I could tell. And judging by the strangeness, and the feeling I was getting...the Gravity there...I had a hunch that was confirmed the second I stepped foot on Naples's soil. Passione was a gang of Stand Users."

By now, everyone was completely entranced in the tale that Cyrus was weaving. "And of course, Passione had their forms of...illicit revenues and dealings. Gambling, assassinations," here Risotto shifted in his stance, "et cetera."

Grover started to pale while the rest looked uncomfortable. Monsters and Gods were already a handful. But hardened criminals that were also Stand Users?

No thanks.

"But most sickening of them all, was their drug trade in narcotics." Cyrus sneered, his eyes glinting in disgusted anger, along with Risotto and Anette, "They sold to whoever would buy. Kids, pregnant mothers...I was willing to bet if a newborn had the money, those pricks would sell drugs to it too."

Thalia's nostrils flared at that. She hated drugs. Her mother, Beryl Grace, had so many issues with drugs, specifically alcohol, that it had been the main reason she'd ran away. She'd lost Jason because of her, and she was just...horrible. And that had been just with alcohol.(3)

But narcotics were on a different level. If alcohol was like a penny, narcotics were like twenty dollar bills. And these...monsters would sell those to children?! Thunder rumbled in the distance, and she absently noticed that the rest were similarly disgusted, though not to the extent she was.

"It was disgusting...and I knew why I came here. I would bring Passione's drug trade to an end, one way or another." Cyrus growled out, his eyes burning with determination. "However, I knew that I couldn't take Passione down from the outside. So I made a different call..." He wet his lips. "I would tear it all down from the inside."

Percy's eyes widened as the pieces clinked together. "Are you trying to tell us you became a gangster?!"

The rest of the children's jaws dropped as they looked expectantly at Cyrus. Risotto gave a quiet smirk while Anette tried to stifle a giggle at their faces. Cyrus just nodded.

"I started off by killing off as many drug dealers around Naples as I could find. Every day I was in the city, I hunted them down and disposed of them." The teen said grimly as his eyes seemed to glow with fuchsia light. "Eventually, the Boss of Passione had to send an answer to me, and he opted to send his best assassin, Risotto here, to kill me."

Thalia immediately snapped to Risotto, her eyes sparking in surprised anger while everyone else backed away in shock. "You tried to kill him?!" "You're an assassin?!"

The red-eyed assassin just stared at them blankly. "Yes, I am an assassin. As for me trying to kill him, he's fine isn't he?"

"Tell that to the amount of times I had to swap myself out..." Cyrus muttered under his breath, before he cleared his throat. "Anyway, Risotto and I fought, and I came out on top. But I could tell even from how he fought that he was a good person. He didn't want to do this, and even he hated the disgusting drug trade that Passione was engaged in..."

The punk demigoddess softened her glare at Risotto. Maybe he wasn't all bad...but she wouldn't trust him just yet.

"So, we decided to join forces. Risotto led me to his Capo, which by the way is like a step below the Boss's most trusted, and I took his test in order to join Passione. Long story short, I passed, set up said Capo's death in his cell, and began working in Risotto's team, La Squadra Esecuzioni."

Zoe narrowed her eyes for a moment. She knew some Italian from her travels with her goddess..."Wait a moment...Esecuzioni...thou were an executioner?!"

Cyrus shifted in his chair a bit. "I guess the proper term would be assassin or hitman...but yeah."

Everyone backed away a little bit at that, and even Percy, who had grown to like Cyrus some more, seemed hesitant to be that close to him. Only Thalia didn't seem to want to move, though that might have been because of the sheer surprise.

Risotto and Anette frowned deeply at their actions. They were kids, which explained their concerns...but Cyrus was a good person and he'd been through a lot with them already. They wouldn't turn their backs on him, right?

"Just to be clear, la Squadra Esecuzioni was only meant for the best of Passione's assassins. He still had others, but we were the best and we only took contracts that we wanted, and the ones we wanted were for the scum of the world. Rival druglords, serial killers and the like. And Cyrus never completed any contracts when he was under my command." Risotto clarified. (4) Thalia let go of a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She wouldn't know what to think if it turned out that Cyrus had killed people for money.

