Content Warning: The following chapter includes mentions of sexual trauma from childhood and adulthood. It is never explicitly shown or referred to in detail, but serves as an important part of a character's development. If you are sensitive to this topic, I recommend skipping the chapter, or having someone you trust read it first to highlight the sensitive material. If you choose to skip the chapter, please refer to the author's notes at the bottom for a synopsis of every important event, which will be trigger-free. Thank you for reading.

Hakone, Japan, 1964. The police station was bustling more than usual on that fateful night. Sirens blared, lights flashed and officers bolted throughout the halls as they struggled to handle the gruesome situation. Murder wasn't unheard-of in the city of Hakone, but a crime as grim as this would make national news the next morning. As chaos filled the station, a single child sat in a black desk chair borrowed from an officer's desk. The child was ten years old, standing at only 4'3 with a head of shoulder-length black hair. There was nothing noteworthy about her. Sure, her grades were above average, but that wasn't very surprising when she came from a family of geniuses. No… She was one of millions until that night. The next day her name would be plastered on every newspaper in Japan. Women would weep for her, men would shake their heads and let out a silent curse at the cruelty of the world. Life would never be the same.

A few officers spoke across the office. They likely believed themselves to be out of the child's earshot.

"Just look at her…" A man shook his head. "Such a beautiful little girl, and she's ruined."

She didn't flinch.

"What'd you expect? She watched her family die tonight. The only reason she's alive is that the bastards were too busy 'having fun' with her to listen for the police."

Blood-curdling screams blared endlessly throughout her mind. The child didn't accept who those screams belonged to. Even though she knew them to be her own, her mind refused to process the trauma. Those screams were harrowing. They weren't noises one could replicate on a stage. No… Whoever made such ghastly noises could never live to tell the tale. She knew those were the desperate wails of dead meat. They were the sounds a child released after witnessing her parents and siblings being savagely killed before her eyes. The muffled, desperate shrieks were the result of horrible things a child should never endure. The things they did to her...

On the outside, she appeared to be calm. The girl sat up perfectly with her hands folded in her lap. Her eyes were focused directly forward, though she wasn't looking at anything in particular. She was empty… It's like the officer said, she was broken.

"Does she have any other family?"

"They're still digging for next of kin. She has an elderly aunt in Tokyo. Worse comes to worst, she can go there."

"One of us needs to get a statement from her." An officer muttered with a pale grimace.

"You've gotta be kidding me. How're we supposed to do that? She hasn't made a single expression in hours. The girl is clearly in shock." Another man argued.

"Mori, take care of it. You can bring her into interrogation room three. Maeda, get some candy, anything to make her feel better." An older gentleman ordered.

Officer Mori cursed himself before breaking away from the group and approaching the petite girl. He bent down with a notepad and the friendliest smile he could muster.

"Excuse me? I'd like to ask you just a few questions. Would you please come with me?" He offered her a hand.

The child stared down at the tiled floor for a moment. She was motionless.

Mori frowned, shifting on his heels. "We can start with something simple. Can we verify your name?"

She hugged her stomach tightly as a scowl appeared on her soft pale face. After a pause, the girl spoke.

"Tsuru Nishioka."

Tokyo, Japan, 1966. A now-twelve-year-old Tsuru was living with her elderly aunt Hanako above a lovely flower shop. She was kneeling down on the balcony of their apartment with her elbows propped against her knees. A small frog was resting on the ground by the railing. She thought it was a frog, though it could also be a toad. She needed to do more research on her local wildlife.

Tsuru did not speak. That wasn't her strong suit. She watched and listened, like always. The frog seemed to be staring at her just as curiously. They shared a moment. The child extended a pale hand in an attempt to pick the frog up. The poor thing became frightened and jumped back away from her hand. This sent it soaring off the balcony and toward the cruel asphalt below. Seconds later, a faint "thud" could be heard in the distance. Tsuru peered over the edge with a blank expression. She didn't cry like most girls her age; she only stared.

A gray-haired woman wobbled down the same sidewalk with a cane in one hand and a basket in the other. She glanced curiously at the deceased frog before lifting her head up to the balcony. Tsuru met her eyes and lifted up a hand to wave.

"Tsuru, dear! Perfect! Come down to the shop, honey. We have a delivery! It's a last-minute anniversary. He's toast." She laughed with delight.

The little girl walked downstairs and entered the flower shop through the backdoor. She slipped her pretty floral apron on and then got the door for Hanako. The woman quickly fumbled a bouquet of flowers together before shoving it into Tsuru's hands. She scribbled a few things down on a card before slipping it into the flowers.

"Thank you, sweetheart. This goes to the Miura house. The address is on the card. It shouldn't take you long. Dinner will be ready when you get back."

Hanako brought Tsuru in for a brief hug before giving the girl a gentle push toward the door. The child nodded and rushed outside. She walked down the sidewalk and gazed up at the sky. It would be dark soon. Her shoes pattered against the concrete as she made her way down the block. An older man was resting on his porch when he noticed her coming by.

"Hello there, Flower Child! Who's the lucky man?" He teased.

"These are for a man who forgot his anniversary." She explained.

This caused the man to playfully wince. "Oh lord. You'd better slip some chocolates in there too then!"

The child smiled politely and continued down the road. After another few blocks she checked the card to make sure she was heading the right way. The sun was setting over the horizon. It was already below most of the taller buildings that loomed over the small girl. She still caught glimpses of it through windows and alleyways, but darkness would surely come soon. Tsuru walked a little faster. The only sound on the silent block was her shoes against the concrete.

Tsuru felt her back running colder as the road grew darker at a startling rate. The sun shouldn't set so quickly. She'd never seen it happen like that. Within moments the city was dark. She clutched the bouquet against her chest and took a few deep breaths as the sky settled in darkness. Then, as if beckoned by a siren's call, Tsuru turned her head toward the alley beside her. It was completely engulfed in darkness. Her eyes refused to believe just how black the void appeared. Darkness was a lack of detail, an illusion. There was always something within it. The human eye could not gather information without a certain level of light. This was different. Tsuru could feel it within her heart. That alley was empty.

A subtle sound caught her attention. She shot her head down to see what it was. The child was only left with more questions when she witnessed the source of the noises. Her flowers were dying! As each pedal wilted it fell onto the concrete below. The only reason Tsuru noticed such a tiny noise was because of her heightened anxiety. What was causing the flowers to die? Soon the bouquet fell from her hands. Her lip trembled as she stared into the abyss ahead.

Screaming. Wild, desperate screaming suddenly burst from the dark alley. Tsuru shrieked in shock. She covered her mouth with a hand and stepped away slowly. Those screams were terrifying. She listened as something wailed helplessly mere meters before her.

"MOM! DAD! NO! No! Let go of me! Stop it! Let me go! Mom, please get up! Please!"

Tsuru felt her heart pounding as those words filled the empty street. She recognized those cries. It took her a moment to remember, but she could never truly forget. Those were her cries for help. They were the sounds she made while those men did horrible things to her. What was happening? Why was she hearing these horrible memories in such an odd place? Her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She felt her left eye twitching erratically. It wouldn't stop. The entire left side of her face was convulsing and tweaking as she stared into the blackness.

A figure began to take form in the shadows. Despite being purely black itself, Tsuru could somehow see it independently from the backdrop. The being seemed to defy logic. It was darker than dark. It stood out like a silhouette against an already impossibly black void.

The being had unsettling anatomy. It appeared to be around six feet tall, though its arms were nearly dragging against the concrete. Its legs were bent unnaturally, causing it to slouch. Despite this, its head was facing directly forward. It was like how an owl's head could remain steady no matter how its body twisted or turned.

It started to walk toward Tsuru through the darkness. She found herself unable to move. Had she been petrified by absolute terror? No… It seemed like this was the being's doing. It didn't want her to move. It stepped one foot out of the alley, gripping the building beside it with its sickly long fingers. Even though it was exiting the darkness, the being maintained its absolute emptiness. Tsuru couldn't make out even a single detail. She realized that it wasn't the being she was looking at. She was seeing everything else! It's as if the space occupied by the creature ceased to exist, and all Tsuru could see was the outline surrounding it.

The screams grew louder. By that point, she could deduce that they were coming from the creature itself, not the alley. What was this thing doing with her voice? As it drew closer Tsuru could feel the trauma from that night rising in her chest. Tears slowly trailed down her cheeks as the despair returned to her. She choked on her emotions, unable to protect herself from this beast.

The creature extended its long hand toward Tsuru. She saw as it grew larger the closer it got. By that point, the hand would be large enough to completely engulf her head. She closed her eyes, unable to look as her end approached. She deserved this… After years of trying to get better, she knew that the officer's words were true. She'd been ruined that night. Those men took a perfectly fine girl and ruined her. Nothing good could come from such a traumatic past. She'd be wise to let this monster take her away to whatever awaited her on the other side. Life was just a conveyor belt bringing everyone slowly towards hell. She'd experienced it sooner than most. Tsuru was ready to embrace it…

"Magician's Red!"

The piercing screech of a large bird cut through the deafening silence of the alley. Tsuru's eyes shot open and saw a blinding orange light bursting its way out of the darkness. The void-being threw its arms up to defend itself, but it was no use. The flames blew it away without a moment's remorse. Her eyes took a moment to adjust after such an overwhelming display. The creature's spell wore off and Tsuru found herself stumbling onto the ground. She could hear her screams fading into obscurity once again. Soon all that remained was the high pitched whine of her ears. She was dizzy.

The stomping of a proud man's footsteps brought her back to reality. Before she could fully gather herself a man yanked her up to her feet. He was enormous. Tsuru had to tilt her head up to see his face. He was foreign. She couldn't tell where he was from by the clothing, but he had dark skin and a big smile.

"Are you alright?" The man kept a hand on Tsuru's shoulder.

She nodded weakly. "W-What's going on?"

He let out a snicker and then gestured to his face with his thumb. "I'm Aharon Avdol, a shaman from Egypt. I've been traveling the Earth to gather knowledge about each culture's so-called 'evil spirits.' This here is my grandson, Muhammad."

Tsuru looked past the older man and saw a young boy meekly emerging from the alley. He seemed to be about seven years old. What were two tourists from Egypt doing in her neighborhood at such an hour? She had so many questions but no way to articulate them.

"You're probably confused. I can't imagine a little girl that wouldn't be confused after gazing into a hellmouth." Aharon rubbed his chin.

"H-Hellmouth?" Tsuru questioned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think the pressing question is what you've experienced to summon such a thing. You're about ten, I'd say. Have you endured something horrific?" The shaman knelt down so they'd be at eye-level. "You can be honest with me."

Tsuru bit her lip and looked away. "I…" Words failed her for a moment. "I watched my family die… Then the killers did bad things to me until the police showed up."

The cheerful grandfather's face sank after that. He tried to keep his spirits up, but the images Tsuru painted with her words were too much for him to take. He quickly got a grip and put on a fake smile. "I see… Would you like me to explain hellmouths?"

The girl nodded.

"This alley was the site of a violent crime!" He shouted, standing and pointing a finger toward it. "With the potency of that shade, I'd wager the crime was no more than three days ago."

"What's that got to do with me?" Tsuru muttered. "I didn't do anything."

"Not at all. It's difficult to explain, but I'll do my best. You see, when an act of pure, heartless violence takes place it stains the area around it with a dark energy. This energy is invisible to the human eye, but it's very real. Many animals can sense it. Dogs, cats, even racoons can identify these tainted regions! When the deed was particularly heinous it can cause an anomaly called a 'hellmouth.' Think of it like a black hole collapsing into itself; sucking in all light and matter within a certain radius before closing up. Except it's not gathering light. A hellmouth gathers as much negative energy as it possibly can before destroying itself. The concentration becomes too much for the land to bear and the Earth quite literally rejects the energy. At least that's what my fellow shamans theorize."

Tsuru was struggling to keep up with the explanation. "Wait… It sucks in negative energy? That means…"

"Hellmouths normally go unnoticed. A particularly strong psychic might feel a little nauseous when one is near, but that's really the extent of it. The only time a human can truly experience the horror of a hellmouth is when it reaches out to their own negative energy. If someone has enough trauma to entice the hellmouth it will attempt to absorb them as well. I've never seen it happen, though. You're the first modern instance of this I've ever heard of."

The child stared down at her shoes. "You're telling me that I'm a negative source of energy? The Earth wants to get rid of me along with crime scenes and murderers?"

Aharon shook his head. "Honey, no. That's not what this means. You've experienced something truly awful. No child should have to carry that on their shoulders. The hellmouth was attracted to your negative energy, but that doesn't mean you're only negative. The strongest blades are forged in the hottest flames. Look at your past like volcanic magma forging your spirit into the young woman standing before me."

Tsuru lifted her eyes, struggling to hold back tears. She glanced over at Muhammad as the child nervously lingered behind a trashcan.

"Take my Muhammad for example. He lost both of his parents two years ago. That kind of loss changes a person, doesn't it? It wasn't for nothing, though. His trauma awakened his latent spiritual abilities. He used that very ability to scare off the hellmouth and save your life."

The young boy sheepishly approached his grandfather and nodded his head. "Grandpa calls it Magician's Red… It's because I drew The Magician from his tarot cards. I needed to tap into my full potential and grow stronger to help with his travel. He was right about spirits being forged in the hottest flames. Now I can create flames hotter than anything in the world. I burned that hellmouth away to protect you."

Tsuru was fascinated by the boy's stature. He couldn't seem to look her in the eye. Despite that, he'd mustered up the gusto to attack such a terrifying force of nature. And for what, a total stranger? She didn't understand much of what was going on, but she knew these men had a destiny far grander than she'd ever experience. It was her turn to avert her eyes; not because of nerves, but for feelings of inadequacy.

Aharon noticed this and drew closer. He firmly slapped one hand onto the girl's shoulder and lifted her chin with the other.

"Keep your chin up, child. The negative energy within you can't last forever. Just like the Earth cleanses itself with the hellmouth, you too will experience relief in due time. You just have to believe. I know it to be true."

The girl nodded her head. She didn't believe him, of course. Adults always told lies of a similar nature. They told her the screaming would eventually quiet down. They told her that she'd be able to sleep through the night eventually. They told her she was safe. None of the adults in her life warned her about hellmouths. What could they possibly know? If it weren't for the altruism of these strangers Tsuru would have been absorbed by some horrific apparition.

"What am I supposed to do with myself now?" She whispered with watery eyes.

Aharon considered this. He rubbed his chin and peered into her eyes. "I think you should go home. Get some sleep, okay? This will all seem like a bad dream in the morning."

Tsuru stumbled back and took one last look at the Egyptians. She bit her lip as the terror from before lingered in her subconscious. Without another word, she turned and walked back toward the flower shop. She'd have to make up some lie about the bouquet getting ruined. It didn't really matter anyway. She was completely checked out. Her aunt would have to understand. There was no way Tsuru was going outside again that evening.

Weeks later, Tsuru was working the flower shop's register while her aunt went out. She had been sitting on her stool for nearly half an hour at that point, yet nobody ever entered the store. Just when she'd decided to hop down and grab something to eat, the bell jingled at the front of the shop. Her ears perked up, but she didn't see anybody. After a few seconds the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the counter. A bright red head of hair emerged from behind a vase of flowers to reveal a tiny foreign girl with her front teeth missing. She beamed at Tsuru with a startling level of innocence. It caused the girl to shrink back nervously.

"Hi!" She spoke in a distinct American accent. "My name's Stella! Stella Artois! What about you?"

Tsuru stared back at the girl for quite some time in utter silence. She seemed hesitant to engage… Ever since the night she lost her family, Tsuru struggled to empathize with other children. She'd lost her innocence, meanwhile this girl was practically dripping with it. Death, blood, gore and hellmouths plagued Tsuru's young mind. What could she possibly say to a girl like Stella? The redhead pursed her lips and rocked back on her heels.

"You're thinking I look funny, aren't you? That's okay! I get that a lot!" Stella giggled.

It was true, though that wasn't really on the forefront of Tsuru's mind. "I guess you look pretty funny." She admitted. "I've never seen red hair in person."

"Really? Never!?" Stella gasped. "That's so crazy! I see it every time I look in the mirror!"

"That's nice." Tsuru looked down at her feet awkwardly. She was rather dismissive, but it wasn't out of malice. She had nothing to say to this foreigner.

"It is!" Stella easily rolled with the punches and kept the one-sided conversation going. "I'm here because I love flowers! Well, not here, here! I'm in Japan because my dad is a businessman! How's my Japanese? My stepmom's from Japan, so she taught me really well!"

This girl was really unloading her life's story onto Tsuru… She cleared her throat and tried to remember everything the foreign girl said.

"Your Japanese is pretty good. Accent's a little thick…" Tsuru shrugged.

"Hey! I'd like to see you do better! Why don't we speak in English instead?" Stella crossed her arms with a pout.

The dark-haired girl looked away rather suddenly. She bit her lip and clenched her fist. "Uhm…" She trailed off. "My Dad was an English teacher. I was raised bilingual."

Stella's green eyes widened in shock. "WOW! Really!? No foolin?" She asked in her native tongue this time.

Tsuru nodded before responding in English. "Yeah, really."

"Oh gosh! You don't even have an accent! I really set myself up for that one! Does your whole family speak English as well as you? Most people around here can't really carry a conversation!"

"They're gone." Tsuru placed both her hands on the counter and cleared her throat. "Are you planning on buying anything, or should I go grab myself a snack?"

"What do you mean 'gone?' When're they getting home?" Stella tilted her head.

A shiver ran down Tsuru's spine. She gripped the counter and felt that darkness in her stomach growing once again. An empty feeling was washing over her, and she resented this foreign girl more and more for bringing these subjects up. She knew how to scare Stella away… The truth would do it easily.

"They're dead." She answered softly. "Killed right in front of me… All of them. My Mom, my Dad, my siblings… It's just me now. Well, me and my aunt."

Stella was silent for a moment. She rolled her foot against the floor a few times, balancing on the other as she repeatedly twisted her ankle around in circles. After thinking it over, she responded.

"I watched my Mom die." She admitted.

Tsuru's eyes darted to meet Stella's. She didn't find this amusing, not in the slightest. The girl was ready to chew her customer out for making such an awful joke, but Stella's eyes convinced her to keep quiet… Neither one of them was lying. Stella really had seen death. It was clear in her eyes. Where did that darkness come from? Tsuru felt her own eyes watering a bit. Moments ago, Stella's eyes were wide and naive. They were so innocent that Tsuru wrote her off as an annoying child. However, they'd grown to be just as sharp and dark as her own in mere seconds. They stared into one another with an understanding, a shared pain.

"Are you going to buy any flowers?" Tsuru finally whispered.

Stella shook her head. "A lady down the street told me that a little girl worked here. I thought maybe you'd wanna play. I should really get back to my stepmom, though." She folded her hands behind her back and awkwardly rocked back onto her heels.

Tsuru nodded with empty eyes. That was probably for the best…

As if sensing the girl's disappointment, Stella spoke right away. "B-But I'm in Hakone all the time! My Dad comes to Japan once a month for business, and sometimes he brings me and my stepmom to visit her family in town! Do you work here all the time?"

The local girl shrugged and gestured around the store. "I live here."

"Great! Then I'll be back in a month! Wait for me, flower child!" She pointed right at Tsuru before running out of the shop.

"Okay…" Tsuru whispered for her own benefit after the little girl was long gone. The bell jingled once again when the door settled closed. Back to being alone. She couldn't help but think about Stella's dark eyes… The visual repeated in her mind for the rest of the day. A girl like her, a peer who understood her pain? She wanted to know how the girl's mom died, but that seemed too personal to ask. She certainly didn't want to recount the details of her family's passing. There was nothing to be done at the moment. She'd have a full month to consider her next conversation with the foreign girl.