"Wait, if you guys only took contracts that you agreed to do, then why did you take the one on Cyrus's head? He said you didn't want to do this." Grover chimed in with his question.

An aggrieved expression ghosted over Risotto's face before it returned to its normally serious default. "I...the Boss of Passione commanded it directly, and I was in no position to defy him..."

Cyrus shot him an understanding look before clearing his throat. "Anyway, back to the story. With the Capo that had tested me now dead, Risotto was the next person in line to become Capo, which, after an...irritating setback, we secured his position." He winced a little as he cracked his neck. Zucchero and Sale were not pleasant in life, and they weren't in death either. "Once I started working with la Squadra for about a week, we got a contract. A direct order from the Boss. It was for a woman. One that had recently moved to Sardinia, Italy after her mother had unexpectedly passed away."

Ignoring the flinch from a certain woman, Cyrus kept going. "Supposedly, this was meant to be the leader of an opposing party to Passione that the Boss wanted to assassinate...so imagine our surprise when we found out it was the Boss's illegitimate adult daughter."

Thalia's eyes widened in horror along with the rest of the demigods. "H-he called a hit on his own daughter!" Cyrus nodded grimly, even as out of the corner of his eye, Risotto took hold of Anette's hand.

"He had wanted us to inadvertently take care of his loose end, because she was his daughter, his only blood relation. If people knew he had a living daughter, they would be able to track him down and reveal his true identity, putting his own position as leader of Passione at risk...he just wanted to cover his own ass." The wielder of D4C spat in disgust.

All demigods were technically illegitimate...which made this sin immensely revolting to the quest members. Granted, some of the Olympians could get...unpleasant...with their own relatives (Thalia was inwardly scowling at Hera), but to do that to your own child?!

"We caught on fast, and once we did, we did something different. We took her in, and gave her a choice. We could send her away, far from the Boss's reach...or she could join us in overthrowing him." Cyrus took a breath here.

"The Boss did not take kindly to our outright betrayal. He sent wave after wave of Stand Users after our group as we went looking for his identity, trying to get us killed..." Even now, faces of enemies flashed through his mind.

A man with green hair and cruelty etched into his very being.

The earlier man's twisted lapdog.

A man wearing a more old fashioned purple outfit, with a bolero hat and a gun.

A teenager with a frail body, covered in scars but still grinning wildly. (5)

He shook himself out of it and forced himself to continue. "Every Stand User he sent though failed," he said with a small smirk, "After all, you can't assassinate a team of assassins so easily."

"Eventually though...the Boss had enough. He decided to confront us face to face, and eliminate us all."

Everyone gulped at that, and leaned in, eager to hear the story. "He revealed himself to us in Rome, near the Colosseum. He claimed that, now that we'd seen him, we had to be destroyed. Obliterated so that his rule over Passione would forever be undisputed. Needless to say, we took exception to that."

"He had a Stand of course, named Judicator," at the name, Anette seemed to shudder slightly, holding her arms, while Risotto's default stoic turned grim.

Even now, Cyrus could still see the Stand's terrifying visage in his mind.

It had been massive, towering at least seven feet tall, and cloaked in ragged purple robes that resembled royalty. It worn armor black as night from head to toe like Sauron's riders from Lord of the Rings, with only the chest cavity bare, which was emaciated along with the rest of its body. Where its heart should have been, was a dark black hole that would constantly leak shadowy smoke that corrupted and twisted the souls of the departed within the area. It wore no helm, instead bearing what looked like a mitre atop its head. As for its head and face, it had wispy white hair that almost seemed to be made of light, with a sickly sunken face, like a corpse that was only beginning to decay. Its eyes burned with red-purple malice.

Even in his memory, Cyrus gritted his teeth at the horrendous Stand.

"His power was Spiritual Treason; he had dominion over souls and spirits. Human, animal, it didn't matter. He could use them however he wished to attack us, and in a massive and old city like Rome, he had no shortage of armies to challenge us with. And if he managed to touch our Stands with his own stand's palms...he could take command of them, and use them against us."

Color drained from Thalia's face. That...that was terrifying.

Percy's eyes widened while next to him, Grover dropped his reed pipes.