As the years went by, Tsuru grew more and more obsessed with seeking out knowledge. She'd spend every spare moment in the library trying to learn more about the world. She opted for all of the advanced classes at her disposal and flourished in each of them. By the time she graduated, Tsuru was the star pupil of all her teachers. Her essays had been reworked into example references for how papers should be written at her school. Her science fair project ended up being purchased by a local company due to its potential. That broken crying child from years ago was impossible to see when looking at Tsuru in her graduation gown. Her aunt was so proud. Tsuru was set to be the first woman from the Nishioka family to attend college. A prestigious university was all but begging to provide the girl with a higher education.

She never forgot the night in the alley. That hellmouth still clawed in the dark corners of the young woman's mind. However, when she pondered on the subject late at night her first instinct was no longer fear. Instead, Tsuru became unnaturally thrilled by the prospect of encountering another anomaly of that nature. Mr. Avdol assured her that the odds of seeing a hellmouth again in her lifetime were next-to-none. Bearing that in mind, she longed to uncover other secrets of her wonderful world.

Tsuru was fascinated most by biology. Life couldn't exist without a proper vessel. From a single-cell organism to the hulking blue whale, all life operated on a set of concrete rules. She loved taking madness and giving it order. A cheap therapist might tell her that had something to do with the untimely dismemberment of her entire family. That might be the case, but Tsuru liked to believe her fixation was genuine.

It was hard to get the image of a young Egyptian boy conjuring powerful flames out of her mind. Her textbooks and well-meaning professors would assure anyone that such a thing was simply impossible. That excited her even further. How could such a beautiful display of strength be unknown to humanity at large? It led her to speculate about what else could be out there. If hellmouths and psychics were real, what was stopping Tsuru from believing in vampires or werewolves? Her hypothesis was simple. There were entities in this world that could only be classified as 'higher beings.' Tsuru didn't know just how broad the scope was, but she theorized that creatures from various legends and mythos could be real.

Many cultures from polar opposite places in the world all came to the same conclusion about vampires, for example. From Albania to Mesopotamia, nearly every group of civilized humans that huddled around a fire and told stories came up with the vampire. Tsuru once speculated that such a creature merely struck a particular nerve in the human psyche. A being that sucked blood to stay powerful forever was unsettling in many ways. All aspects of human fear centered around the fixed point of death. Vampires focused on multiple aspects of that intricate web.

Still, what if that theory was wrong? What if so many cultures came up with vampires because they were real? There was a problem solving principle called "Occam's razor" that Tsuru read about recently. It proposes that "entities should not be multiplied without necessity." In layman's terms, Occam's razor simply means that the explanation with fewest presumptions is typically the truth. Tsuru knew that her wild fantasies about logic-defying species hiding away from human knowledge in the night contradicted Occam's razor. In all actuality, she probably hallucinated that hellmouth. It was likely a manifestation of her childhood trauma. Despite the logical side of her brain insisting this was the case, Tsuru couldn't shake the feeling that the world held a dark secret.

Wistful fantasies and daring dreams aside, Tsuru had a simple wish. It was the core motivator of her education. She wanted to learn everything. She wanted to know all that a woman could know in one lifetime. Human beings only have one chance to live a satisfactory life! Her siblings were cut short by chaotic cruelty. Tsuru was still there. Her actions respected the memory of her fallen family each and every day. She would live. Until the day Tsuru died she would not slow down for even a moment. She wanted it all. Every single day excited her to no end. She was a young volcano ready to burst.

Tsuru wanted to see the world.

"Egypt?" Stella asked incredulously as they sat in Tsuru's humble apartment. The women were enjoying a bottle of wine to celebrate Tsuru's PhD in biology. "What the hell is in Egypt?"

Tsuru swished her glass around in circles as she considered the question. Of course, the answer was simple: The Avdols were in Egypt! She couldn't just come out and say it, though. Stella was a dear friend, quite possibly the best friend Tsuru had in the world. Their little get-togethers every month were basically the extent of Tsuru's social interactions. She knew how to engage in pleasantries with professors and peers, but Stella was the only person Tsuru actually craved interaction with.

"You've never wanted to see the pyramids?" She raised a brow.

"You know I've seen them! I'm very worldly, thank you very much." Stella turned her nose playfully.

"I just want to travel a bit before buckling down and settling as a scientist somewhere. I'll have to start at the bottom… We both know my options are pretty limited. Being a woman isn't exactly helpful in the field." Tsuru explained.

"Tsuru, you are thirty-three years old! When are you going to stop talking about settling down and actually do it?" Stella laughed.

"It's 1987, dear. Who says a woman ever has to settle down?" Tsuru crossed one leg over the other and sipped her wine. "All a man can do is weigh me down and give me stretch marks. Not interested. If I ever have a child, I'm growing her in a tube!"

That resulted in boisterous laughter from the red head. Stella threw her head back in delight as she balanced the swaying red wine in her glass. "If anyone could, it'd be you! It's hard to imagine a little Tsuru running around and causing trouble. You might consider putting a bell around its neck!"

Tsuru sipped her wine and allowed her head to fall back with a sigh. "I don't know, Stella. Sometimes I wonder if it's right, bringing a child into this world? Besides, I'm way too self-absorbed to raise a baby."

"I agree. You'd be a terrible mom." Stella shrugged. "I love you, but it's true. I think you should take some time to explore your options before 'settling down' in any way. You're beautiful, brilliant and young! The world's your oyster!"

The wine spun around in Tsuru's glass as she listened to Stella's little speech. She watched the ripples flow through and imagined them as the ebbs and flow of life. Every decision had untold ripple effects. She knew better than most how cruel life could be. Any day might be her last, so she should seize them as they came.

"Then it's settled." She raised her glass toward her friend. "I'm going to Egypt. Here's to the world."

The World indeed…

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Tsuru knew it would come to this. She fumbled out of her underground lab and sprinted up the stone steps of Dio's mansion. She could tell by the uncontrollable spasms of his brain matter on her observation table that Dio had fallen in battle against Jotaro and his friends. She didn't have much time. If Tsuru didn't play this perfectly, she'd be considered an accessory to Dio's empire. Of course, she was. Dio wouldn't have known about flesh buds if it wasn't for her expertise. That made her complicit in the possession of Polnareff, Kakyoin and so many others. How had it all gone so wrong?

She was thrilled at the death of Dio, of course! Nothing brought her more joy in life than imagining his final moments. Oh, how he must've screamed! "It's not fair! I am the ultimate being! I am Dio!" She'd bet his last words were something akin to that. Tsuru couldn't help but smile as that picture developed in her mind.

The party was over. She swung the basement door open and ran up the first floor stairs. There were signs of a horrible battle present all throughout the mansion. She'd been planning for this since the beginning. Tsuru knew exactly where she had to go, though it was a bit morbid. The woman ran through various halls and corridors until she arrived at her least favorite room in the manor. She'd only been brought here by Dio once. It was a message, a promise of what would become of her in the event that her purpose was completed. After taking a deep breath, Tsuru placed her hand on the knob.

The pile.

This was the room that Dio tossed his dinner into once they were finished having their alone time. The room reeked of blood, sweat and other fluids she'd rather not dwell upon. It was a simple room with a simple purpose. All of the windows were boarded shut, allowing Dio constant access. There was a large pile on the carpet in the middle of the room. It was a pile of human remains. Most of the bodies were female, but there were a few pretty men among their ranks. Dio wasn't too picky in the night.

Tsuru left the door cracked and walked over to the pile. She could barely stand the stench, but her plan couldn't fail. Trembling fingers lifted a scalpel up to the woman's throat as she prepared herself mentally for what was to come. It was almost sinfully sharp, easily slicing across her skin in such a particular way that it would draw blood without cutting too deep. Tsuru winced, throat pulsating as she gasped for air. Adrenaline allowed her to carry through, making the wound a little longer and slightly deeper. Soon, blood poured onto the tiled floor of the repugnant "corpse room."

The silver scalpel clashed against the floor, bouncing and clinking repeatedly across the room. Tsuru lifted a hand to her neck and pressed against the wound for a moment. There was blood, quite a bit of it. Good. She'd had her fair share of experience in cutting live tissue after all. The slice was perfectly placed to draw as much blood as possible without killing her. Of course, things could always go wrong. She was playing a dangerous game. Her fingers went to each end of the wound, applying pressure in order to draw even more blood. It spurted and leaked down over her blouse leaving awful red stains. Next, she let her hair down and took another deep breath. The woman reached up and began to tear multiple chunks of hair out of her scalp. She was careful to make it look natural, getting blood stains throughout her dark locks all the while. Pieces of her hair fell down to the floor while others clung to the blood on her chest. This would work. This was convincing.

Tsuru had only one step remaining. This all sounded so much better when she planned it. The only way she could pretend to be a completely innocent victim to Dio's tyranny was to lie down in the corpse pile. With blood oozing from her neck, hair ripped out from a passionate assault and her body cast into the pile of fallen victims, Tsuru would be mistaken for another one of Dio's many atrocities, not a co-conspirator.

There was no amount of preparation in the world that could make Tsuru ready for the next step. Instead, she simply let go and allowed gravity to deliver her into madness. Her body collided with the pile of corpses and slowly sank into a resting place of sorts. She closed her eyes, trying not to actively smell as several of the victims had been left for too long. When the organization that killed Dio swept over his mansion to see if it was really over, Tsuru would be rescued. She balled her fists and clenched her jaw as blood continued to trickle down her body. This was how it had to be. She never had a choice.

That's what she needed to believe.

Numerous hours later the door was pushed open. By that point Tsuru really was in need of medical attention. She'd lost more blood than she planned, and it was even difficult for her to raise her head. Two large men stood in the doorway. She couldn't make out either of their appearances as they were silhouetted against the pitch black room. She struggled to prop herself up on one elbow and stare at the men. Who were they?

"Jesus Christ…" An English man spoke grimly.

"Give me a break already… Did he really have a room to pile up dead bodies?" The other man muttered while adjusting the rim of his hat.

They hadn't noticed Tsuru yet. The room was too dark! She couldn't be ignored. If those men left, she really would belong in the pile of corpses. Tsuru tried to speak, but it only resulted in a few pained grunts. She willed herself to sit up even further, eventually falling directly onto her face in front of the pile. Both men stepped back in shock.

"Good God, one of them's still alive?" The older man questioned.

"Maybe we interrupted feeding time. Gimme a hand, old man!"

The men ran over to Tsuru's side. Once she got a better view of them, her eyes widened. Of course, they were Jotaro and Joseph. She'd seen pictures of these men before. Dio asked her to do full profiles on them during her research. Hermit Purple and Star Platinum, such fascinating abilities… A hand lifted the back of her head, and soon she was resting face up in Jotaro's lap. The men stared down at her in a mix of horror and panic.

"Are you okay?" Jotaro asked calmly.

"She's lost a lot of blood." Joseph bit his lip. "We need to get the medics in here right now."

"Go, I'll make sure she stays conscious." Jotaro waved his grandfather off.

Once Joseph ran out of the room, Tsuru felt her vision blurring. It'd been so long since she'd eaten. Dio only gave her food once a day and made her ration it throughout three meals. She hadn't been fed since the assault on the mansion began the previous afternoon. The blood loss was also an enormous contributor to her haziness. Perhaps it was the combination of the two that weakened her mental state enough for what came next. She'd done so much to convince these men of her innocence, though there was one more thing to do.

"Burn this place…" She grabbed the collar of Jotaro's shirt and stared into his eyes.

The young man was clearly shocked. "You shouldn't be speaking, lady." He muttered.

"Burn it. Nobody can know… There are secrets here, secrets that need to die with him." She pleaded, fading from consciousness.

A fire burned in Jotaro's eyes as he listened to her plea. Despite just meeting this woman, he could tell that her request was dire. She wouldn't be begging for such a thing at the moment without reason. He nodded slowly before looking over at the pile of corpses.

"This place needs to be purged." He muttered.

With that, Tsuru lost consciousness. All she could hope was that Jotaro heeded her request. If Dio's diary were to fall into the wrong hands, her research would be abused by yet another monster. Everything that Dio forced her to learn, everything that he forced her to theorize, it couldn't be known! Heaven. No one could attain Heaven. It would be the end of days…

The sound of a heart monitor roused Tsuru from her slumber. When her eyes began rolling, she noticed just how dry her throat was. By the state of her body, she'd probably been asleep for multiple days. She moved her left arm a bit only to notice an IV in place. Her other hand drifted up to her neck. She found multiple layers of bandages in place over her self-inflicted wound. The woman's eyes drifted slowly closed as she remembered how things ended.

"You shouldn't be touching that." A woman ordered from the doorway.

Tsuru's eyes opened once again to find the source of that noise. She turned her head and saw a tall old woman standing with the support of a cane. She had greying blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Despite her age, she was dolled up rather nicely in a dark dress and makeup. Her wrinkled lips pursed playfully when Tsuru noticed her presence.

"Don't worry about speaking, not yet. I can't imagine what you must have gone through… All that time spent with such a monster!" The woman walked further into the hospital room before closing the door tightly.

Tsuru was no fool, this wasn't standard behavior. Where were all the nurses? This woman didn't work in the hospital, her clothes were too exotic. Not only that, but what did she mean by 'all that time?' Their eyes stayed locked together as the woman walked closer to the bed. She pulled a chair right up beside Tsuru's head and sat down with folded hands.

"I'm Dolly Harris, and it is such a pleasure to meet you." The woman grabbed what appeared to be an address book from her purse and flipped a few pages in. She licked her finger, tapping the appropriate entry. "Tsuru Nishioka, age 35 with a doctorate in biology. After a tragic night in 1964, you lived with your Aunt Hanako until graduating high school. After getting your PhD, you went on a month-long trip to Egypt."

Dolly's eyes drifted over to the battered and weak woman with a bit of cautious sympathy. She flipped the page, clicking her tongue three times as she found her place.

"You see dear, this is where I'll need some help filling the gaps. You went missing nearly two years ago, is that right?" Dolly crossed her leg and tilted her head. "How did you end up in this tragic state?"

Tsuru's nostrils flared as she scanned Dolly's expression repeatedly. This woman was unnerving. Her tone and words gave off two completely different vibes. Why did she have so much information on some random victim of Dio's? What else did she know? Tsuru felt her heart sink at the thought of Dio's diary falling into this woman's hands. Jotaro Kujo… He had to listen to her, right? Could this Dolly Harris be on her way to obtaining Heaven?

"You don't have to speak." Dolly closed her address book with a frown. "I suppose you're pleading the fifth, then? That's more than fair. Allow me to assure you of something before I go…" Dolly leaned a little closer to the bed. She rested a hand on the railing beside Tsuru's arm and gripped it with her veiny, wrinkled skin. "Dio Brando was a bastard, and now he's dead. Whatever your relationship was with the man… whatever he made you do…" Her eyes darkened. "He's gone. He can't make you do anything anymore. Not only that, but there's nothing you can do for him either. For one reason or another, he kept you alive for years. We don't have any reports of that happening before. This man slaughtered his own brother and wore his body around like a suit for a century. Why on Earth would he employ someone like you?"

Pleading the fifth seemed more and more appealing as Dolly's speech went on. Tsuru thought they were having a pleasantly uncomfortable conversation, but this went much deeper. She was experiencing an interrogation. Dolly wasn't going to let up without getting something from her. Even if the woman left, she'd be back when Tsuru was feeling better. It would be wise to prove her innocence sooner rather than later. Still, she always did have a mouth on her…

"I give great head." She groaned, her voice gargling and scraping against her throat from lack of use. "It's not some big thing… I'm a scientist, and a beautiful young woman… He said I had an oriental appeal and forced me to wear short skirts in his lab. It doesn't go any deeper than that."

Dolly didn't believe her. That much was clear in her eyes. Still, she'd come up with a reasonable enough lie for the time being. If Dolly pushed much further, she'd seem like a cruel tyrant abusing a helpless little victim. All of this went unspoken between their eyes. They were on the same page. Tsuru knew more than she was leading on, and Dolly had dark intentions. Even if Tsuru were totally innocent, that wouldn't change Dolly's hunger for knowledge.

"Well then…" Dolly held her purse in both hands and stood upright beside the bed. "You've certainly gone through hell, Ms. Nishioka. I'll leave you in the capable hands of this hospital for the time being… You're in London, by the way. I'll stop by to see you again before you're released."

Tsuru let out a pained laugh in response. "Released…? Sounds like I'm a prisoner."

Dolly leaned a shoulder against the door frame and chuckled as well. "Let me tell you, Ms. Nishioka, when I heard that there was a single survivor from Dio's mansion, I expected to find a shrill, hysterical woman who'd need to spend the rest of her days casting herself against the walls of a padded room. Instead, I found a pair of eyes so sharp that the hair on my neck stood a little bit when we first met…" She lifted her chin, seemingly filling the room with her own intimidating aura. It certainly worked, Tsuru felt herself subconsciously shying over to the other side of the bed with what little mobility she possessed.

"Any woman who can survive that hell and come out of it with eyes like yours terrifies me… I can see why he kept you alive."

It was nearly impossible to compose herself enough to respond. What could she possibly say to something like that? This Dolly character read Tsuru like a book without breaking a sweat. She'd been completely figured out, but there wasn't proof. Tsuru could still fall back onto the story of being a battered victim in all of this. Once she recovered, she could worry about this old hag. For the time being, she just needed to placate her.

"That's flattering, ma'am… I have to say, I'm just a simple Japanese woman with a passion for science. Sure, I've got a bit of a mouth, but I don't know why you're projecting so much onto me. It can't be healthy." She smiled weakly.

Dolly wasn't amused, but she seemed finished for the time being. "A mouth indeed. Please, get some rest." She stepped back and swung the door closed.

After spending two long weeks in the hospital's care, Tsuru was officially discharged. She was pushed out the front entrance in a wheelchair by an indifferent nurse. She had no possessions to speak of, not even a passport. It wasn't clear how she was meant to do anything in London, but her anxieties shifted from one topic to another when she saw an ominous black car parked directly in front of the building. The passenger door opened to reveal a man in a navy blue button-up and a darker cap over his blonde hair.

"Ma'am," He gestured to the passenger seat of the vehicle.

Tsuru glanced up at her nurse momentarily as if the woman gave two shits about what happened to her patient after discharge. After brief consideration, Tsuru stood up from her wheelchair and slowly walked over to the car. She brushed the man's hands away when he tried to assist her, taking her seat and groaning in discomfort. Tsuru lifted a hand up to her bandaged neck for a moment to apply a bit of soothing pressure to her wounds. The doctors weren't very concerned with her blood loss or neck wounds. In fact, they would have released her within a day or two if it weren't for her severe malnourishment. Surprise, surprise, Dio didn't refer to the food pyramid when feeding Tsuru in that basement. She knew in the moment that her body was shutting down from neglect, but there were always bigger fish to fry. She cursed herself for not demanding better compensation for her work. It would take months to build up her muscle strength, and she might have permanent damage to her stomach.

After the blonde man guided Tsuru into the passenger seat, he stepped into the back of the car and buckled his seatbelt. Tsuru glanced over to the driver, meeting eyes with him momentarily before looking away.

"We hope they treated you well, Ma'am." The driver smiled. He was a kind, gentle older black man with an American accent. The blonde was much younger and spoke with a London accent.

Tsuru assumed that this organization had its roots all over the Earth. It was no shock that they caught wind of Dio's exploits. There was even a possibility that they had some connection to the Joestars. She always wondered if they had outside help during their adventure. It seemed rather unlikely that five men could travel the world facing danger around every corner without some backup.

"The hospital was fine." Tsuru muttered with disinterest. "May I know where you're taking me? I'm not feeling well, and the past few weeks have been extremely distressing for me."

"We're taking you to the U.S. Embassy." The driver explained as he pulled out of the hospital lot.

Tsuru crossed her arms and waited for some kind of follow up explanation. After about fifteen seconds of silence, the woman scoffed and sat up. "I'll bite, what business do I have there?" She questioned with a hint of annoyance.

"Not sure, Ma'am. All I do is drive the car."

She noticed the driver was incredibly focused on the road in front of him. Typically, someone who drove for a living would be rather comfortable behind the wheel. Despite that, this man seemed hesitant every time he merged lanes. Not only that, but he even slipped into the wrong lane once or twice.

"Not used to driving on the left?" The woman shrugged.

"Hah! Not really! I usually drive Madame Dolly around in the states, this is a bit outside my element!" The driver admitted with a good sense of humor.

"Her personal driver is picking me up? I assume my business in the U.S. Embassy has something to do with this Dolly, then?" Tsuru nodded.

"Whoops… Here I thought we were having a pleasant conversation, Ma'am. Were you fishing for information just now? It's only a fifteen minute drive… Have a little patience." He joked.

She displayed her patience for the duration of the drive. When they arrived, the blonde opened her door and guided her into the building. The Embassy had an enormous bronze eagle perched on the center of its roof alongside an enormous American flag waving proudly in the London breeze. Tsuru never had the pleasure of stepping onto U.S. soil before, so this would be a first. They were greased through the typical process of metal detectors and waiting lines. Instead, Tsuru was guided through various backdoors and restricted hallways until she found herself in a lovely place that could only be described as an interrogation room. She was seated on one end of a metal table with a large glass window to her left. She could only see her reflection in the glass, but she assumed there were government officials staring at her on the other side.

That's how this had to be, then? Tsuru was to be interrogated and tried for her crimes with Dio? If she'd known this was coming, she may have pricked herself with the Stand Arrow after all. She had no way of escape now… How could an innocent woman possibly be held responsible for Dio's crimes? Was it because she lived? Did they just need a warm body to pin the blame on? Tsuru kept calm as she sat alone in the room for thirty minutes. She was familiar with certain interrogation tactics, and this seemed rather standard. The time left alone was meant to unnerve her and weaken her will. Every single interaction for the duration of the interrogation would be calculated for the sole purpose of evoking a confession. She would never confess, obviously, for she hadn't done anything wrong.

The door opened and shattered the silence Tsuru had almost become accustomed to. She lifted her head and saw three figures walk into view. She recognized one of them, of course, the wonderful Madame Dolly Harris. Tsuru sat up a bit and adjusted herself in her chair. She didn't want to admit it, but the woman was rather intimidated by Dolly. She couldn't put her finger on it, but the older woman almost gave off a similar charisma to Dio. Tsuru didn't like that one bit…

"Hello, Ms. Nishioka. I hope you're doing well." Dolly smiled as she took her seat across from Tsuru.

"I'm just peachy." Tsuru crossed her arms and glanced up at the other two people in the room.

There was one man and one woman with Dolly. The woman was blonde with hazel eyes, and couldn't be older than thirty. She was brilliant, Tsuru could tell as much by her face alone. There was an ambition in her eyes that promised a bright future. Rather than the navy button-ups that the other men wore, this woman was in a dark turtleneck and a lab coat. She looked a little out of place beside the extravagantly dressed Madame Dolly, but Tsuru honestly envied the outfit. It would feel nice to sip a mug of coffee and slip on a lab coat after so long.

The man wore the same getup as Tsuru's escorts. He was probably a bodyguard for the women, if Tsuru had to guess. His face was rugged and angular as he sat with a bored expression on the far right side of the table. Tsuru decided to ignore the man entirely for the time being, as he did very little to captivate her. She turned her attention back to Madame Dolly just in time for a response.

"That's wonderful to hear," Dolly ignored Tsuru's quippy tone and accepted her words at face value. "You're probably anxious to get out of here and hop back into your life! With that in mind, it's my displeasure to inform you that you've been declared dead in your home country of Japan."

Tsuru's eyes sharpened as she received this news. Her gaze challenged Dolly's for a moment before she spoke. "That's not right." The woman said hesitantly. "It takes seven years for a missing person to be presumed dead in Japan. I've barely been missing for two."

"Ah, you're familiar with the exact amount of years? Why would that be?" Dolly raised a brow.

"I'm very well-read, you'll probably figure that out." Tsuru spoke through gritted teeth. "Would you mind explaining to me why I'm legally dead in my home?"

Dolly leaned back in her seat with a dejected sigh. "Honestly, I'm just sensing so much hostility from you, Ms. Nishioka. We haven't done anything wrong to you, unless I'm mistaken? Were you mistreated by the hospital staff, or perhaps one of your escorts? I'm just trying to understand where that venom in your voice is coming from."

Tsuru was done playing cute games. "You're accusing me of something, that's why. This isn't how a kidnapping victim is meant to be treated after two years of violence and sexual abuse."

"Hmm… Yet you use such clinical terms to describe your sexual abuse… Typically when speaking to victims, I find that they use colorful terms to really drive their suffering home. 'He raped me,' or 'I was chained to a radiator.' That sort of thing. You, on the other hand, talk about that time like an extended vacation." Dolly sat up a bit, staring daggers at Tsuru.

"Excuse me?" Tsuru lifted a hand to her chest in disbelief. "English isn't my first language, Madame Dolly. I apologize if my particular choice of words implicated me in any kind of crime."

"Your second language? Technically, but you've been speaking it since the age of three. Your father was an English teacher, if I'm not mistaken. He moved to Japan in the forties and fell for your mother the moment they first laid eyes on each other… Five beautiful kids followed after that; all of them bilingual and brilliant! It's such a shame to think of the progress that was lost on that horrible night… Your siblings would have grown into fine adults just like you. Instead, they were brutally killed during a burglary gone wrong."

Tsuru's teeth grinded together as she tried to keep her calm. "Are you mocking me? Do you have any idea what those bastards did to me before they were through? The only reason I'm here right now is because the cops kicked down the door at the last minute. I still have a scar on my hand from their knives. Look." She presented her right hand to reveal a rather faded scar along the palm. It was likely a defensive wound, and the only physical trauma Tsuru left that night with.

Dolly grinned, finding the entire conversation absolutely thrilling. "Mmm… See, that's how you talk about trauma, dear. Not with clinical terms like 'sexual assault,' but with raw emotion, and the scars to prove it. Your time with Dio wasn't like that night… You won't be losing any sleep over the way he treated you… Am I wrong?"

Tsuru hung her head in defeat. She'd really been played. Even though she tried to prepare herself for the interrogation tactics, Dolly effectively broke down her defenses and got to the heart of Tsuru's feelings without breaking a sweat. The scientist didn't know what would come next. Dolly knew that Tsuru didn't feel particularly guilty or traumatized by her time with Dio. Of course, it wasn't the healthiest of dynamics, but she was far from an innocent party. She experimented on people… She killed a man. Even though she wasn't confessing to those crimes, Dolly knew them to be true. The bitch was exactly like Dio… A viper in the grass. How had she allowed herself to fall directly into the clutches of another so soon…?

"You don't have anything to say?" Dolly tilted her head. "That's fine, I quite enjoy the sound of my own voice. Let me tell you what happens from here, Ms. Nishioka… You're legally dead in Japan. There's no home for you to return to. Your apartment has been emptied, your position at work was filled years ago, and your aunt has passed away."

Tsuru flung her head up with desperate eyes at that last bit. She felt her throat closing up, and tears threatened to pour from her eyes. She gripped the table and bit her tongue. Tsuru's aunt hadn't been doing well when she went on her trip to Egypt… It was no shock that she passed away. That was the last of Tsuru's family. She had nobody left on Earth. The only person who had any reason to care she was alive now was Stella.

"I see… So, you two were close? That's too bad. I'm very sorry, Ms. Nishioka. Now where was I? Ah, what comes next for you. Dio thought you were important enough to keep alive and fed for two years. Nobody else received that treatment to our knowledge. Even the old woman who taught him about Stands was killed by his flesh bud the moment she became inconvenient to him. That leaves me with very few options to consider… Either you were an emotional asset to him, or a practical one. To be frank, you don't seem like a very comforting presence to me. Not only that, but there were much prettier women in his pile of corpses. It definitely wasn't your looks, so it was probably your mind. Please, chime in if I'm wrong."

Tsuru lifted her hands up to cup her face. She needed a small moment's respite from being analyzed so carefully. Dolly was like a bloodhound with Tsuru's scent. It seemed as though there was nothing she could do to shake her.

"It wasn't Enya who taught him about Stands." Tsuru finally admitted.

Dolly seemed surprised by this. "Oh…? Is that so? We have reason to believe she introduced him to the concept of Stands, and even granted him the ability herself."

The scientist chuckled into her cupped hands. She lifted her face from them and looked at Dolly with an air of superiority. "She might have given him The World, but she didn't teach him anything about it. Enya bought those arrows from a young man years ago. She didn't make them, she didn't find them, and she didn't understand them. I was the one who discovered their secrets."

"Arrows?" The younger blonde sat up and questioned Tsuru.

Dolly lifted a hand to calm her assistant. "Cynthia, don't be so impatient." Her eyes drifted back to Tsuru with skepticism. "Tell me about this, Nishioka. We don't know about any arrows."

"You shouldn't. Dio got rid of them near the end. He decided it was too unsafe to keep them in his mansion. There was only one left on the property when your pals showed up and wrecked the place." Tsuru said.

"Pals? Whatever do you mean?" Dolly leaned back in her seat.

"Jotaro Kujo, Joseph Joestar, NoriakiKakyoin, Jean Pierre Polnareff, and Muhammad Avdol. Your little crusaders. Don't patronize me and act like you've never heard of them. I imagine it was Jotaro's Star Platinum that finished Dio off?" Tsuru raised a brow.

"Where did you get these names?" The assistant asked with a bit of urgency.

"Cynthia dear." Dolly scolded, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Let our friend Tsuru speak. We can ask all the questions we want when she's finished. Trust me, she's not going anywhere." Dolly threatened.

"Why should I tell you anything I know?" Tsuru shrugged. "I already mentioned the arrows. Just go out and find them. Who knows where Dio sent them? I'm sure they're with some trusted allies."

"You talk about these arrows like they're important. Am I reading correctly between the lines?" Dolly leaned in.

Tsuru just shrugged with crossed arms. "I don't know what you're reading."

"Do you have a Stand, Tsuru?" Dolly asked bluntly.

"I do not." Tsuru fired back.

"Why?"

"I didn't need one."

Dolly considered that answer for quite some time before folding her wrinkly hands on the metal table. She clicked her tongue a few times, glancing over at the clock hanging above the one-way window. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the room was filled with an overwhelming presence. Tsuru couldn't see it, but she recognized the feeling of a powerful Stand when she felt it. This had to be Dolly's. The look on her face was smug enough to slap. Tsuru clenched her jaw as she felt her skin crawling with anxiety over Dolly's ability.

"Can you see it, Tsuru?" Dolly asked, using the woman's first name.

"No." Tsuru answered through closed teeth.

A long, cold hand lifted the woman's chin to face the empty air above. Tsuru shivered in discomfort as she was handled by Dolly's Stand. Its fingers were reminiscent of a bird's talons. The raw presence of Dolly's ability wasn't exactly like The World's, though it was honestly like comparing the danger of a tornado to a tidal wave. At a certain point, a disaster was a disaster.

"Do you want to know what it does?" Dolly's words were playful, almost seductive in nature as she offered Tsuru a show.

"No." Tsuru answered honestly. After The World, she simply didn't want to know what else was out there. She just wanted to close her eyes and dream of a better world, a world without horrifying powers and blonde tyrants.

Dolly's tongue dragged across the entirety of her lips as she stared into Tsuru's eyes. That settled it for the scientist. This Dolly woman was exactly like Dio. She could see it in those eyes… Her eyes held a hunger that couldn't be satiated. Money, sex, power, immortality? Tsuru wasn't sure of Dolly's particular vice, but she knew the woman would stop at nothing to obtain what she desired. All she wanted to avoid was being one of those desires. She couldn't go through it again.

"It can do anything." Dolly smirked.

"That's not possible." Tsuru argued, though she didn't sound very convincing.

"Tsuru, sweetheart, listen to yourself… Even you don't believe that. Why don't you relax? Have a glass of wine."

Dolly held three fingers forward into the open air and watched as a tall stemmed wine glass manifested in her hands. She pointed a finger directly into the glass and made wine appear out of nothing. The woman gently slid the glass to Tsuru's side of the table, but Tsuru wasn't very thirsty.

"My ability is to change matter. I'm sure a scientist like yourself can understand the implications… All I have to do is touch it." She placed her hands on the table and concentrated for a moment.

The surface of the table shifted from metal to gold right before Tsuru's very eyes. She gasped, staring at the glimmering tabletop in awe. It happened so quickly. How could an ability be so limitless? It nearly ruined all of her research into Stands on the face of it. She'd need to reassess all of her theories to come to terms with Dolly's ability.

"Lucky for you, I'm with the good guys." Dolly chuckled, reaching over and sliding the glass of wine a little closer to Tsuru.

It was no longer an offer, Tsuru understood that. She was being ordered to drink Dolly's magic wine. The woman reached down and took the impossible glass into her trembling fingers and took a quick sip. She nearly spit it out the moment the red wine touched her tongue. It wasn't because the wine was bad, quite the contrary! Tsuru had never tasted finer wine in her entire life. Dolly must have understood the beverage on an atomic level and created the perfect glass of wine… The amount of control her ability had over the building blocks of the universe was unnerving. Could she create explosions? Maybe she could even cause a nuclear detonation? Tsuru took another sip of the wine to ease her anxiety. Granted, it could be poison, but it appeared that Dolly had plenty of easier ways to kill her if she wanted to.

"The good guys…" Tsuru mused as she spun her wine around slowly. She wasn't sure such a group existed. "Lemme be blunt, because I think I've got this all figured out. I can comfortably confess to conspiring with Dio semi-willingly because your organization has very few options at the moment. Either you plan on trying me before international courts for crimes against humanity, revealing the existence of Stands and vampires to the world, or you intend on a silent trial behind closed doors. If it's the latter, I'm as good as dead anyway. History typically reveals that underground trials aren't exactly the pinnacle of our justice system. With all that in mind… Yes, I helped Dio uncover the mystery of Stands alongside his vampiric abilities. I did it solely to preserve my life, but I caused the death of countless innocent individuals along the way. Any unbiased observer would rule that I should have died to save dozens of innocent lives, but I didn't. Worse than that, I'd kill them all myself if it meant I got to live. Is that what you wanted to hear, Madame?" She gave a French flare to the end of her confession, pushing the wine back to Dolly's side of the table.

There was a chilling silence between everyone in the room for about thirty seconds as Dolly and Tsuru stared each other down. Eventually, the older woman felt herself smiling. She relented, leaning back in her chair and shrugging.

"I like you, Tsuru… Maybe I had a different opinion of you when we walked in here today, but that's in the past. In fact…" She turned to face the uniformed man sitting beside her. Tsuru had nearly forgotten about him. "Please be sure that Cynthia makes it back to the hotel safely. I'd like to take a walk with Tsuru."

Without a word, the man stood up and opened the door. Cynthia looked confused, but she knew better than to question Dolly. Once they both left the room, the madame leaned onto the desk and propped her chin up with one fist. She smiled at Tsuru, seeming like a young child eagerly admiring her new pet through a glass pane.

"There's no recording, and the others have left… I want a bit of honesty from you now, if you don't mind." Dolly began in a low tone. "Would you really kill those innocent victims with your own hands to survive? Or were you just saying that to sound intimidating?"

Tsuru was shocked by the question. If she didn't know any better, she'd say Dolly's tone was almost playful, like two girls discussing crushes on the playground. She cleared her throat, considering what to say.

"I had a subject restrained in my lab… He broke free and used his newly acquired Stand to strangle me. I was going to die if I didn't do something. By all moral counts, I should have let that poor, innocent man kill me and walk free. We may have both been prisoners, but his pain was from my hands, not Dio's… He was the most innocent person in the equation."

Dolly grinned, flashing her pearly whites and nodding along. "You keep using clinical terms like 'by all moral counts' and 'the most innocent person…' It's okay to say what you really feel, Tsuru… He was the weak one, and you were the strong one. Sure, situations dictate who gets to be strong, but that doesn't make it any more complex to me. The strong get to rule the weak… That's why it's so important to moderate the strong."

Tsuru nodded, staring down at her shaky hands as she tried to drown out the sounds of her own childhood screaming… It echoed throughout her mind, like it always did. Anytime she felt stressed or uncertain, that horrible sound would plague her head… The woman bit her lip and cleared her throat.

"Tell me, what did you do to this completely innocent man?" Dolly asked, as if it were an exciting detail of a sexual encounter she was trying to hear from a friend.

"I killed him with my scalpel… Then, I sat on his chest until he completely bled out."

"How did that feel?" Dolly leaned closer.

"Harrowing, like a part of me died with him." She admitted.

Dolly scoffed, leaning back in her chair. "Well, that's what happens when your first kill is in your thirties, I suppose."

Tsuru was seeing so many red flags coming from Dolly that it was hard to keep track of them all. That last bit was extremely concerning. When was Dolly's first kill? Was thirty rather old for it? The worldview of this woman troubled Tsuru to no end.

"I'd do it to him again if he were here." She admitted quietly.

Dolly actually showed a bit of compassion after that. She reached over and rested her hand over Tsuru's own with pursed lips. "Of course you would… There's nothing to be ashamed of. You acted in self-defense, and you lived. You're stronger for it!" She assured her.

The younger woman wasn't sure if she agreed. She was horrified of dying and would do anything to prevent it, but did that really make her strong by any metric? She rolled her thumbs together absentmindedly as Dolly spoke. It wasn't like Tsuru could leave the conversation if she wanted to. She was still a glorified prisoner.

"Take a walk with me." Dolly stood up, grabbing her walker and gesturing toward the door. "When was the last time you went for a walk in the open, free air?"

"Last time I did that, I wound up in this mess." She answered honestly.

Dolly chuckled, opening the door. "Would it help if I dropped the formalities and said you have no choice in the matter?"

Tsuru sighed, lowering her head with a shrug. "That clears things up, yes."

They left the embassy and walked down the road for a few minutes. Dolly spoke about inconsequential things all the while as they meandered through London. Eventually, Tsuru noticed a shift in atmosphere. It was as if Dolly finally reached the appropriate distance and was ready to speak candidly. She stopped walking, causing Tsuru to pull ahead momentarily before she noticed. Dolly gripped her cane and eyed the scientist carefully.

"I envy him, you know?" She raised a brow.

Jesus Christ, Tsuru really knew how to pick them. Granted, she wasn't doing the picking at all. Perhaps that spoke more to her character than anything else. How could she find herself among monster after monster all throughout her life? At a certain point, she had to wonder if she was the problem! The woman feigned ignorance for a moment and laughed nervously at Dolly's words.

"Envy who?"

Dolly's fingers drummed rhythmically against her cane as she stared at Tsuru. She turned to admire the flower shop beside them, resting a hand on the glass window and smiling at her reflection. The woman dragged her nails down the window as she scanned the selection before her.

"You worked at a flower shop all through high school, right?" Dolly ignored Tsuru's question.

Once again, Tsuru was at a loss for words. Keeping up with this woman felt impossible, and she was nearly done with trying at all!

"I did."

"What's the term for those vines of flowers that typically line the pews in church, or the arch at a wedding?" Dolly mused.

"That's called a garland." Tsuru muttered.

The older woman lifted her cane and pointed it toward the shop's entrance. "Tell me, wouldn't a garland suit the entrance to a lovely shop like this? Imagine if the entire door frame were outlined by beautiful flowers."

Tsuru shrugged apathetically. "You'd either have to use fake flowers, or totally replace the display every few days. Besides, everyone's tastes are different. Some people might think a huge garland on the door is tacky."

"One woman's definition of tacky is another woman's sense of style. Surely, you've made some bold choices while arranging flowers in the past?" Dolly smiled.

"Ikebana was my aunt's specialty. I tried to stay out of the way as much as possible." Tsuru admitted. "Working the register and keeping everything organized was my strong suit… I never really understood how to bring the flowers to life."

"Ikebana?" Dolly questioned. "I'm not familiar with the term."