"He managed to incapacitate a lot of of us in a short period with that, because their Stands just couldn't hold up in terms of fighting spirits, eventually only me and two others were standing. By then I'd figured out his weakness. While his powers were strong in terms of using the souls, the Stand itself was quite fragile. Powerful in terms of striking, but fragile."

Cyrus gave a savage grin as his eyes flashed. "I got a few good licks in on him when I figured out how to get in close..." His grin then faltered. "But I messed up. I underestimated how desperate the Boss had gotten."

"How desperate?" Phoebe asked, tilting her head a little in confusion.

"The Boss was on the ropes. No one had ever dared to challenge him for Passione until me, so he went with a last resort option. He activated the secondary power of his Stand...Let There Be Nothing."

"Well that sounds just great..." Everyone thought inwardly as Cyrus gritted his teeth at the memory. That Stand was terrifying, the greatest battle Cyrus had ever fought in...and with Let There Be Nothing, the Boss had nearly killed all of them, as it had empowered his Stand to absurd levels of strength. "I was the only one who could fight him on equal footing...it came down to one move. And I was just one second faster." He finished, clenching a fist as D4C's own fist shadowed over it. (6)

"Y-you killed him?" Thalia asked hesitantly. He simply nodded in response, not meeting her eyes.

Everything was quiet for a moment. Cyrus clenched and unclenched his fist for a moment as he released D4C. "With the Boss dead, there was a Power Vacuum in Passione. If no one took command, the entire organization would crumble into chaos, with Italy devolving along with it. Someone had to take his place."

Phoebe's eyes bulged as it all clicked for her. "No...no way."

Zoe gave her a confused glance along with everyone else, while Risotto and Anette smiled. "What is it Phoebe?"

"H-he's the one who took charge! Brandon called him the Boss of Passione!" The other hunter exclaimed in shock.

Thalia's breath caught in her throat while everyone else's jaws went slack.

Cyrus nodded. "I said I would tear down Passione's drug trade from the inside...what better way than to become the Boss?"

The quest-goers' jaws were somewhere on the desert ground by now as Cyrus continued. "I became the Boss of Passione, with Risotto remaining as a Capo, and another becoming my Consigliere. The rest would become my Squadra Speciale (7), my Personal Guard as it were. After that of course, I spent two years in Europe working with Passione, expanding it across Europe and changing it from a crueler organization into something different."

Silence. No one said a word as they struggled to process the information.

"So..." Grover began slowly. "Let's...let's get this straight. In the past two years, after remaining incognito from the Gods, you traveled to Europe...joined the Italian Mafia, overthrew the Italian Mafia, and now you're the undisputed underworld authority in Europe?"

Cyrus shifted uncomfortably. "Erm...yeah, that's about right...any questions..?"

"How long did this take exactly? For you to take command..?" Percy blurted out.

"Uh..." Cyrus paused, wrinkling his nose as he thought it over. "Maybe like...five days?"

"YOU OVERTHREW A MAFIA BOSS IN FIVE DAYS?!" (8)

The Boss of Passione winced at the sudden volume, but nodded, leaving Percy and Grover flapping their mouths with no noise coming out.

Zoe however, had recovered from her shock, and asked, "What does all this have to do with this...Old Blood?" Cyrus's expression soured.

"Immediately when I became leader of Passione, I dismantled the drug trade," here his eyes flashed in displeasure. "And of course...some people within the organization disliked that and tried to challenge me for Passione's leadership.,,I took exception to that. When they didn't get their way, a portion of them broke away from the Organization, calling themselves 'the Old Blood,' which is who you guys have been hearing about regarding me. Their goal is to take command of Passione once again and rule undisputed over Europe."

"And now...they've come here, to the U.S. and made an alliance with the Titans." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And because you're allied with me, they might come after you guys..."

Thalia, who had been the only one of the quest members who was standing, started pacing back and forth anxiously. "This...this is bigger than I thought in terms of secrets..."

The boy she liked...was the leader of the Mafia, that ruled over Italy and held dominion over much of Europe? That was...insane...

But at the same time, she could see it.

Cyrus was a leader, and he would never stand idly by when Evil marched.

She stopped, turning to him. "Why didn't you tell us until now?"

He looked away, his eyes falling on the destroyed corpse of Brandon Blackmore that had been put out of sight, especially from Rina. "I...I was..."