"It's a stylistic way to arrange flowers in my culture. Some people study it for their whole lives… It focuses on the elements of nature, and bringing them together in harmony within a container. Balance is key, but obviously aesthetics bring the whole thing together… Every time I tried, my aunt corrected my placement, or my choice of flower. Eventually, I moved onto sciences that made sense to me. Art is nebulous, and men get to make the rules. With biology, everything is already decided. We just have to solve for the answer."

"Mmmm, it's good that you brought up biology, Tsuru. I need you to be perfectly honest with me from here on. If you are, things will go very nicely for you. If not, I can't promise anything…"

Tsuru nodded without a word.

"Good… Now, the first question is simple. Did you only research Stands for Dio, or were you entrusted with more?"

The look in Dolly's eye was dangerous. Tsuru knew this woman was seeking power over all else. Maybe she had ways to justify it, most people did, but Dolly was hellbent on growing stronger. What could Tsuru do to stop her? If she refused to play ball, Dolly would find another "yes woman" to fill her place. Perhaps she needed to keep the hag close until father time took care of the problem for her? That seemed desirable.

"I analyzed some of his tissue." Tsuru admitted.

"And?" Dolly's eyes flashed with greed.

"And…" Tsuru trailed on for a moment. "It was some of the most fascinating work I've ever done in my career."

"Did he ever mention how he acquired such power?" Dolly grinned.

The Japanese woman pursed her lips in genuine thought for a moment. "I… Honestly never thought to ask. I suppose I was so focused on the mystery of Stands and biology that I never questioned his origins. Was he born this way?"

"He was not." Dolly answered. "Dio Brando used an ancient relic created by a superior being named Kars to achieve his immortality."

"Kars, hmmm?" Tsuru sighed, resting a hand on the window of the flower shop. "He sounds way more interesting than a brute like Dio. What wouldn't I give to analyze his biology?" She mused to herself.

A smile curled across Dolly's lips. "Maybe you could give me everything you know about Stands? Then, such a study could certainly be arranged."

Tsuru felt as the overwhelming power of curiosity churned her insides and forced her to stand up straight. She bit down on her lip, trying not to show just how desperate she was to analyze even a single hair from this higher being's body. Unfortunately for her, she experienced genuine excitement so infrequently that she never properly learned to hide it. Her fingers dragged down the glass before falling down to her side.

"Show me the body first."

Powerful lights activated as the sounds of metal shudders filled the room. Tsuru had been brought to some underground facility at an undisclosed location. She was trembling with anticipation. After hours on airplanes and car rides, it was finally time to do something that genuinely intrigued her. She followed Dolly down the walkway as they approached a large safe on the far side of the room. This room was guarded by three armed guards at all times, and Tsuru noticed quite a few security cameras along the walls around her. Whatever Dolly was about to show the scientist was clearly top secret.

The older woman stopped at the safe and placed her palm on a scanner. It read all five of her fingerprints and lit up green. Air hissed out of the safe as it slowly opened to reveal multiple layers of steel protection. Finally, the last hatch opened and Tsuru was allowed to see its contents. She raised her brow in confusion.

"A feather?" She muttered.

Dolly hummed playfully as she reached over and grabbed the prized feather. "Indeed… Do you have any idea what bird this comes from?"

Tsuru leaned in close to inspect the slick black feather. She pursed her lips in thought. "I definitely wouldn't want to pick a fight with it, that's for sure. This thing must have been huge."

The older woman chuckled, offering the feather to Tsuru with her hand. "Feel free to touch it. Normally, I'd warn you to be careful, but I somehow doubt your ability to harm this artifact."

Despite that, Tsuru displayed great respect and care as she took it from the woman's hands. She marveled at it before bringing it even closer to her eyes. "Why do you say that?"

"Because it's indestructible." Dolly shrugged. "We tried everything: blades, fire, acid, molten lava, the vacuum of space, nothing can destroy it. Sure, these forces can influence the feather. It heats up if exposed to an open flame, and it seems to wither if frozen… But nothing can permanently alter its composition. As soon as those forces stop acting on it, the feather returns to its original form. It's immortal."

Tsuru was like a kid in a candy store. She gawked at the divine feather and nearly pressed her face against it with admiration. She was always so enamored by higher beings, and this was about the highest she'd ever seen.

"I have to ask… You've tried sunlight?" Tsuru turned her head to Dolly.

An ironic chuckle slipped out of the older woman as she nodded her head. "Yes, dear. Sunlight is the last thing that could hurt this thing. That's the entire point."

That definitely piqued Tsuru's interest, but her mind was racing at a hundred miles a minute as she struggled to comprehend all of the new ideas coming her way. She needed to take this one step at a time.

"Did this feather belong to Kars…? The creator of vampires?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, it did. Kars was considered the ultimate being. He had the abilities of every creature on Earth, and could surpass those creatures at them all. He grew those feathers so he could fly. The one you're holding used to belong to his wing."

"My goodness…" Tsuru was at a loss for words. "How long ago did he walk the Earth? What happened to him!?"

"He died in 1939." Dolly smiled.

"1939!? My parents were alive for that! You can't be serious!" Tsuru gasped in disbelief.

"Kars was defeated by a man named Joseph Joestar in 1939. He was launched into space and couldn't return. We have no idea where he is now, but no satellites or telescopes seem to see him… He's pretty far gone by now."

"Joestar?" Tsuru mumbled.

"Mmmm, yes. It's pretty ironic. Kars created those masks to ensure his immortality. Instead, all he did was preserve himself forever in space. There are things about this world you don't understand, Tsuru. There's science beyond your imagination. Cyborgs, cloning, futuristic medicine and so much more… It's not perfected yet, which is why we keep it secret. However, if you were to offer your services to the cause, I could certainly see to it that you receive all the reading material you could dream of."

Tsuru tried to imagine such a creature walking the Earth at the same time as her parents. It was just something uncanny that the brain refused to accept; like how Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank were born in the same year, or how Cleopatra lived closer to the present day than the construction of the Great Pyramids. The human brain wanted to place sections of time into perfectly organized bubbles isolated apart from the rest of history. The idea of her parents, the people who brought her into the world, existing at the same time as this ultimate being was too much for her.

"I want to study it." She admitted.

Dolly hummed with approval. "And you will, dear. Before that, I have some important questions involving vampire DNA."

Tsuru's eyes darted to the older woman's. "Hit me. I know pretty much everything there is to know about Dio's body."

"I'm sure you do, a pretty thing like you… This is a broader question, though. We know vampires can be created by artifacts like the stone mask, but for the longest time we've theorized that other methods exist. Blood transfusion, for example…"

"Of course. Putting any substantial amount of vampire blood into a human quickly changes their physiology into either a zombie or vampire. It depends on the owner of the blood's intent, and typically the willpower of the recipient. Zombies are subservient to the vampire that created them, while vampires are loyal to no one."

"Interesting. That matches our hypothesis." Dolly rubbed her chin. "Can you explain to me why Joseph Joestar isn't a vampire, then?"

Tsuru looked incredibly confused.

"Ah, perhaps a bit more information is in order! You see, Joseph was nearly killed while battling Dio. Near the end of the fight, Dio drained almost all of the blood from Joseph's body. This left him as a grey husk of a man."

"That's impossible." Tsuru shook her head. "You can't survive any notable amount of time without blood. You must have your facts wrong."

"Patience, dear. Let me finish." Dolly scolded Tsuru, plucking the feather from the woman's hands and placing it back in the safe. "Jotaro managed to defeat Dio, and within five minutes the three of them were in an ambulance enroute to Cairo's top hospital. Jotaro decided to take matters into his own hands, though. He had the paramedics transfuse blood from Dio's body into Joseph's veins and pumped the man's heart with his Stand until it beat on its own. Joseph made a full recovery in less than a minute. Please explain."

This went against everything Tsuru knew about vampires. She had no explanation. Was this some kind of test? Did Dolly know something she didn't? All Tsuru could determine was she lacked at least one essential piece of the puzzle.

"Vampire blood has tremendous healing properties… It can bring corpses back to life. I briefly considered it as a potential medicine before realizing all of its negative consequences." She explained.

"And those consequences are…?"

"Well, you'll die in the sunlight, for starters!" Tsuru threw up her hands. "Joseph shouldn't be breathing! Do you have him under any kind of medical supervision? How old is he even?"

"Let me worry about my dear friend's health, Tsuru. I want your opinion as an expert, not as a compassionate woman." Dolly warned.

The scientist hung her head for a moment as she tried to make sense of it all. "Well, I can't speak for sure without running a baker's dozen tests on every body involved. I suppose if you held a gun to my head, I'd say that Joseph received the healing benefits of Dio's vampiric blood without falling to any of the side effects. He didn't turn into a vampire or zombie, right? The only straw I can grasp at right now is something called 'hamon.' Dio mentioned it a few times. I believe it's a sort of ability that early mankind used against supernatural beings like vampires for protection. He never went into detail, but he did say that Joseph was a hamon user. I also deduced that the body of Jonathan Joestar was ripe with some kind of repellent to vampires, which is why Dio's head took so long to become acclimated to Jonathan's body. My conclusion is that Joseph's body is resistant to vampirism in the same way as Jonathan's, allowing him to receive the positive effects of vampire DNA without transforming into one himself."

Dolly stared at the woman for a moment before cracking a smile. "Oh my, you really put that all together so quickly? I'm impressed, and that really doesn't happen often."

Tsuru sighed with relief. "So you already knew the answer, I suppose?"

"Of course I knew the answer, dear! I'm not interested in what I know, I'm interested in what you know. Even more than that, I'm interested in what you could know given the proper resources. A lab, perhaps? Maybe even some assistants to boss around? Does that sound nice?"

"That depends on what you want me to know." Tsuru rubbed her arm nervously.

A dry laugh rolled out of Dolly's throat as she placed a hand on her chest. "Oh dear, it's nothing nefarious! I want to see if the healing properties of vampiric DNA can be used to better mankind! Resurrection after death, halting the aging process and so much more could be possible! Don't you want to change the world?"

Tsuru was an impeccable judge of character. It was one of her strongest qualities. From the moment Tsuru first laid eyes on Dolly it was clear that she was a cruel, heartless woman who would sell her own baby for cold water on a hot day. There was simply no way that Dolly wanted to research anything for the mere betterment of mankind. There had to be a way for it to directly benefit her. That comment about halting the aging process might have shed a little light on her true motivations, but Tsuru feared it went deeper than an aging beauty's vanity.

"Changing the world is scary. Who's to say you'll actually make it better?" Tsuru challenged. "Sickness, aging, death, it's all the natural flow of life. Without them, what would we even be?"

"We would be better. Leave philosophy to children who disappoint their parents, Tsuru. You're a scientist. The 'why's' of the world aren't your concern… I just want you to focus on the 'how's.'"

"I wouldn't even know where to begin." She admitted. "I mean, first of all, why are we discussing vampiric DNA when you have some ultimate being's feather to work with?"

"It's because you understand vampires. I want to ease you into the process." Dolly explained.

"I see…" Tsuru reached over and grazed the feather with two fingers as she mused about its nature. "A feather is nice and all, but it's no replacement for flesh and blood. I can get useful data from this, but I'd really like to have a body."

Dolly's lips twisted into the most mischievous little grin. "Oh? You want a body? Let me introduce you to my friend Santana…"

And so, Tsuru worked for the Speedwagon Foundation. She received a worker's visa for the United States of America and lived in a modest Maryland apartment just outside the nation's capital. She was definitely being paid more than any job before, and her open concept living quarters made Dio's accommodations seem lackluster at best. She certainly didn't miss centipedes and cockroaches scurrying around her bed. Of course, her situation hadn't really changed. The physical bindings may have been gone, but she was still very much the prisoner of an arrogant blonde. Dolly was insatiable. She always wanted updates on Tsuru's research. Not only that, but those "assistants" she promised felt more like chaperones than actual help. Tsuru's least favorite was probably the perky blonde named Cynthia. She got the impression that Cynthia was Dolly's favorite for reasons beyond business. It wasn't polite to assume things, but Cynthia always kept her nails clipped rather short.

That damned Cynthia was always peering over Tsuru's shoulder and studying her work. It was suffocating! She couldn't imagine what the girl was reporting back to her boss. What level of understanding did Cynthia even have for such complex work? It was incredibly difficult for Tsuru to dislike a woman in the lab, considering how male-oriented the field seemed at times. Despite that, she couldn't find a single thing to like about Cynthia Armstrong.

The subject of her work was simple. She had access to a partially-alive Pillar Man named Santana. Exercising extreme caution, Tsuru would allow tiny pieces of this stone body to change back into flesh. This was always done with multiple weapons-grade ultra violet lights present, and a hamon user in the room. She gathered various insights to the anatomy of Pillar Men as well as vampires. Despite this, she was no closer to cracking the question of Joseph's humanity. She ran various experiments with vials of hamon blood alongside vampiric blood, but they never combined into a single viable substance. Hamon would always eradicate the vampiric DNA and render it as basic human blood.

Tsuru knew very well that Dolly wanted this research performed for selfish reasons. Curing cancer and ending human aging was a beautiful notion, but somehow Tsuru doubted this cure would make it to the everyman in her lifetime. Dolly was in her seventies, and she likely felt her age more and more each day. Vampirism allowed for eternal youth and could even restore the body of an old woman, but it came with inconvenient side effects. Dolly likely wanted to go out into the sun from time to time, and the need to eat humans was rather unseemly.

It wasn't all bad, though. Dolly seemed to be completely focused on Tsuru researching the limits of human mortality. That meant she didn't pry too much into the mysteries of Stands. Tsuru knew she possessed certain knowledge that needed to follow her into the grave. Heaven, Requiem Stands, and so much more that could never fall into the wrong hands. She had confirmed months ago that Jotaro obeyed her wish and burned down the mansion. Dio's diary and the secret of heaven were nothing but a memory, her memory. Sometimes, it was hard to resist the urge to kill herself. She had far too strong a will to survive for it to ever truly beat her, but on her weaker days it weighed on her mind. Perhaps the world would be better off without the secrets she kept in her head? Maybe she deserved it after everything she did under Dio's control? Not only that, but she might finally be rid of those piercing screams that haunted her conscious mind.

The screaming of a terrified little girl plagued Tsuru for her entire life. Sometimes it was so quiet she barely remembered its presence, while other times it droned so loudly she couldn't hear herself think. Her nails rolled onto the table in front of her in a simple rhythm as she tried to get a grip.

"Tsuru?" Dr. Moore asked patiently for the fourth time.

The scientist finally snapped out of her haze and remembered where she was. Of course, therapy. How could she forget? The Speedwagon Foundation was subjecting her to at least a year of mandated counselling to work through her traumatic experiences with Dio. Most of the time she just trailed off and thought about her work while the shrink explained coping mechanisms that never worked.

"Sorry." She sighed, sitting up in her seat. "What were you saying? I was listening up to the bit about personal accountability?"

Dr. Moore looked exhausted. He probably hated being there even more than Tsuru. She didn't blame him, of course. What kind of shrink wanted to work with a woman ten times smarter than him with no desire to be there?

"Tsuru, that was five minutes ago. You really dissociated for five minutes during our session and expect me to think that's okay?"

She looked a little surprised upon learning how long she'd been daydreaming, but took a little offense to the wording. "Dissociating? I assure you, Doctor, I'm doing no such thing. Does a child dissociate while looking out the window during class? We just call that an active mind."

"Active minds respond to stimuli. I had to say your name four times before you snapped out of it." Dr. Moore countered. "I know you don't want to be here, Tsuru. It's awkward for me too, you know? I respect the work you do for the foundation, and don't enjoy subjecting you to anything that makes you uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable?" Tsuru challenged the phrasing. "I'm perfectly comfortable, Andrew. You don't have the means to make me uncomfortable."

Andrew could sense the hostility and tried to peddle back a bit. "I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry."

"Offend me? How could someone like you possibly offend me? You know what used to offend me, Andrew? The stench of rotting flesh, or maybe witnessing the moment the light leaves a woman's eyes as she's killed by a monster? Not even those things offend me anymore. My mind is like a bomb shelter, and you're sending spitballs down range. I don't even feel your poking and prodding because it's beneath me." She spat.

Dr. Moore was silent for a long while as he considered how to respond to such a thing. Of course, as a human being, he wanted to fire back with a bit of anger. He was a doctor first, though, and held healing above all else.

"You know, Tsuru, I've helped a lot of people get better in my day. I specialize in putting people back together after they've been shattered into pieces by a traumatic experience. I think I'm realizing something, though… You're not in pieces because of Dio."

Finally, Tsuru let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I'm glad you can see that. It must be difficult to admit you're not needed."

Dr. Moore completely ignored that comment. "You were shattered a long time ago, weren't you? Dio had nothing left to break by the time he found you. What's worse is that you view that as a strength. People can't hurt you in the way they normally hurt others because you're built differently. You put yourself back together at such a young age that you had no idea what a complete human was even supposed to look like. What sits before me right now is somehow the smartest woman I've had the pleasure of talking to, and an unruly child who needs to be put into timeout."

Tsuru had never been spoken to like this. Even Dio kept his insults vague and condescending. How could Andrew Moore see her wounds so clearly after she spent decades covering them up? She was left speechless.

"Are you familiar with the theory of the 'inner child,' Tsuru?" Dr. Moore raised his brow.

All Tsuru could do was shake her head.

"It's a concept devised by Carl Jung that proposes the existence of a child living inside all of our minds. Everyone has a bit of their childhood self left in their heart. Sometimes, when we're feeling weak or vulnerable, the child takes control. It usually occurs when you experience a similar trauma as an adult that you faced in your youth. Most of the time, it's benign. Maybe you're terrible at handling it when plans change at the last minute because your parents always cancelled things growing up? That's an example that many people can relate to. In your case, I think it goes much deeper… I think you learned to cope with unfathomable pain and terror at such a young age that you allow your inner child to deal with all of your fear as an adult. It's gotten you this far, so you've come to rely on it. The problem with your behavior is that a child is fundamentally incapable of processing and treating trauma in a healthy manner. When a little girl is hurt, she needs to rely on an adult to make her better."

Tsuru grit her teeth and stood up with a huff. "I am not a little girl, Doctor! How dare you talk to me like that?"

Andrew didn't flinch. "There's a book I'd like you to read. It was written by Authur Janov, the father of primal therapy. He believes that repressed pain can only be fully healed by drawing it to the surface and re-experiencing it as an adult. Your child self was incapable of processing the horrors she endured, and because of that you never truly moved on from that night."

"What the hell does this 'Arthur' know then? What are his credentials? Who says the only way to move on from something is to experience it again? That could make it even worse!" Tsuru protested.

"I'm not saying he's right. Personally, I have several issues with his work. I just think reading his book could give you some insight on the way childhood trauma defines everything about your adult life. I can't make you do anything, Tsuru. When you walk out of my office every week, I have no influence over your actions. Therapy isn't something you can fail, either. Your job security isn't on the line, and I don't have to report my notes to anyone. The only thing at stake here is your health. I respect how much you know about the body, but the mind is my field of expertise. If you end up hating the book, I'll sit here and listen to every single critique you have for the next ten sessions. Tear it to shreds, if you want."

Tsuru sighed as she hung her head low. "What's the book called?"

"The Primal Scream."

Her eyes widened, and the sound of her own internal screaming increased ten times in volume. She stumbled back, falling into her chair and clutching her chest with one hand. Dr. Moore got up and rushed over to see if she was okay. She saw his lips moving, but couldn't hear anything over the primal screaming in her mind. Could he be right? Did she have an inner child that never properly developed? Was this inner child responsible for managing all of her pain and suffering? That would be too much to ask of a little girl… As she focused on the screaming, she recognized the voice. It was her younger self from all those years ago… It was the scream she let out as those men did such horrible things to her; things she didn't even understand. She clenched her teeth and gripped the arms of the chair with all her might. Her heart was pounding faster than it ever had before, and her ears rang empty with the sound of inner wailing. She opened her eyes, only to realize she was lying flat on her back. Dr. Moore was standing by his desk and speaking into a phone. What was happening to her? Was she dying? No… This was worse than death. If she were dying, at least all of the noise would stop. She was never that lucky…

Her vision failed a moment later.

Tsuru woke in a hospital bed with a pounding headache. Faint screams filled the back of her mind, but they quickly faded into near-obscurity as she tried to assess her surroundings. She cleared her throat, sitting up and tugging against the I.V. in her arm. She tilted her head to the left and nearly jumped out of her skin in shock upon seeing Dolly sitting beside her bed.

"Hello, Tsuru." The old woman spoke with crossed arms.

"I… Shit." Tsuru groaned.

"Shit, indeed. You know, dear, I thought you had your act together… That was my mistake. I've overburdened you. For the foreseeable future, you will work four days a week. One of your days off will be spent speaking with a specialist in childhood trauma. The other two will be yours to do with as you wish."

"As I wish…?" Tsuru asked cautiously.

"Yes. I've been a bit of a helicopter parent with you these past few months. It's important that you maintain a social life outside of work. There's got to be something worth living for, right? Otherwise, you won't care about letting us live forever." She smiled.

Tsuru leaned back in her bed with a sigh. "Yeah, I guess so…"

"You have a visitor." Dolly mumbled, grabbing her purse and standing up.

"A what?" Tsuru muttered.

"Don't ever say I'm a bad boss." She left the room with a smirk.

Tsuru didn't really know what to do. She just sat in her bed for a minute or two in anticipation. Who on Earth would be visiting her? She didn't have any living relatives, and nobody knew she was working in Washington. Dolly must have contacted someone, but who? She heard footsteps approaching the door and felt her stomach drop.

Wait… Could it be?

There was a gentle knock on the door, and then a red-haired woman walked into the room. Her eyes widened, and she rushed over to the bed.

"Oh my God, Tsuru! Jesus Christ… What happened?" She collapsed onto her knees beside the bed, grabbing the woman's hands and squeezing them as tight as she could. "They said you were dead… You went missing on vacation and everyone assumed you got killed by some crazy asshole, or trafficked into some sex trade! I prayed you were dead after two years, because nothing good could have happened to keep you missing for so long!"

Tsuru closed her eyes, inhaling sharply as tears streamed down her cheeks. A smile tugged on her lips as she let out a little laugh.

"Oh gosh… You're crying. I don't think I've ever seen you cry. Am I right? What happened to you!?" Stella pleaded.

"You talk so much…" Tsuru sniffled, rubbing her best friend's hands in her own. "I'm thankful that you prayed for my death, though… You're a true friend." She quipped snarkily.

"Hey! It's not my fault! What the hell could've been happening to you!? A beautiful Japanese woman like you walking all alone around Egypt? I figured they must've sold you as a commodity to some African millionaire!" Stella panted with worry.

"You've got a very active imagination, I'll tell you that much." She sighed, sitting up a bit in her bed. "I'm sorry, okay? Things just got away from me… I work for this organization now. They're insanely secretive. In fact, I don't know what I'm allowed to tell you."

"So, you're just working for some agency? That's why you went missing? I was worried SICK about you!" Stella slapped the woman's shoulder.

She figured it was better to let Stella be mad than tell her what horrors she was really subjected to. Perhaps that was just letting her inner child bear all the responsibility yet again, but thinking too hard about that apparently put her in the hospital.

"I had a mental breakdown." She admitted without even thinking. "T-That's why I'm in the hospital."

"A breakdown? Jesus… Why didn't you ever call before now?"

Tsuru was going to answer that, but she was interrupted by the sound of a child whining.

"Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!" A little girl wailed from the hallway.

Stella sighed, pulling her hands back and rubbing them together for a moment. "Yes, sweet pea?"

A tiny little redhead waddled into the room. She had big green eyes, freckles all over her cheeks, and bandaids plastered all over her legs. She wore big blue overalls that cut off around the knee, and had shaggy shoulder-length hair. The child scampered over to Stella and gave her a big hug.

"I don't like it here! It's so sad!" She sniffled.

"Ohhhhhh, honey… I know you're sensitive about sad places…" Stella sighed fondly. She glanced over at Tsuru with a little smile. "The one time we had to bring her into a funeral home, she wouldn't sleep for a week. She said something about being able to taste the sadness."

Tsuru stared at the little girl in disbelief. She leaned away from them both and toward the edge of her bed, as if the child might lunge in for the kill at any moment.

"Stella… I didn't realize they'd be..."

"So big?" Stella laughed. "They don't stay babies forever, Tsuru. This little thing's four years old now! Aren't you, my little Shirlie Temple!?" She tickled the girl's tummy and nuzzled their noses together.

Shirlie giggled and squirmed in her mother's arms, trying to swat the woman's hands away. "S-Stop! That tickles!"

"That's the entire point, you little goblin! That's why mommies tickle their babies!" Stella giggled along with her. After a moment, she turned her attention to her best friend yet again. She took on a more sober expression as she grabbed Shirlie's attention. "Shirlie, baby, this is your Aunt Tsuru…"

The little girl's eyes widened. "Aunt Tsuru!? I have another aunt?"

"Yes, you do. She's my best friend in the whole wide world." Stella smiled.

"Why don't you believe that, Mom?" Shirlie tilted her head, puffing out her cheeks.

Stella cleared her throat, tussling Shirlie's hair and hugging her. "Oh, shush! I don't… Shirlie, dear, we talked about this!"

The little girl frowned. "Don't tell people what they're feeling if they don't want to feel it."

The mother sighed. "That's now how I phrased it. Where's your twin anyway?"

"Pepsi's with Dad!"

"Pepsi and Dad, coming through!" Adrian chuckled, entering the room with Pepsi on his shoulders. The child's head would've slammed right into the doorframe if Adrian hadn't crouched on the way through. He was a rather tall man, dwarfing the rest of his ginger family.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddy!" Shirlie let go of Stella and ran over to hug his leg. "I want up too!"

Adrian laughed, shaking his head. "No can do, squirt! I only have two shoulders!"

Stella smiled, looking over at her friend for a moment before speaking to her husband. "Adrian, can you take them to get some food? I wanna catch up with Tsuru."

"Sure thing! Hey, it's good to see you again." He gave a little wave to Tsuru before lowering Pepsi down to the floor. "C'mon, kiddos! Let's go see how bad hospital food really is!"

He led the twins out of the room, leaving the women alone. Tsuru sighed, leaning back in her bed and crossing her arms.

"You married Adrian?" She scoffed.

"Hey… He's nice." Stella sighed.

"He's mediocre. I tried to tell you that. Why should a woman as amazing as you settle with a man who's so… Wednesday afternoon?"

Stella couldn't help but laugh. "Excuse me, but some people enjoy Wednesday afternoon quite a bit. Just because he's simple doesn't mean he's lesser. It's nice for things to be simple."

The scientist couldn't keep her scowl for long. She smiled, looking down at the ground. "The twins are really cute." She admitted.

"Aren't they!? God, they're a handful! Shirlie's a little empath. She always knows what grownups are thinking. It can be a real problem…" She laughed nervously.

"I guess I never imagined them getting older." Tsuru admitted. "I pictured little babies, just like I left them."

"Tsuru…" Stella reached over and took the woman's hand. "You'd tell me if you were in trouble, right?"

After a long pause, Tsuru pulled her hand back and lowered her eyes. "No. I wouldn't."

Stella stared at her for a moment before closing her eyes in pain. She knew that was a multi-purposed answer. Tsuru just admitted that she wouldn't tell Stella if she were in danger, but saying that also verified that she was indeed in danger… There was nothing she could do to help, though. Tsuru was ten times smarter than the smartest person Stella knew. All she could do was hope things ended up okay. She stood up, grabbing her purse and glancing over to the door.

"We live in Virginia now. If you ever wanna get together for a day trip, let us know. We could do the beach or something?" She sighed.

Tsuru nodded, unable to look Stella in the eye. "Yeah, sounds good."

"Love you, Tsuru." Stella gripped the strap of her purse.

"Mhmm." The woman nodded in response.

Stella left, and Tsuru had to wonder what the hell all that was. Could Dolly have arranged that as some kind of threat? She had Tsuru declared dead and forced her to work for the foundation, then suddenly invited her dearest friend to visit the moment she showed weakness? Was this an ultimatum? 'Fuck up again, and I'll hurt Stella?' She didn't know what to make of it. Not only that, but she didn't know what to make of her hospitalization. She was discussing her inner child with Dr. Moore when suddenly her entire head burst with unintelligible screaming. It had never been that loud before… She always heard it in the back of her mind, and it certainly grew louder from time to time, but this was deafening. She was at a loss. If there was really a child inside Tsuru's mind, she wanted to let her out. Reliving her trauma wasn't the solution. She knew in her heart that such a thing would kill her. This was no life for a child. Tsuru was an adult, and she should handle her problems like one. Still, she longed for a reality where she could send her inner child off to live a proper upbringing and grow into a functioning woman.

Too bad she lived in the real world.

Things were typical for Tsuru over the next few months. She conducted her work as expected and avoided any psychological pitfalls that might land her in further trouble with the boss. In all honesty, she rarely saw Dolly at all. Most of her reports were delivered to the old woman through Cynthia, Tsuru's glorified babysitter.

"I just don't understand." Tsuru groaned in frustration.

"What's the matter now?" Cynthia asked as she approached the workstation with two steaming mugs of black coffee.

Tsuru growled under her breath as she accepted the mug. "The blood, Cynthia, what else? What have I been struggling with all this time? It's always the blood!"

The blonde sipped her drink and tilted her head. "Hmmmm… Do you think you're using too much, or too little hamon blood?"

"I'm so far past that." Tsuru sipped her coffee furiously. "No matter what combination I try, it all goes to shit. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was impossible to mix this DNA in any stable way!"

"Why do we know better, again?" Cynthia raised a brow.

"Because Joseph Joestar is alive and well. That means there's something I'm not getting here. There is a way for this to work, I just need to figure it out."

"You know, there's something you haven't entertained yet." Cynthia muttered.

"Oh, do tell. What obvious detail have I neglected to investigate after seven months of research? I probably ruled out whatever you're thinking within ten minutes of starting this project." Tsuru quipped.

"You're trying to replicate a result without using all the same variables." Cynthia explained. "Joseph's body was related to Jonathan's. There's a familial link. Not only that, but Dio's DNA was fighting against Jonathan's hamon blood for a hundred years before a single drop ended up in Joseph's veins. Maybe it's like fine wine? Maybe this is only possible if you age the blood for a century?"

Tsuru stared into her mug silently as she considered it. "Oh my God." She whispered into the mug. "You're right… I've been looking at this all wrong. I've been treating this like a single vampire's body and a single hamon user's body were interacting. Dio and Jonathan's bodies were like a mixing pot for an entire century. It took that long for his vampiric DNA to overtake the hamon in Jonathan's blood. Maybe the reason Joseph could receive the blood at all was because it was being nullified so much by Jonathan's body! It wasn't Joseph's hamon doing the work at all!"

"That sounds like we're on the right track!" Cynthia smiled.

"If that's the right track, we're absolutely screwed." Tsuru realized. "We can't replicate that in a lab. We'd need to infect a hamon user with vampirism, at the very least… Not only that, but this study could take multiple centuries to conduct properly…"

"Well, maybe it's not meant to be? Weren't you the one who said death is what makes us human?" The blonde shrugged.

Tsuru's expression twisted with confusion as she heard that. Why would Cynthia be taking her side on that? If she didn't know better, she'd think the blonde wanted the experiment to fail. What would she have to gain from Dolly losing immortality?

"Cynthia… Wh-" She was interrupted by the lab's door swinging open.

"Dr. Nishioka, there's a woman on the phone for you!" A man called into the lab.

Her train of thought was thoroughly wrecked, but she could get back to that later. Who on Earth was on the phone for her? She'd never received a call at work before. Who even knew she worked there? That's when she knew who it was. Tsuru walked out of the lab and picked up the line in the hall.

"Stella?" She asked before even checking who was on the other line.

"Tsuru!" Her friend called frantically into the line. "I'm sorry, it's an emergency. The twins, something isn't right. I need your help."

The woman raised her brow. "Call an ambulance. What could I possibly do? I'm not even a doctor of medicine." She mumbled.

"Tsuru." Cynthia sounded serious. "They're not sick. Get over here, now."

Without a moment to spare, Tsuru took an early day off and drove two hours to the Artois house. She pulled into their driveway and took a moment to admire the life Stella had built for herself. Tsuru got out of the car and knocked on the front door three times. There wasn't an answer, so she helped herself in.

"Stella? Adrian?" She called into the house.

"Basement!" Stella shouted from a distance.

Tsuru had no idea where the basement's entrance was, but it wasn't too big of a house. She tried a few doors before finding a staircase leading down. Tsuru walked into the basement and immediately felt a wave of potent anxiety. It was like walking through a bead curtain. The anxiety rolled up her entire body in thick strokes as she walked through the veil. This wasn't natural. Did Stella call for some kind of paranormal emergency? She turned a corner and saw Stella standing in the middle of her finished basement, staring at her daughter cautiously.

"Stella?" Tsuru asked quietly. "Stella, what's happening?"

"Shhhh." The mother held a finger to her lips. She walked over to Tsuru and spoke with a hushed whisper. "Shirlie has been sitting in the corner talking to her imaginary friend for three hours now."

Well, that was disturbing, but not unheard of in children. "You let her go for an hour before calling me? Has she been displaying any other tendencies in the meantime?"

"Something's wrong, Tsuru. I can feel it. You can too, don't lie to me! There's this radius in the basement that just doesn't feel right! You can step outside it and feel it wash away! The moment you walk back in, the feeling comes back!"

"You think it's coming from Shirlie and her imaginary friend?" Tsuru sounded skeptical. "Aren't imaginary friends pretty common with normal kids?"

"She's been talking to him for days now; I never thought anything of it! The thing is, something happened today. She was arguing with Pepsi over a toy. They were both yelling for about a minute straight, so I came down to yell at them. Before I could say anything, I felt a rush of anger. I got so mad for just a second… The next thing I know, Shirlie shoved Pepsi over, and the anger turned to instant regret. I felt so bad, as if I'd done it myself! Pepsi vanished into thin air before even hitting the ground! Shirlie went into the corner and started talking to her imaginary friend, and I can't find Pepsi anywhere!"

"Oh…" Tsuru mumbled. "I can see why you didn't wanna tell me that on the phone."

"I'm not crazy, Tsuru, so tell me how this makes any sense! You're the smartest person I know, and you have to believe me! Have you ever seen anything like this?" She pleaded, grabbing Tsuru's arm and squeezing it tight.

Normally, Tsuru would lie reflexively about anything remotely supernatural. It was her gut instinct to deny the existence of such things. She didn't want to come across as some kind of freak, after all. Despite this, she saw the desperation in her friend's eyes. It would be wrong to lie to Stella. Tsuru had to use her expertise to figure this out.

"You said Shirlie's an empath, right?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah! She always knows what people are feeling, ever since she could talk!"

"What we're feeling right now is empathy. It's what she experiences every day… Somehow, she's projecting that empathy across the basement. If we step out of the radius, we go back to feeling our own emotions. Right now, we're feeling her anxiety and guilt for shoving her twin over. Can't you feel it? Like we're about to get in big trouble?"

Stella nodded, covering her mouth with one hand. "But… how is this possible?"

"Pepsi vanished, right? This was right after Shirlie's push?"

The mother nodded once again.

"That was probably instinctive, then. The poor kid probably doesn't even know what's happening. Not only that, but Pepsi's probably feeling Shirlie's anxiety too…"

"Is Pepsi still in the basement?" Stella asked.

"We can only hope. I don't know how to look for an invisible kid around the city, do you?"

"Oh God… I should call Adrian. He needs to be here." Stella shook her head.

"Don't call anybody, Stella. Your children are quite possibly developing supernatural abilities as we speak. Shirlie is speaking with something real, not an imaginary friend. We just can't see it, because we're not like them."

"What are you talking about!?" Stella gasped.

"I don't have time to explain, but your kids are gifted. They're called Stand Users. Approaching them could be dangerous. I have no way to protect myself."

"Protect yourself? They're my babies!" Stella argued.

"I can't tell what kind of Stands they have. The Stands themselves might attack me if I get too close." Tsuru explained.

"Oh sweet Jesus, are my babies possessed by demons?" Stella whimpered.

"There's no such thing as a demon, Stella. Only hellmouths." Tsuru dismissed the question. "I'm going to try to approach Shirlie. If anything happens to me, do not come closer. Let her calm down and try to talk from a distance. She might not be in total control of her primal self yet…"

All Stella could do was nod as her friend approached her child slowly. Tsuru tried to look like a non-threat as she walked up to the little girl. Soon, she was standing directly in front of the corner where Shirlie huddled herself.

"Hey, Shirlie. Remember me? It's Aunt Tsuru…" She smiled.

The child looked up at Tsuru with cautious eyes for a moment before speaking. "You're not afraid of me like Mom is… Why is Mom so afraid of me?"

"Because she doesn't understand you." Tsuru explained slowly. "I understand what's happening. You see a little ghost friend right beside you, don't you? Nobody can see him, though. That's why it scares your mom."

"Pepsi can see him." Shirlie muttered.

"I see… Do you have any idea where your twin is right now?" She asked calmly.

"Uh uh." Shirlie shook her head. "You can't find Pepsi… That's not how it works."

"Okay, can you tell me how it works, then?" She smiled patiently.

"Pepsi's fine… They're doing this to punish me for pushing them over." Shirlie muttered.

"They?" Tsuru tilted her head.

"Yeah, Pepsi and the ghost." Shirlie shrugged.

"So Pepsi has an imaginary friend too? You're sure of this?"

"Mhmm… Am I in trouble? It doesn't feel like I'm in trouble, but I don't understand why Mom's so afraid."

Tsuru smiled, looking at Stella over her shoulder for a moment before shaking her head. "I bet if you focus on your mother again, you'll realize she's calming down. She doesn't specialize in this kind of thing. You wanna know a secret?" She leaned close, like nobody else was allowed to hear. "I do."

"You specialize in ghosts?" Shirlie gasped.

"Ghosts, vampires, gremlins, you name it! You know I'm telling the truth, right? People have a different feel to you when they lie?"

Shirlie nodded. "My friend isn't the one who shoved Pepsi, by the way. It was all me… I don't want him to get in trouble."

"Oh, honey, nobody's gonna get in trouble. Tell you what…" She squatted down, sitting on the backs of her heels as she looked into Shirlie's eyes. "I'm gonna take your mother upstairs and explain that everything's fine… You and your friend find Pepsi and apologize for shoving them both, okay?"

The little girl seemed to like that idea. "Okay, that sounds good."

"Perfect, you're a good kid." Tsuru rubbed Shirlie's shoulder for a moment before getting up and gesturing toward Stella.

"Let's talk in the living room."

"A Stand?" Stella repeated the word slowly, as if that would help it make sense. "Tsuru, you're losing me."

The women were sitting in the Artois's living room as Stella tried to recover from the drama downstairs. She sipped tea and shifted around anxiously on the couch. Tsuru was sitting upright on a nearby chair with both hands folded in her lap.

"It's a physical manifestation of one's spirit and will. They're impossible to see for people like us, and can possess terrifying power. There are multiple ways to awaken a Stand. Your children seem to be naturally born Stand Users, meaning it exists in either your bloodline or Adrian's."

"Bloodlines!? Terrifying power? You're not making any sense! What the hell do they have you working on at that organization?" Stella frowned.

"Immortality." Tsuru answered bluntly. "That's not why I know these things. Stella, I was held prisoner for years by a Stand User who forced me to research the phenomenon. I'm probably the most knowledgeable person on the subject alive today. You and your kids aren't in any danger, I just need to know when this began?"

Stella stared down at the carpet as she tried to recall the first strange occurrence. She lifted her eyes with a nervous little frown. "The day we visited you in the hospital."