Before she realized what she was doing, she had knelt down in front of his chair, making him look her in the eyes. "Why didn't you say anything about all this?"

Cyrus bit his lip. "I was...afraid."

Thalia tilted her head in confusion along with everyone else, while Cyrus let out a laugh without any humor coloring it. "I'm...not the best person in the world Thalia. To become Passione's leader and do all this...I had to kill. I killed people. They were evil, yes...but I still killed, and I wasn't sure you guys would be able to trust me if I told you that..." He looked her in the eye, and her heart softened.

He looked so weary, his green-pink eyes torn with guilt. "You all aren't like me. You don't have that Will...the dark determination to do what I've done. And I was afraid I would shatter your bonds with me...who would want to associate with a killer?"

"Oh Cyrus..." She didn't really know what to say. Noticing the lack of response from everyone, especially Thalia, his head drooped. "I understand if none of you wish to associate with me after this quest is over. You all must think I'm a monster."

A patter of feet preceded a hug from two small arms. Cyrus blinked as he realized it was Rina Blackmore. She pulled away a little, smiling to him. "You're not a monster sir! You're a hero, you saved all those people from the bad guys that were like...like my dad! You're a good person. You could've hurt me, but you didn't...you saved me instead."

Cyrus felt his heart ache a little at the child's words. He patted Rina's back gently. She let go, still smiling at him, as Thalia stood before him. He held his breath as she leaned down a little.

"...you're an idiot."

"...eh?"

Bonk!

"Ow!" Cyrus held the top of his head as she whacked him with a fist. "What was that for?!"

"Come on Cy, we're demigods, we fight monsters on the daily! Granted, we don't know much in terms of the more...human monsters, but still! You're definitely not one of them, so quit thinking we're gonna abandon you!" She glared down at him.

"She's right, you've saved our butts so many times already! So we're not going to turn our backs on you just like that." Grover said with a grin, "Besides! You being a Mafia Don? That's actually so cool!"

Percy smirked at him. "Not gonna lie, what he said...you're not a bad person Cyrus...a jerk, yes, but not a bad person."

The two hunters regarded their Stand-using quest member. Zoe sighed. "I am going to regret saying this outright...but thou art not a monster. I have hunted many monsters alongside Milady. Thou art not one of them."

Phoebe nodded as she relaxed a bit. "She's right. I've hunted alongside Lady Artemis for centuries, seeing the evils of man. And I...as much as it hurts me to say this, you are one of the few good men in the world."

Cyrus looked at all of them slowly, his mouth open in surprise. He...he wasn't expecting that. His shocked expression slowly turned into a smile. "Thank you guys...you have no idea how much this means to me."

Meanwhile, Risotto and Anette had smiles on their faces, the former's being much more reserved, but the latter's being wide and happy. "You've made good friends, little brother."

Whack!

Cyrus winced again as Thalia hit him on the head again, glaring up at her even though it hadn't been a very hard hit. "What is it with you and hitting me woman?!"

"That was for holding off on all that important information for so long!" She said with a glare. Cyrus grumbled quietly to himself, before he felt a quick peck on his lips.

His eyes went wide as he touched his lips, gawking up at her as she blushed faintly. "And that is for finally trusting me with all of this...thank you." She murmured quietly to him.

The teen Stand User gaped at her in surprise, before his lips curled into a smile that she mirrored.

At least until they both went beet-red after realizing they still had an audience. Zoe and Phoebe had gagged and rolled their eyes respectively, while Percy smirked at the two. Grover had bleated out a short laugh, only to be on the receiving end of Thalia's embarrassed rage. Rina was giggling to herself, while Risotto shook his head with a small smile on his face and Anette laughed to herself, leaning against Risotto's side.

Cyrus gave a chuckle as he looked up at the now cloudless sky.

"What do you know...the Saint was right."

Luke scowled as he stood alongside the General. They were currently standing in a dark room in front of a long table. Or rather, he was standing.

The General sat in a throne-like chair at one end of the table, while on the other end, sat a man cloaked in darkness in another throne-like chair.

The treacherous son of Hermes had never seen his face...but he knew already that this man was not to be trifled with.

He was tall, wore a dark red suit, and had rich blonde hair, much unlike Luke's sandier locks. Red eyes gleamed in the darkness as a hand with unnervingly long nails seemed to be toying with a large nail tipped with some kind of red-gold coloration.