Tsuru lifted a hand to her face and leaned into it. She found it easier to think when burying her nose and mouth in a closed palm. Pepsi and Shirlie developing their Stand Abilities the day they met Tsuru couldn't be a coincidence. Despite that, she had no way to explain a connection. To her knowledge, Stands could only be awakened by the arrow, or by a natural-born User experiencing some kind of fear or danger. Of course, some people were born with the ability to use their Stand. That was very uncommon, but she'd heard Dio's hag mention it in passing.

As she thought about that hag Enya, she remembered something else the woman said. The Joestars didn't immediately awaken their Stand Abilities the moment Dio pierced himself with the arrow. Instead, their Stands remained dormant for some period of time. She never really thought about why that could be. Could Dio's body have snapped their Stands into action via a psychic connection? She'd had access to classified files pertaining to the Egypt mission ever since she started working for the foundation. Jotaro discovered his Stand Ability when he was jumped in an alley by multiple armed men. Joseph didn't fully understand what his Stand was until he sought the council of Avdol. Upon meeting Avdol, Hermit Purple fully developed.

That was it! Dolly had been in the hospital at the same time as the twins! They could have very well passed her in the hallway! Was the mere presence of Rapture enough to forcibly awaken the latent Stand potential in Pepsi and Shirlie? Sure, Avdol's Magician's Red was enough to fully draw Hermit Purple to the surface, but Joseph had been experiencing oddities for months! Just how powerful was Dolly's Stand? She wondered if Dolly was the type who used their Stand from birth.

"Okay." She snapped herself out of it. "Like I said, this is fine. In fact, this is greater than fine! You have absurdly talented and powerful kids! Neither of them will ever be hurt by rowdy men or armed attackers. Isn't that what's important to a mother?"

"Tsuru, are they even human!?" Stella held her face in shock.

"What? Yes! Obviously! Are you listening to me?" Tsuru groaned.

"Excuse me for being a little absentminded, my babies have superpowered ghosts floating around them!"

"They're not ghosts! Just let them think that until they're older! A Stand isn't separate from the User. It's an extension of their subconscious mind. You could think of it like a primal self."

Stella leaned back on the couch with a huff. She crossed her arms, glancing over at the basement staircase. "If people can be born with superpowers, why don't we see it every day?"

Tsuru shrugged. "It does happen every day. Humans are just really good at ignoring it."

There was a long silence after that. Tsuru bit her lip as she watched her friend coming to terms with the world around her. Stella had no idea what Tsuru did, but now she had been shown just a small portion of the truth. Could she handle it? Tsuru didn't know. She just had to take each day as they came.

"Are you okay, Stella?" She asked softly.

"Yeah… You should go. I'm sure you have a bunch of work to do."

"Psh, hardly. I don't do much of anything these days aside from staring at samples as they oxidize. Cynthia can handle that much."

"Cynthia? Do you work with a team? That's unlike you." Stella grinned.

"A team? Not really… I have several people working under me. There's a lot of grunt work that needs done in this kind of field. You know, things I shouldn't waste my time with? Stuff like labeling, organization, gathering samples, reporting failures to the higher ups…" She groaned.

"Failures? Now this really doesn't sound like the Tsuru I know." The mother laughed.

"Oh, piss off. I'm doing my best, alright? It's so weird! I'm doing everything right! My hypothesis was solid, and I even have a real world application to base it all on! Despite all this, I can't seem to replicate the desired results a single time in a controlled environment! No matter how hard I try, it never works out! I don't think I've ever failed this much in my life… It's like my wheels are spinning out in a patch of mud. The project just refuses to move forward…"

Stella thought to herself for a moment before weighing in. "All of this, and you're trusting Cynthia to watch the samples?"

Tsuru waved a dismissive hand and scoffed. "I'm not trusting her with anything. She just has to stay in the lab and make sure the samples properly oxidize. Nobody could mess that up."

"It sounds like anyone could mess that up, Tsuru. You're leaving her alone with your research! I don't know much about experimentation, but isn't there supposed to be a bit more control in the equation?"

The scientist stared into space as it all began making sense. Could it be…? The reason her experiments failed time after time wasn't incompetence, but malice? Was she being actively sabotaged by some hot blonde that Dolly kept around for unprofessional reasons? Her body started to tremble as she clenched her jaw.

"Tsuru? What's wrong?" Stella frowned.

The woman launched onto her feet and made her way to the door. "You're a lifesaver, Stella… I was too close to see what's going on. That little vixen is tampering with my work." She made it to the door, clutching it with her shaky hand. The veins in her wrist bulged as she repeatedly ground her teeth together.

"Are you sure you're good to drive? I don't think I've ever seen you so angry." Stella ran to the door, placing a hand on Tsuru's arm.

Tsuru shook her arm and bucked the hand off with a growl. "Of course I'm fine. You're worrying about the wrong woman. If she's been foiling my work for the past seven months, I'll kill her."

She didn't give Stella another moment to argue. Tsuru bounded out the door and swung her car open. The woman gritted her teeth and peeled out of the driveway. It took about two hours to get back to the office. She wasted no time, storming through the front door and scanning all of the proper security clearances in a blind rage. It was an impressive feat to stay so angry for multiple hours, but Tsuru had experience.

She practically kicked open the lab's door and stomped inside. This shocked Cynthia, who was sitting at a nearby table with a book. Tsuru walked right over to Cynthia and gave the woman no time to question her. She grabbed the collar of Cynthia's blouse and lifted her up from her seat. The blonde was then spun around and slammed into the nearest wall with a thud.

"Tsuru!? What the hell are you doing!?" She demanded.

"You swapped the samples, didn't you!? The reason we always end up with human blood is because you keep swapping the damn samples! Why are you trying to ruin this project, Cynthia? I thought you were a teacher's pet, but now I have no idea what you want! TELL ME WHY YOU DID THIS!" She screamed directly into the woman's face.

Cynthia had to take a moment to collect herself after Tsuru's little outburst. She cleared her throat, raising both hands submissively and nodding her head.

"Okay, okay, you caught me. I've been sabotaging the experiment this whole time."

"Why!?" Tsuru shoved Cynthia even harder against the wall.

"Because Dolly can't have the results!" She screamed back, releasing all of her inhibitions. "You're such a meathead, Tsuru! Can you think about the consequences of your actions for once before you succumb to tunnel vision?"

The woman's grip loosened on Cynthia's collar, but she didn't let go. "You think Dolly's a threat?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes! Go ahead and report me! I've done everything in my power to slow down her plans. I'm just one woman, what am I supposed to do!? I tried to ruin this experiment, but you never gave up! I don't expect you to care, since you're so obsessed with progress and results, but I have to ask… Please don't go through with this. You don't know what she's capable of."

Tsuru released Cynthia and took a single step back. She still had the woman cornered, but provided a bit of breathing room.

"What makes you so sure about this?" She raised her brow.

"Oh, so I'm meant to justify myself to you of all people?" Cynthia scoffed.

"If you want a chance of walking out of this room without handcuffs, I'd say so." Tsuru growled.

Cynthia hung her head in defeat. "She thinks that the weak deserve to die." She muttered quietly. "Dolly believes in survival of the fittest. She wants a world where only the strongest people get to live happy lives. I'm not talking about subjugating the weak and enslaving them, either. She just wants them dead. Please, Tsuru, you have to believe me. Her power is already so horrible, don't give her immortality. I don't want to imagine what she could accomplish with that."

"How do you know all this? Are you quoting her pillow talk?" Tsuru asked.

The blonde's cheeks flushed crimson, and she averted her eyes. She didn't expect Tsuru to ask something like that. After biting her lip and nodding slowly, she responded. "In a manner of speaking… There were never really pillows involved. She's too busy for that."

Tsuru rolled her eyes. "Thanks, I needed that mental image. Jesus, Cynthia… I know she takes care of herself, but she's still in her seventies. What the hell are you doing pillow talking with someone like that?"

"I was trying to get ahead, okay? You of all people should understand that dynamic. It's not that I like her, I just like her more than what my life would've been if I turned her down!"

Tsuru pulled even further back and rubbed her chin. "I can't have you in my lab anymore, Cynthia. My situation's a little more dire than yours. She expects me to get this research done. She's threatened the only people on Earth who mean a damn to me! You had no right to interfere with my work."

"I'm trying to tell you that it's bigger than that! If she thinks these people in your life are weak, they're doomed either way! What do I have to do to get you to understand?" She grabbed Tsuru's arms and looked into her eyes.

Tsuru shook Cynthia off, brushing her arms clean of the woman's dramatics before walking over to the tampered samples. She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. What the hell was she supposed to do? If Dolly had some grand plan, she'd accomplish it whether Tsuru made some super potion or not. How could she be held responsible for Dolly's actions? Sure, she had the occasional concern about whether or not she should make immortality widely available, but wouldn't some other scientist just do it instead? That was the biggest issue for her. If Tsuru stood down and made some grand gesture about doing what was right, all she'd accomplish would be sacrificing her comfort and the safety of the Artois family.

"Life isn't as black and white as you make it seem." Tsuru snarled.

"It is in this case." Cynthia countered. "You've been to hell and back, Tsuru. Nobody is denying that. But there's a time in everybody's life when they have to make a decision: do the right thing, or be a victim forever."

The woman scowled, gripping the counter with both hands as she ground her teeth together. That's how it had to be, then? Cynthia fucked everything up, but suddenly this was an issue of Tsuru's character? She had been to hell and back, but what did this bitch know about that? She tried to work herself into an even bigger frenzy in order to justify throwing Cynthia to the wolves. This wasn't her problem, and she wouldn't go down because of it. There was only one thing she could do…

Tsuru marched directly to Dolly's office and knocked three times. She didn't even wait for an answer before pushing the door open. Dolly was on the phone, and she didn't look thrilled by the intrusion. She held up her index finger, finishing up her conversation on the phone quickly before hanging it up. Instead of speaking right away, she folded her hands on her desk and stared into Tsuru's eyes with annoyance.

"May I help you?"

Tsuru slammed the door shut and walked right up to Dolly's desk. "The reason my experiments have been failing for so long is your little pet Cynthia. I caught her swapping my samples and sabotaging the entire project. When I confronted her about it, she spilled her guts. She told me about your plans, the way you think the weak deserve to die, and how you believe in survival of the fittest. Then, she begged me to help her. She wanted me to come up short with my research and determine that human immortality was impossible. I imagine her plan is to let you die of old age before you can accomplish any of your sinister schemes."

Dolly took all of it in stride. If she was shocked, she certainly didn't let that fact on. After taking a moment to mull everything over, she gestured toward the seat across from her desk. Tsuru sat down and crossed one leg over the other. She still seemed to be pumping with adrenaline as her chest heaved, despite her best efforts to hide it.

"After being told all of this, you stormed right into my office and confronted me about it? That means one of two things is currently happening inside your pretty little head, Tsuru. Either you don't believe what Cynthia is saying, or you do. Assuming you do, I imagine this is your way of becoming my new number one? Ratting out an insubordinate among my elite would certainly reserve a place for you at my table. Am I wrong?"

Tsuru tried to match Dolly's eye contact, though it was difficult. The woman radiated such an intimidating energy. She tried to take things one sentence at a time. That's how she would make it out in one piece.

"You're neglecting a third possibility. What if I believe Cynthia and agree with her? What if I plan on stopping you?" She asked with a bit of trepidation. She sounded insane even suggesting such a thing! Tsuru only realized how absurd her question was when it was too late.

Dolly laughed accordingly, rolling her head back and placing a hand on her heart. "Oh ho ho, Tsuru, my dear! If you were that stupid, you wouldn't be working for me."

Tsuru hung her head with a grim expression. She knew it was true. She was too smart to directly challenge Dolly. If there were a button she could press to foil the woman's plans and live happily ever after, of course she'd press it! She'd never put herself in a direct conflict with the woman, though. Tsuru had too strong a will to live.

"Don't frown like that, Doll…" Dolly stood up from her seat and prowled around the desk. She circled behind Tsuru, her heels clicking against the tiled floor as she hummed softly to herself. "A pretty face like yours should be smiling…" Her wrinkled fingers slipped in from behind and tugged Tsuru's lips into a coerced smile. "You have so much to smile for! I can tell you're at war with yourself, but it's ridiculous! Everyone has two sides to their soul, Tsuru. There's a weak side, and a strong side. Most people succumb to their weakness when the going gets rough. We're different… When things get touch-and-go, we rely on our strength to get us through it! I know you agree. Dio could have killed you at any point during the two years he had you. If you were weak, you'd be lying in some gore pit right now. Instead, you cut your throat and cast yourself into a pile of corpses only to be discovered by my men! That's strength, Tsuru…"

Dolly's hands moved from Tsuru's lips, cupping each of her cheeks and massaging the woman's face as she spoke. One hand slipped down to cup Tsuru's chin while the other gently toyed with her dark hair.

"Of course, our strengths differ greatly from one another's. You're more like a viper in the grass. You're low to the ground, quiet, even insignificant at first glance… Despite that, you manage to punch well beyond your weight class when it counts. You probably planned on killing Dio one day, right?"

Tsuru nodded helplessly.

"Mmmm…" Dolly hummed. "I bet you could've done it. You see, Tsuru, I understand you better than anyone could. I know what it's like to be tiny and weak. You may struggle to imagine it, but once upon a time I was a crying little girl who couldn't protect myself. I lost someone dear to me, but there was nothing I could do. I'm sure you can empathize with that, right? Men are born bigger, and they get the idea that they're stronger because of it. They throw their weight around like barbarians and kill without second thought. That's not true strength, Tsuru… True strength comes from surviving their wrath."

The scientist gripped her pants with both fists in an attempt to calm her nerves. Dolly had spoken this way before. Tsuru wasn't sure if it was true, though. Did her strength really come from such a horrible experience in her childhood? Would she be even stronger if she relived that experience alongside her inner child? She didn't feel very strong at that moment as Dolly toyed with her face and hair. She felt just as weak and helpless as she did in Dio's arms. Had her life really improved since his death? She was still in a prison cell, the bars were merely abstract instead of steel.

"That's why I need to subject the world to immeasurable pain, Tsuru. There are so many people who get to glide through life without adversity or grief. They can never truly be strong. Even if they're powerful, they'll never hold a candle to my Stand. Do you want to know why?" She asked, circling her thumb around Tsuru's cheek playfully.

The woman could only nod.

"I unlocked Rapture on the worst night of my life. I had never felt more pain, and never have since. Suffering builds character, doesn't it? I suffered more than anyone, and in turn, my power is greater than anyone."

How could she honestly argue that she suffered more than anyone else? Tsuru knew a narcissist when she saw one, and Dolly was turning out to be a textbook example. How could she hand even more power over to such a woman?

"Do you ever feel like you have an inner child making decisions for you?" She asked softly.

Dolly raised her brow. "An inner child?"

"Dr. Moore tried to get me to read some book called 'The Primal Scream.' It's about how childhood trauma creates an inner child that handles all of the negative emotions in your life, and the only way to properly develop into a functional adult is to assume responsibility for those emotions."

"Interesting." Dolly nodded. "Do you feel like you have an inner child, Tsuru? Does she handle the things that are too scary for your conscious mind? What does she think about me?"

"I think my inner child wants to kill you." She admitted quietly.

Dolly roared with laughter, gently patting Tsuru's cheeks before pulling away and walking back to her seat. "Smart kid! Lucky for us both, she's not the one in charge. You're not a child, Tsuru. You are a wildly intelligent adult woman who knows what's best for her. Don't worry about my motivations. Everything will happen as it should. You don't have the mind of a politician, and you're certainly no hero. This research fascinates you, doesn't it? Do your job, stay happy, and everything will be fine."

Tsuru nodded slowly, having nothing else to say. She stood up and humbly left the room. As she walked down the hall, Dolly's words bounced around her mind. She didn't feel very strong at that moment, but that didn't matter. She had work to do…

Cynthia took a drag of her cigarette as she rested her ass against a dark car in the middle of a familiar suburban driveway. She'd been waiting for quite some time, though she wasn't exactly in a position to complain. After her third cigarette, she noticed the front door opening. The woman flicked the remains of her last cigarette onto the pavement and crushed it with her shoe. Tsuru walked up to Cynthia with a sigh, arms crossed in annoyance.

"It took some doing, but they'll take you in for three days. You'll sleep in their windowless basement, and you will be gone by Thursday morning." She explained.

"Tsuru… Thank you so much." Cynthia sighed. "I really don't know how to properly thank you."

"Don't." Tsuru shook her head. "I told Dolly the truth. You're in a hell of a lot of trouble. I really hope you've had an escape plan prepared, seeing as this was always inevitable."

"I'm trying to work that out now." The blonde admitted. "There's this English guy who flirted with me at a gala last year. Neil Archer, I believe. The man's a multi-millionaire, and he's completely in love with me. He called me every week for two months straight trying to arrange a visit to London." She explained.

"Call him. Use a payphone, but don't leave this house in the daylight. Let's hope he's stupid enough to take you in and keep you safe with his money." Tsuru mumbled.

"With the night I gave him after the gala, he'd be stupid not to take me." Cynthia winked, sweeping in and giving Tsuru a quick hug. She pulled back with a smile. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

Tsuru tensed up at the hug, staring straight into the night sky. When it ended, she took three steps back and brushed herself off. "Uh huh. Get inside, and don't give the Artoises any trouble. Also, nothing personal, but I really hope we never see each other again." She grabbed her keys and unlocked the car. After getting into the vehicle, she watched Cynthia enter the house safely.

Maybe Tsuru was a weakling who caved to authority, but just this once, she did the right thing. That was something to be proud of. She pulled out of the driveway with a smile and began her long drive home.

Six months passed, and Tsuru heard nothing of Cynthia. That was certainly a good thing, right? She'd have been notified if the woman who sabotaged her entire program was captured, wouldn't she? There was no way to tell. She sat idly in her lab as she waited for her assistant to return with some test results. Things had been relatively slow in her life ever since she discovered Cynthia's betrayal. The program was finally on track, but she wasn't anywhere close to perfecting it. She wasted seven months of her life on tampered, inaccurate results, and six months of proper research wasn't going to undo that. Still, it was nice to have a peaceful routine once again. If she didn't know any better, she'd even call her current state one of contentment.

The door opened, and Tsuru nearly dropped her coffee when she saw Dolly walking into the lab. It had been weeks since she saw the busy woman, and months since either of them spoke for more than fifteen seconds. She straightened her posture and placed her coffee down on the counter.

"Evening," Tsuru nodded to her boss.

Dolly walked around the island in the middle of the lab and examined some vials of blood as it bathed under powerful UV lights.

"How are things coming along?" The boss asked.

"Slowly, but there's definitely been progress. I send reports to your office every Friday. Have you been reading them?"

"I'm very busy." Dolly shrugged. "I figured it was as good a time as any to get some face time with you."

"Of course." Tsuru grabbed her mug and took another sip. She always let her coffee get cold before it was even half empty. She sucked it down anyway, never being one to complain.

"I was actually thinking about Cynthia the other day." Dolly mused as she stared at a vial of blood.

Tsuru tried to manage her expression when the woman was brought up. "Hmmm?" She tilted her head.

"Yes, she's still beyond our reach. She's cozied up against one of England's most powerful businessmen and seems quite content to live the rest of her days in his mansion."

"If I may…" Tsuru sat up a bit. "Why are you wasting so many resources chasing after her in the first place? She ruined my research, but I'm doing just fine now." The confusion in her tone was genuine. She figured that Cynthia would be a target for a little while before the foundation gave up on her.

After hearing that, Dolly was sure Tsuru didn't know the whole story. She prowled a little closer to the scientist and curled her lips into a smile.

"We don't care about Cynthia- we care about the feather."

Tsuru's stomach sank, and she must have looked visibly shaken by the revelation. Dolly was paying very close attention to her reactions for some reason, which only exasperated her worries. Did Cynthia steal Kars's feather? Why would she do something so boneheaded and reckless?

"I didn't realize the feather was missing." She admitted with gravity in her voice.

"Oh, I believe you. The look on your face was very telling… Here's the thing, Tsuru, I know everything about everyone in this building. I know you didn't help her steal the feather, and I know you're too smart to betray me like that. However…"

The scientist felt five long, talon-like fingers wrap around the back of her head. Before she could react, her face was mercilessly slammed against the table. She struggled against Dolly's Stand, but it was no use. Tsuru was quite familiar with this position, after all… How many times had she been held down by an egomaniac who could kill her with a thought? She closed her eyes and tried to endure.

"I know you helped Cynthia escape the country, though. That was a very bad idea, Tsuru… Granted, you didn't understand the full severity of the situation, so I can forgive you for it this once…"

Her nostrils flared as she clenched her teeth in anticipation of some terrible pain or revelation. She knew this was going somewhere, and there was no way it was anywhere good.

"Still," Dolly's smile sank. "You were a very bad girl, and you have to be punished… Let me make this absolutely clear… When I get my hands on Cynthia, I'm not going to kill her. I wouldn't kill you if you betrayed me, either… Death means the end of pain, and the passing of your soul from this world to the next… I don't let traitors escape that easily…"

Tsuru felt Rapture's other hand effortlessly rip the nail off of her right index finger and lift it into the air. She cried out in pain, clenching her fist in an attempt to apply some pressure to the wound. Rapture lifted her up by the head and held her in front of the nearby examination glass. Tsuru could see blood samples on the other side of the glass, but she could also see low-opacity reflection of her terrified expression. Dolly leaned in and purred against the back of the woman's neck.

"What should I do with this nail, Tsuru?" She smiled, having Rapture hold it right in front of Tsuru's eyes. "Maybe…"

Tsuru watched the nail slowly transform into a thin razor blade. It levitated over to her cheek, running across it and slicing her face open. Blood trickled down her neck as she clenched her jaw. The razor floated away, morphing into a slender spider. It dangled from one leg, wriggling the other seven haphazardly in front of her face.

"If you betrayed me, I could turn your teeth into spiders. Does that sound fun? Or maybe I'd turn some of your blood into air pockets and watch you pop like a balloon? I could completely reconfigure your body and make you take the appearance of a wanted criminal, letting you wallow away behind bars for a crime you didn't commit? Or, if we wanted to keep things simple, I could just make the fluid in your eyes boil until all you can see is blood and darkness."

"Do you think I'm afraid of you?" Tsuru asked in a soft, empty voice. She was honestly shocked to hear such a thing, just as much as Dolly.

The blonde raised her brow. "You should be."

"I've hated being alive for thirty-six years now. Ever since I was born, I have been miserable. I spent two years as Dio's prisoner. You think I'm afraid of torture or death? Face it, Dolly, there's nothing you can do to me that matters, because I don't matter." She growled.

Rapture's grip loosened, eventually fading completely. Tsuru fell to her knees, clutching her right hand in pain as the missing nail bled. She winced, sucking on her bottom lip to keep in the moans of pain as Dolly towered above her.

"You've gotten far too comfortable here, Tsuru. Don't forget that my men pulled you out of a pile of corpses. The moment you become more trouble than you're worth, I'm finishing what Dio started."

The scientist remained on the floor as Dolly walked to the exit. She lingered in the doorway for a moment, glancing at Tsuru over her shoulder with a sigh.

"Get to work." She ordered, stepping out and slamming the door.

Tsuru's mind raced as she took in the gravity of her situation. Dolly just threatened her life rather explicitly. That was a far cry from the vague hints and warnings she experienced in the beginning. Dolly knew Tsuru helped Cynthia escape, and planned on making the scientist suffer for it. Get to work. What did she mean by that? Tsuru glanced over at the blood samples with trembling eyes. She remembered the boss's words… The moment Tsuru outlived her usefulness, Dolly would kill her. Hadn't she already become more trouble than she was worth? Tsuru could concoct a serum that kills the recipient instantly! There was simply no way Dolly would ever take Tsuru's work anymore! She wouldn't trust it for a second.

"Oh God…" She whispered. "She's going to kill me. I'm not useful enough to keep around. What am I going to do?"

It was only in times of unbelievable stress that Tsuru talked to herself. She certainly viewed it as one of her less desirable traits.

"Calm down." She growled. "You survived Dio- you can survive this."

Tsuru fell down to her elbows, clutching her cheeks and shaking her head. "No! Dio wasn't organized! He had a couple dozen underlings! Dolly has a multinational organization with ties to the UN and White House! Oh Christ, I'm fucked…"

"Snap out of it!" She slapped herself in the face. This caused her to drop the irrational conversation entirely. Tsuru was a woman of action. Not only that, she was a genius. There was a reason Dolly and Dio kept her around for so long! She was too valuable an asset to cast aside! Even if Dolly was done with her, Tsuru wasn't some weakling waiting to die. She would fight back, she had to. It was time… After avoiding it for so long, it was finally time for Tsuru to obtain some power of her own.

The arrows were either missing, or confiscated. She couldn't assume Dolly would tell her if the Foundation ever found them. That was fine! Tsuru knew of multiple Stand Users who never encountered the arrows! Avdol came to mind. She was heartbroken to learn of his fate. Avdol and his grandfather were the reason Tsuru had a passion for the supernatural to begin with. Some might use that as a way to cast blame, but she looked at them rather fondly despite everything.

Stand Users could be born. That always confused Tsuru during her research. For the longest time, she had no explanation for why some people could develop abilities on their own, while others needed to be pricked by an artifact. That was before she discovered the virus. Her eyes widened.

THE VIRUS!

Tsuru's eyes darted over to the vials of vampire blood on display in her own lab. It was nearly an infinite resource since vampire blood consumed and overrode the blood of humans. She had been working with it for so long and never realized what Dolly had given her! She never brought up the viral aspect of Stands. Tsuru kept that information close to her chest. Dolly had no idea that Dio's blood was good for more than turning human DNA into vampire cells!

She had everything she needed right there in the lab! Tsuru quickly got to work, just like Dolly ordered. Unfortunately for the blonde bitch, Tsuru was working on a way to win her freedom. She followed the familiar process of mixing blood and waiting for the cells to merge. Vampiric cells would devour and overwrite human cells under most circumstances, but the process could be mitigated by a healthy amount of hamon. The Speedwagon Foundation had a small unit of trained hamon warriors on call ever since Elizabeth Joestar trained them in the fifties. Most of them were getting into their seventies, but they could still produce the sun's energy with ease. Tsuru added some fresh hamon blood to the concoction and gave it a moment to set in.

All she needed to do was create a vial of perfectly human blood that began as Dio's vampiric cells. The hamon would eradicate the vampirism and leave the blood wholly human, but she had no reason to believe hamon conflicted with the Stand Virus. She licked her lips anxiously as the process dragged on. If she could inject herself with a bit of safe O negative blood, she would infect herself with the virus! Tsuru could skip the arrow entirely and create her own arrow!

She knew it wouldn't be that simple, though. The Arrows weren't just vessels for the virus. They were ritualistic artifacts that seemed to be attuned specifically to the process of creating Stands. She had no idea who made them, but they must have had a deep, intimate knowledge of Stands and science. Without a real arrow, Tsuru could only infect herself with the virus and hope for the best. There were numerous people in the world with the virus lying dormant in their systems, never to awaken an ability. From what Tsuru understood about Stands, she had a good chance at awakening one in such a dire moment. Her back was against the wall, and she needed to manifest something to combat Rapture!

It took some time, but she finally had a syringe filled with blood at the ready. Tsuru gritted her teeth and injected it directly into her arm. She winced, rolling her eyes back and huffing out a gust of air. She'd done it! The Stand Virus was in Tsuru's veins! She dropped the syringe with a sigh of relief and stumbled back against a nearby cabinet.

When would it manifest? If she'd done everything right, all she needed was the raw potential of a Stand User to develop her own ability! Unfortunately, this wasn't an exact science. Her research came up empty when it came to pinning down a timeframe. All she could do was hope that her Stand would grow before Dolly made her move. Would she be so lucky…?

It had been two months since the incident with Dolly, and Tsuru was on edge. Every single day she'd come to the lab and do her job as expected, though she knew Dolly would never trust her work. What could possibly be taking so long? She felt like she was going insane. Was Dolly going to kill her or not? Perhaps this was its own method of torture? She had no way to know.

For the time being, she was trying her best to relax. Tsuru sat at an outdoor cafe with her best friend. She sipped her tea and looked around with a little frown. Stella noticed this.

"Something wrong?"

Tsuru shrugged. "I guess I'm wondering why you called me over. You sounded pretty out of breath on the phone. To be perfectly honest, I suspected something was wrong with the twin's Stands."

Stella sighed, looking around to make sure nobody was listening. "Tsuru, you mentioned that these Stand Abilities can be inherited, right?"

The scientist nodded as she stirred a bit of sugar into her tea with a straw. "Mhmm. It's probably located somewhere deep within you or Adrian's bloodlines. There's no use worrying about it. Like I said before, Stands are perfectly harmless to the User if they manifest naturally."

The red head sighed, looking down at her lap as she tried to find the right words. Stella was rolling up a straw wrapper into a tiny little ball as she mulled things over.

"If it was in my bloodline, would I be susceptible to awakening one as well?" She mumbled.

Tsuru's eyes sharpened a bit as she looked at her friend. "...Yes. Why?"

"I think you should take a walk with me." Stella frowned.

After paying the bill, Tsuru followed Stella out of the cafe's outdoor dining lounge and onto the sidewalk. They traveled about two blocks away before Stella stopped before a tall building. It appeared to be some sort of bank. Tsuru was hesitant, knowing full well where this was going. Stella took a deep breath, placing one hand on the door before swinging it open. There was a brief flash, but soon the entrance was revealed. The other side of the door appeared to contain a standard lobby. Tsuru wasn't too surprised at first, but soon she began to pick up on discrepancies.

Although the door led into the lobby seamlessly, Tsuru noticed that the windows on the front of the building seemed to lead into a completely different room. Her eyes refused to believe it for a moment! The lobby she saw was too wide for these windows to somehow show different rooms! They should have shown the same lobby as the door! That brought Tsuru to one conclusion. The doorway was leading into a completely different building than the windows, hence the bright flash.

Stella cleared her throat before walking inside. Tsuru followed hesitantly. As she passed over the threshold, Tsuru felt the entire climate shifting around her. It wasn't just the inviting feeling of air conditioning. Somehow, the entire atmosphere felt slightly different than just a moment ago. When Tsuru finished walking through the door, she quickly turned to look outside. Her hand slapped over her mouth with a gasp when she saw a black void instead of the street. The door didn't lead anywhere!

"Stella…" She spoke carefully.

"This is my ability, Tsuru. I call it the Hotel California… It can be behind any door I choose, and there's no way to leave without my ability."

"How long?" Tsuru mumbled, unable to form long sentences due to her shock.

"I started to be able to see Pa-Pa-Power about two weeks ago… Shirlie was so happy, but I knew that meant I was like them. You said it yourself, we weren't supposed to be able to see Stands."

"Still, there's a difference between being able to see Stands and this!" Tsuru threw her arms up and gestured to the enormous five-star lobby surrounding them.

"I first walked into the hotel after a fight with Adrian. I screamed at him and tried to leave the bedroom. Instead of walking into the hall, I fell into this lobby. After screaming for a minute or so, I opened the door and ended up back in the bedroom… That's when we knew I was different too."

"We're in your house? Is this an expansion of it somehow?" Tsuru pondered.

"No. The doors don't lead anywhere unless I want them to. I can travel to any door in the world through this hotel. It seems to be disconnected from the rest of the world."

"Where are we right now, specifically?" Tsuru demanded.

"I don't know. It seems like some kind of void? The Hotel California exists outside of our normal reality. It doesn't exist anywhere, and the only way inside is my ability."

"There's no way this place could possibly be bugged?" Tsuru asked cautiously.

"Nobody could get inside without my permission, so no! What's all this about? Does it have anything to do with that woman who stayed with us? I don't like secrets, Tsuru." Stella warned.

Tsuru's entire mood changed in a flash. She seemed a little more unhinged than before as she walked over to Stella.

"They're going to kill me, Stella… I helped Cynthia get away, and they're going to kill me for it."

The redhead gasped as she was presented with dire circumstances. "Kill you!? Tsuru, what on Earth are you talking about? Start making sense!"

"I fucked with the wrong people, Stella! That's all my life has been! I keep falling into these horrible situations because of who I am! Don't you get it? I'm a hellmouth! I suck up all the negativity from an environment before moving onto the next! It's like I feed on misery and disaster!" She gripped the woman's shoulders for support. "I don't know what to do."

Stella had never seen Tsuru so shaken in her life. That wasn't even what disturbed her most, though. 'I don't know what to do' simply wasn't in Tsuru's vocabulary. Ever since she met the young Japanese girl, Stella was always amazed by her ability to wriggle out of bad situations with that brain of hers! If Tsuru felt stuck… What was anyone meant to do?

"If this is all true, I'm in danger too." Stella held Tsuru's arms in an attempt to calm the woman down. "My children, Tsuru. Are they safe? Can you look me in the eyes and promise me that they're safe?"

Tsuru lifted her head and tried to look Stella in the eyes. After a moment, she faltered, hanging her head.

"Oh Jesus… That settles it, then. I'm going to keep us all safe, at least until you can come up with a solution. All you need is a little bit of sanctuary to get the gears turning!"

The scientist couldn't argue with that logic. If Stella was right about the hotel's properties, they would all be safe inside. Any agent of Dolly's would have to be invited in, and she doubted Stella would be stupid enough to bring in random strangers. If she had some time and safety, she might be able to come up with a plan to defeat Dolly. Maybe she could even awaken her own latent Stand Ability and fight the woman directly?

"You said this place can open into any door in the world?" Tsuru asked carefully.

"From what I've tested. Why…?" Stella frowned.

She had a very bad feeling about this.

Back at the Speedwagon Foundation, a door opened with a brief flash. Tsuru stepped through it and looked around in disbelief. She glanced over her shoulder and marveled at the juxtaposition of the Hotel California's lavish lobby leading directly into the sterile halls of the Speedwagon Foundation's underground facility. She had a mission, though…

"This isn't the right room, Stella. I said the lab." She called into the hotel.

"I'm a little bad at pinpointing specific doors if I've never been there before. Is this close enough?" Stella asked with a frown, still standing inside the lobby.

Tsuru sighed, nodding her head. "Yeah, I'm just a minute or so down the hall. I need to grab some blood from the lab, then we have one more stop before leaving this place for good."

"I'll be watching. I can see what's happening outside my Hotel California for a small radius. As long as the door leads into the foundation, I should be able to keep an eye on you. Good luck…" Stella waved nervously.

Tsuru nodded and began walking down the hall. She carefully opened her lab and snuck inside. It was dark, so she flicked on just one light before walking over to the samples of Dio's blood. She needed to get all of the vampire's blood out of foundation hands. Once she had Dio's blood, she would need to do something about the Pillar Man they kept in the facility. She was still trying to figure that one out, though.

Tsuru stuffed all of the vampiric blood vials into her purse and groaned with anxiety. The Speedwagon Foundation wouldn't be able to make any additional vials of vampiric blood without these samples. Her eyes drifted over to the samples of hamon-infused human blood with a mischievous expression. There was no reason to take hamon blood with her, right? Still, it couldn't hurt. She walked out of her lab and back to the Hotel California's entrance where Stella was waiting. Everything seemed to be going well for the time being.

"Okay… Now, I just need to shut down one last program. Dolly can't have any of this DNA." She explained.

"Let me try to get us to this containment chamber you were talking about. It might take a few tries."

The doors to the Hotel California opened and closed various times throughout the dark halls of the foundation. She wasn't worried about being spotted by any high-ranking officials at such a late hour. Besides, Dolly's office was above ground! They didn't have any chance of stumbling into her. Stella sighed as she flipped through a few more doors. This was far harder than she thought. It was a very precise ability to train, and she had little experience with it. Eventually, she swung the door open and saw something rather unexpected.

Dolly was sitting at a different desk than usual. Not only that, but the office seemed to have a completely different design. There were no windows, and the entire place had a bit of a menacing aura. Tsuru gasped in disbelief when she saw Dolly in the flesh. For a moment, they went unnoticed. Dolly was in the middle of a passionate tangent.

"Goddammit, Mortimer! How complicated does this have to be? I need more Stand Users… And you, Diva, you're supposed to bring them onto my side."

A young Mortimer stood beside Diva as they were both berated by their leader. Mortimer seemed to be in his early twenties, starkly contrasting the way he appeared to be in his sixties or seventies in the present day. Diva looked just as old as the day he died inside Hotel California. They both hung their heads and nodded.

"Of course, Ma'am… It's just that there aren't many Stand Users to find! This organization you intend to build… It could take years to gather the necessary manpower." Mortimer explained.

"Let me worry about the timeline, Mortimer. You have a job to do." Dolly spat.

"Can they see us?" Tsuru whispered.

"N-No…" Stella shook her head. "The door is one way until we walk through. If we set foot outside the hotel, we'll be right there with them."

"Okay. Keep us right here for a minute… I need to figure out what they're planning."

Diva rolled his head with a groan as he was yelled at by his naggy boss. "Listen, Blondie, I agreed to this because you offered me an easy avenue to power. Hell, it's even easier than my normal schemes. Convincing a couple of dopes to join your team is way simpler than maintaining a shaky plot with various politicians. With all that in mind, I don't appreciate being scolded like a child."

"To me, Diva, you are a child." Dolly rolled her eyes.

"You're freaking geriatric! When all you have is a hammer, yada yada! I think this whole apocalyptic cult of yours is going down in flames, but I definitely wanna be here if it doesn't. Give me simple jobs, pay me regularly, and we're all happy. Keep me in this room for another minute with your whiny little bottom boy, and I'm gonna reconsider our contract."

Dolly seemed displeased. "Nobody talks to me like that, Diva. Someone ought to teach you some manners."

"Meh, it seems like you've got bigger problems, Grandma. There have been two powerful minds watching us for about two minutes now."

Tsuru's eyes widened, and she had to grip Stella for support as it appeared they were spotted.

"What!?" Dolly hissed.

"I can't exactly place them, but my Stand can sense any mind in the vicinity, and I feel two powerful Stand Users somewhere close by… In fact," He turned to face the door. "My gut is telling me they're standing right in the doorway, but I might just need to go to the bathroom."

"We need to go." Tsuru gritted her teeth. "Stella, the Pillar Man! Get us there now!"

Dolly stomped over to the door and swung it open. Tsuru watched in horror as the woman walked right through them and into the hall. They were running out of time. Stella shut the Hotel California's door and tried to locate the Pillar Man. After trying six more entrances, Tsuru stopped her.

"Wait! Here we are!" She stumbled out of the hotel and ran over to Santana's containment chamber.

The Pillar Man was lying in his UV light prison as nothing more than a stone husk. Tsuru didn't have enough time to think of a way to kill him. She could release him and hope Dolly did the deed? What if he somehow escaped and ran rampant through the city? She couldn't take that risk. Her eyes darted around the room for anything to take with her. She noticed a few vials of Pillar Man blood sitting beside the observation glass. They took regular samples to make sure his body wasn't evolving! She was never granted regular access to this room, but she was aware of the process. Tsuru stuffed the vials into her purse alongside Dio's. They would have to be enough.

The door swung open, and Tsuru's view of Stella was obscured by Dolly storming into the room. She felt her heart sink as Dolly grew closer.

"I've been waiting for you to make a move like this, Tsuru." She growled. "You're too hard to read! I couldn't tell if you were loyal, or plotting to ruin everything! Now I don't have to worry about any of that! I don't know how you managed to teleport around the foundation, but your joyride is over. All of it's over."

Tsuru felt her heart pounding out of her chest as she looked for any other exit. There wasn't a way out. Stella's door was behind Dolly, and there was no way to get past the woman without being killed by Rapture. Her only saving grace appeared to be Rapture's range. She wasn't dead yet, meaning Dolly had to get a little closer. Perhaps the blonde was hesitant about Tsuru's potential ability? Diva had said there were two Stand Users watching, after all. Maybe she could bluff her way out of this?