"For what purpose have you all come here..?"

A silky male voice seemed to spill out into the air of the room, rich with power and charm. Luke didn't dare to speak out of turn.

The General replied in his deep voice. "We are here to ensure our deal is upheld. You have promised to provide us Stand Users to take down our mutual enemy. They have failed thus far."

"So it appears, but to my knowledge, the Blackmores have not failed yet. And if it turns out that they have, it is of no consequence...I have other agents in place."

Luke growled, "You seem to be underestimating them. That's twice we've sent Stand Users after them, and twice they've failed! I'm starting to doubt the competence of your organization!"

The air turned cold as the man slowly swiveled his head to pin Luke in place with blood-red orbs. "I do not recall asking for the opinion of a pathetic little ferret." The silky voice from before now had a more biting undertone that made the Castellan's blood flow feel like it had slowed to a crawl inside his veins. "You may be Kronos's little lapdog, but even he knows not to trifle with me."

The boy swallowed his words as he shivered in place. The General simply seemed amused, perhaps even impressed by the casual show of strength. "You impress me yet again, 'Wolf King'. Your power and presence are quite formidable..."

Like quicksilver, the man's mood seemed to change to something more genial, "Why thank you. But I digress. I have a number of agents in place along their path...they will be hard pressed to deal with what I have in store for them..."

AN: Phew, there we go.

I'll be honest, this is somewhat of an exposition dump chapter, but then again, Cyrus is trying to tell the story of how he became the Boss, while still leaving out a few bits and pieces, specifically regarding the Saint.

At some point I might go and make a separate story detailing Cyrus's rise to power in Passione...but for now, this story comes first haha.

Notes:

(1) I don't know why, but the idea of Risotto using Metallica to remove bloodstains is hilarious to me, considering what he usually does with his Stand.

(2) Valentine obtained the same mark on his chest after receiving the Heart of the Saint.

(3) Considering how Thalia's issues began with her mother and her crippling alcoholism, I would assume that drugs would not be something she would like, much less partake in.

(4) I refuse to believe that the Boss of Passione would have only ONE squad of assassins at his beck and call. He would probably have a few mediocre ones, or ones that are...not so right in the head, with la Squadra Esecuzioni being the best of the best. And because they're the best, they would be allowed to choose which contracts they would want to take. The only reason Risotto took the one for Cyrus after Cyrus started killing off drug dealers is because he was already on thin ice with the Boss after Sorbet and Gelato tried to uncover his identity.

(5) I wonder, can you all figure out which Stand User is which? I'm sure the first two will be easy to figure out...but what about the last two?

(6) So, Judicator. I'll put a section for its ability and such below, but Cyrus hasn't gone in depth because it (obviously) still scares him, even in death. As for the Stand itself, the Ability Names come from a song they made called Spiritual Treason as well as the album they made called "Let There Be Nothing"

(7) This is technically meant to be Unita Speciale, but I doubt they would ever want to drop the title of "La Squadra."

(8) Vento Aureo, if anyone is unaware, takes place in only 5 days...Giorno went from a student...to a Mafia Boss...FIVE DAYS. That boggled my mind when I realized that.

Judicator

Destructive Power: ?

Speed: ?

Range: ?

Stamina: ?

Precision: ?

Developmental Potential: ?

Ability:

Spiritual Treason- Can take command of any lost spirits and souls in the vicinity, be they human or animal and can use them as an army force to overwhelm enemies. Can also hijack enemy Stands via physical contact with its palms and use them against enemies.

Let There Be Nothing- Crushes all souls and spirits in its possession, as well as draining the Stands under its hold of their strength in order to add it to Judicator's own strength. This empowers Judicator to frightening levels of strength, but leaves it as a glass cannon even more so.

And that's that!

As a side note, feel free to leave ideas for enemy Stand Users in the reviews that our lovely protagonists can face off against! Currently I already have a few older faces from the source material that I plan to bring in, but maybe some viewer ideas can come up with a good one for me to use!

Hopefully you guys enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed making/struggling with it.

Remember to leave solid reviews if you would be so kind. The criticism and feedback sustain my mind.

Cheers!

Beowulf