"I just wanna walk out of here, Dolly. You'll never see me again." Tsuru spoke as calmly as one could in such a situation.

"Oh, give me a break! You can't reason your way out of this one, Tsuru! I'm not like Dio! You can't just bat your eyelashes and sleep with me to save your life! I am going to end this right now…" Dolly marched closer.

They were in a small square room with a single door. Tsuru had no plan. Could she throw the vials of blood in an attempt to blind Dolly for a moment? That sounded like child's play compared to Rapture. As Dolly grew closer, Tsuru felt her ears ringing. She didn't want to die. This crazy bitch was going to kill her right in front of Stella, and then there would be no one to protect the Artois family. She couldn't die… She didn't want to. She really, really didn't want to die. Her chest began to heave as she drew toward what were likely her final moments on Earth. She took one last breath, closing her eyes. It might have been a coward's move, but she didn't want to see the moment that Rapture killed her. She was afraid.

She heard Dolly's footsteps stop and knew it was the end. Rapture raised its staff and slammed it against Tsuru's side. At that moment, she felt herself growing hotter and hotter. So that was how Tsuru would die, boiled to death? She clenched her jaw and waited to meet oblivion. However, oblivion never came. She felt an immense flow of power through her body, and then there was a powerful flash.

Tsuru's Stand lit the room with a colorful, fiery glow. It had wings of fire sprouting in both directions as it hovered between her and Rapture. There was a sun pendant on its chest, and it had a simple robe that flowed out from each of its hips down to its legs. Its clothing did nothing to cover its form, though there wasn't much to cover, since its body was primarily made of a radiant light and had no human features to speak of. There were two large sun pendants on its head, pinned to its long flowing orange hair. There were braces around its ankles and toes, almost looking like sandals.

She knew the Stand's name and power the moment it appeared. She always wondered what it would be like, but no amount of words could properly describe how liberating the sensation was! She had a second body that moved based on her thoughts!

"Mother Dawn…" Tsuru whispered.

Dolly backed away, holding Rapture in front of her as protection. "It looks like you went and got yourself a Stand… I knew you weren't telling me everything."

Suddenly, getting past Dolly seemed like a viable option. Tsuru prepared her Stand to attack, but felt like something was off. Rapture grew closer for another attack, but Mother Dawn couldn't attack. Her eyes widened as the staff connected with Mother Dawn's chest. The Stand took a defensive position, crossing its arms and bracing for whatever Rapture was planning. Dolly paused, waiting for something more. After a moment, she swatted Mother Dawn back with Rapture's staff.

"Why aren't you attacking me, Tsuru?" She raised a brow.

Tsuru felt like she was going to be sick. Somehow, some way, her Stand didn't have any method of attacking. She was screaming in her heart for Mother Dawn to punch or kick at Rapture, but nothing happened. She could only use it as a tool of defense. When Rapture lunged in yet again, Tsuru winced.

Rapture's long taloned hand grabbed Mother Dawn's face and squeezed it. Tsuru felt her own head receiving the same amount of pressure. She grit her teeth and took it for a moment. Right as Rapture tried to change her matter, Tsuru activated her ability yet again.

"Mother Dawn!" She shouted, creating another beam of light.

Nothing happened to her body, despite Rapture's best efforts. She even managed to wriggle free and roll to the side. Her body felt heavy as she caught her breath. Mother Dawn had an incredible defensive ability. If Tsuru understood it right, she had the power to completely negate any physical harm for a brief period of time. When Rapture tried to kill her twice in a row, she survived the attacks without a scratch! However, her body was already at its limit. If she tried to block a third attack, she would likely pass out. She looked over to the door and saw Stella waiting for her.

Tsuru was young and spry. She could easily outrun Dolly and her cane! She forced herself to stand and began to sprint past Dolly. Just as she was about in the clear, she felt Rapture's talons grab her ankle. Tsuru slammed into the floor with a cry of pain. She clawed at the tiled floor in an attempt to get away from Rapture.

"Where do you think you're going, Tsuru? There's no escape… How are you blocking Rapture's Ability? Tell me!" Dolly demanded.

"F-Fuck off!" She shouted, kicking at Rapture's hand as she tried to break free.

"I suppose those are fitting last words for a creature like you…" Dolly sighed, towering over Tsuru with wicked eyes. "I won't give you a chance to amend them. Whether you block the next attack, or the next fifty, I have you right where I want you… It's time to die."

"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Stella screamed at the top of her lungs as she sprinted into the room with a full-sized hotel door dragging behind her. It's said that a woman is capable of lifting up a car to protect her baby, and that is a definitive lie. However, adrenaline does allow for short bursts of superhuman strength. A woman like Stella would normally struggle to carry a door, but it didn't seem to slow her down one bit at the moment. She made it about five feet away from Dolly before throwing it directly at the wench.

Rapture let go of Tsuru and slapped the door out of the way. It toppled onto the floor right next to the panting scientist.

"Goodness, who the hell is this!? Did you recruit your childhood friend into this crusade, Tsuru?" Dolly asked in amusement.

Tsuru noticed that the door had a faint glow coming through the crack between it and the floor. Her eyes widened, and she realized that Stella had brought Hotel California's entrance close enough to crawl to. She reached over with her Stand and swung the door open. On the other side of the door, there was an upright lobby just waiting for her. She collected the last of her strength and lunged over to it. Tsuru rolled into the lobby as gravity shifted directions, leaving her on the floor yet again. She looked through the door, watching Stella stare down Madame Dolly.

"I hope we never meet again." The redhead growled, making a mad dash for the door. She was just beyond Rapture's range and managed to literally dive into the floor-door and end up inside the lobby as well.

When Stella entered, the foundation vanished behind her and left a void in its wake. They were safe… They had gotten away. Tsuru rolled onto her back and gasped for air. Stella sat up and stared into the void outside of her hotel with a blank expression. She needed a moment to let the horror of their situation set in.

"T-Tsuru… Did we at least get what you came for?" She whispered.

The scientist's eyes widened. She slung her purse into her lap and furiously searched the contents. When she saw a mix of blood seeping all over the interior, her heart sank. Luckily, she managed to find one of each vial type completely unharmed. She had a vial of vampiric blood, hamon blood, and Pillar Man blood… Now, all she needed was a plan.

Stella had gathered her family and put them safely within the Hotel California for the time being. The twins enjoyed running freely through the halls, and there were more than enough rooms for everyone to sleep comfortably. As far as food and water were concerned, their bodies didn't seem to have any need for them inside the hotel. They could still consume and process whatever they wanted, but it wasn't necessary. It was the perfect place to hatch up a plan. After spending quite a few days within the safety of Hotel California, Tsuru asked Stella to bring her somewhere specific. Stella guided her to the front door of the hotel and folded her hands nervously.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" She asked softly.

"She chose this man because he could protect her, right? That means it has to be safe…" She mumbled.

Stella swept in close and hugged her friend tightly. "Please, be safe… I'll watch you from inside." She sighed.

Tsuru reached up and cupped Stella's cheek with a little smile. "Hey, hey… You saw me fighting Dolly, right? It doesn't look like anything can touch me."

"I remember throwing a door at her to save your life." Stella frowned.

"Then be sure to keep a door nearby." Tsuru grinned, stepping away from the embrace and out of the hotel.

She had become used to the sensation of stepping through realities and basking in a sudden new climate. This time, she felt the cold, damp air of the United Kingdom. It was familiar enough, since she'd spent a few unpleasant weeks in London back when she met Dolly. She looked around, wondering where on the estate Stella had put her. The crying of a baby alerted her to the answer. Tsuru's eyes widened upon realizing she was in the nursery! Why was a baby here of all places?

She didn't have much time to act, so she merely approached the crib and saw a little baby kicking and crying inside. The child had a few strands of blonde hair, but was mostly bald. She didn't look to be more than a newborn, if Tsuru had to guess. The nursery door opened, and Tsuru heard a sharp gasp.

"Blimey! She told me you'd be coming! I just figured you'd try the front door!" An Englishman scoffed upon seeing Tsuru.

"She?" The scientist tilted her head.

He sighed, walking up to stand beside the intruder. The man rested both hands on the crib's railing as he admired his crying baby.

"She looks so much like her mother… Can't you just guess?"

Tsuru understood. "This is Cynthia's child?"

The man nodded. "And my own… My name's Neil Archer. It's a pleasure." He reached down into the crib and grabbed his daughter. "Marina, baby, quiet down… There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Cynthia mentioned I'd be coming?" Tsuru asked. "I really need to speak with her."

Neil shook his head with a somber expression. He cradled Marina against his chest, closing his eyes. "No one can talk to her anymore, unfortunately. All I can offer you are my memories of what she said."

Tsuru felt a pang in her heart. "Oh… I'm very sorry to hear that." She mumbled. "I don't understand. I thought she came to you for protection?"

"It was a bit more than that." He scoffed at the implication. "It's true that I told Cynthia she would be safe with me, but she was always weak to my charm… Unfortunately, no amount of protection can keep a woman safe from nature."

"How did she go?" Tsuru asked quietly.

"The same way millions of women went before modern medicine. My dear Cynthia was stolen from us during childbirth. I couldn't believe it. We live in a rich country with advanced medicine, after all! How could something like this happen? You imagine women dying during childbirth in some filthy nation, not here in England!"

Tsuru held her tongue at the mention of 'filthy nations,' seeing as she needed more information out of Neil and couldn't burn any bridges.

"That's tragic… Did she mention why I'd be coming?" Tsuru asked, not even sure why she came herself.

Neil nodded as he rubbed Marina's back gently. "She said you were a coward back then, but that if you ever came to see us, you'd be trustworthy. I imagine the worst has happened? Are you on the run from Blondie as well?"

"Blondie?" She echoed Neil. "They called her that underground, too."

"As they should. Blondie is her preferred name. Apparently it was her nickname back when she was young and beautiful. Nowadays she goes by Madame Dolly. It's preposterous, if you ask me. She's not even French! Why do you Americans put up with things like that?"

"Well, I'm not American." Tsuru shrugged.

"No? You've got an exceptional accent, then! Good on you. I can understand everything you're saying."

It was really taking a lot of willpower to resist slapping Neil all around his million-dollar-estate, but Tsuru found the strength deep within her. She watched the baby wiggle around in Neil's arms fondly. That was Cynthia's last gift to the world, then. With a father like Neil, she hoped Marina wouldn't grow into a snooty aristocrat.

"To answer your question, yes. I have become Blondie's enemy."

"Rightly so! She's a madwoman! Cynthia told me everything! Who on Earth wants to create a world of pain and chaos like that? She must be stopped at all costs."

"I don't want to know where it is, I just want to ask… Is the feather safe?" Tsuru asked cautiously.

Neil laughed. "Oh, yes. That was Cynthia's biggest condition before flying to Europe! I have that feather being moved around with some of my most precious, best protected assets in the world. It won't be compromised. My men can't be bought, and Blondie doesn't have the power to mess with me. She'd start an international conflict that's a little too big for her britches at the moment. For the time being, the feather is safe… I'll keep it constantly mobile until Blondie's six feet under."

Tsuru sighed with relief. "Okay. She cannot have it. I confiscated all of the foundation's vampiric blood, but they still have an entire Pillar Man lying around underneath their headquarters."

"I'm not sure I understand the entirety of what's at stake…" Neil admitted. "Cynthia had hoped you'd steal the vampiric blood, though. That's wonderful news."

"Vampiric blood is weaker than Pillar Man blood… It can mesh with hamon blood and become a stable immortal substance. From my minimal research, the same isn't true for Pillar Men. It can create a similar result for a short amount of time, but eventually you either have to become a Pillar Man, or a human again. If Dolly wants eternal youth, she needs the feather."

"Why not just become a Pillar Man?" Neil raised a brow.

"Because Pillar Men die in the sun and need to eat humans to live." Tsuru shrugged.

This got a laugh out of Neil. "Sounds like some of my friends in politics."

Tsuru just rolled her eyes. "She may be able to get her hand on some additional vampiric blood. I'm not sure what her limits are… Even if she does, I think she'll want to wait for the feather anyway. If she gets that, she can have a stronger body and immortality. She could go full Pillar Man and still exist in the sunlight. That's got to be her grand plan. With that kind of power, she might really be able to enforce her ideal world."

"Then I'll keep the feather out of her reach forever. What else can I do for you, Tsuru?" Neil smiled.

She glanced out of the nursery window and contemplated the question. "This is going to sound weird, but could you set me up a lab somewhere on your property? I don't really have anywhere to go right now, and could use a place to house my work."

"Consider it done." Neil nodded. "Will you be sleeping here, then? I can have that all arranged."

"Nah, I'm going to sleep in a fake hotel held within a pocket reality controlled by my best friend's spirit… It's a long story." Tsuru laughed nervously.

"Sounds like an interesting one. Well then, I suppose I'll put this little girl down and arrange for your lab to be set up. It'd be helpful if you provided a list of whatever instruments and chemicals you need for me now. All of my influence and wealth are at your disposal until this is over."

"Damn…" Tsuru muttered. "Don't take this the wrong way, but… Cynthia kind of made it sound like you were some desperate booty call who would take her in. I didn't expect you to be so…"

"Noble?"

"I was going to say 'agreeable,' but we can go with that." Tsuru smirked. "Why are you extending your help to me when Cynthia isn't even here to nag you about it? I'm certainly not going to settle down and make you a baby to say 'thank you.'"

"Well, Tsuru, this may be quite hard to believe, but I live in the world too. It would be pretty bad for me if Blondie went and turned it into a wasteland. I'm helping you because it's right."

Tsuru seemed to understand that. Neil might have been an arrogant, douchey millionaire who had annoying opinions about women and 'filthy countries,' but he had just as much at stake as anyone else. Strange bedfellows were made at times of war, she supposed. Normally, she'd never hold a conversation with a man like Neil for longer than it took to tell him 'fuck you,' but now she was agreeing to work with him. That's just the effect Blondie had on people.

"I guess I should say thanks, then." She shrugged. "I'll get you that note soon. Thank you for everything."

She walked back to the hotel's entrance and gave Neil one last glance over her shoulder. He watched as she walked through a closed door and disappeared from view. Tsuru stepped into the Hotel California with a sigh. She immediately saw Stella waiting in the lobby.

"Wow." Stella frowned.

"I know… I really didn't expect Cynthia was gone. Rotten luck." Tsuru shrugged.

"Why did you ask him for a lab? We could set something like that up in the hotel." Stella asked.

"The Hotel California isn't a real place. It's really good at keeping us safe, but I have no idea what little differences in atmosphere this place might cause. It's best to do science in the real world." She explained.

"Still, that's more dangerous?" Stella tilted her head. "Aren't you worried about going outside?"

"Not if I have Neil protecting me. Cynthia knew how to pick 'em. He's got a lot of money and power to swing around. If he thinks he can keep my lab hidden, I'll take his word for it."

"Why risk it when I can protect you here?" Stella asked, walking up to Tsuru.

The redhead placed one hand on Tsuru's shoulder, using the other to cup the woman's cheek. Tsuru felt as their stomachs came together, and a strange tingle ran up her spine as she looked into Stella's eyes. This was… not how they usually embraced. Tsuru was always averse to physical affection, but she always accepted hugs and the like from her best friend growing up. This felt more intimate than that. Her eyes slowly shifted away as she felt an awkward tension mounting in the room.

"Stella…" She mumbled.

"You've been in so much danger before, Tsuru… All that time in Egypt, I thought you were dead… Then, I saw a woman trying to murder you with my own eyes. How am I supposed to let you walk out of those doors when I know what might happen?"

"I'm a big girl, Stella. I take care of myself… You know that." Tsuru spoke with a bit of a shaky voice, cheeks flushing as she tried to understand Stella's body language.

"I don't like it when you go." Stella whispered.

"People try to keep me trapped all the time, Stella." Tsuru frowned. "They put me in cages and make me do what they want. Don't be one of them, please. Just trust that I'll be safe and smart."

Stella closed her eyes, nodding slowly in defeat. She took a deep breath before leaning in a little bit more. She was stopped by Tsuru's hand, and opened her eyes to see a sorry expression on the woman's face. Tsuru just shook her head.

"Don't…" She whispered. "You can't take that back if you do it… Go find your husband."

Stella felt tears welling in her eyes as she looked into Tsuru. "What if I want it? Haven't you ever thought about it? There's no society here to judge us for it."

Tsuru sighed. "There was a time where I thought about it every day. I love you, Stella. You're the most important person in the world, and your kids are so important to me… But you got married. You were the one, not me. You made your decisions… You let society scare you out of doing what you wanted. Now…? It's just too messy now." She admitted.

Stella wiped her eyes, sniffling quickly and nodding. "I'm sorry."

"We're both under a lot of stress, okay? Let's worry about that first. There will be time for everything else when we win."

"Okay." The redhead conceded, pulling away. "I love you too, though."

"You're the only person I've said that to since my family died." Tsuru gently rubbed up the woman's arm once before stepping back. "That's not nothing."

"No… It's not." Stella smiled, walking out of the lobby and leaving Tsuru to her thoughts.

The next five months were hard for everyone. Tsuru spent her days painstakingly experimenting in the lab Neil constructed for her. When she finished, she'd return to the hotel and spend time with the Artois family. Things were always a little strained between her and Stella since the night they almost made an enormous mistake. She could feel Adrian's skepticism brewing over the nature of their relationship, as well. Every day that passed was another day that Blondie had to prepare whatever came next. Tsuru's greatest fear was the foundation getting its hands on one of Dio's Stand Arrows, but those were all sent away from Egypt as the Joestars grew nearer. Dio only kept one on his wall, but Tsuru didn't hear about it being recovered from the mansion. She could only hope it was burned along with everything else in Jotaro's fire.

Neil was fairly accommodating to Tsuru's needs, but his attention was mostly dedicated to his infant daughter. Tsuru had to figure this out alone. She didn't know what to do. Her Stand was supposed to be the ultimate ability to combat Blondie's Rapture. She knew so much about Stand development! In a time of great and dire stress, she should have manifested an ability specifically curated to fighting Blondie. Instead, she merely manifested a defensive ability that made Rapture's power slightly less deadly. If she couldn't fight back, she was still finished.

Her only hope was to use one of the arrows once again. In her research, she discovered that using a Stand Arrow on an existing Stand could create a new ability. Such knowledge could probably end the world, so she didn't want to use it unless she was cornered. Still, it was her only shot. She needed to stab Mother Dawn with an arrow and develop a new ability to combat Rapture.

With all that in mind, she told Neil about her problem. Tsuru withheld some of the juicer details, but made it clear that she needed an ancient arrow that would likely be circulating around Cairo Egypt after the destruction of Dio's mansion. Dio had five arrows as far as Tsuru knew. One of them stayed mounted on his wall at all times. The other was considered an experimentation arrow and typically stayed in Tsuru's lab. Those two would likely be destroyed in the fire or stolen by looters… That left her with the conversion arrows. Near the end of Dio's life, he grew increasingly paranoid of the Joestars. He leant three arrows out to trusted allies all across the world in order to create additional Stand Users. It's how he drafted so many soldiers to defend him in Egypt. From what Tsuru knew, two of the arrows ended up in Japan. The third was used just outside Cairo by a blind man with an insane amount of gambling debt. Dio paid him handsomely to wait around tourist locations and let the arrow pick a target. If any of the arrows were up for grabs, it was probably that one!

She gave Neil all the information she had on this blind man and begged him to locate the arrow. For the time being, it was out of her hands. She had other concerns, anyway. Stella was becoming more and more anxious about the outside world. She wouldn't take the twins out anymore, even just to let them run around in the grass. Near the beginning of their time in the hotel, Stella would take the kids out for walks, or the occasional restaurant. That all ended quite some time ago. Tsuru was the only one who left the hotel, and it was specifically to work in her lab. She was growing wary of Stella's state of mind, but that was the least of her concerns. She could keep Stella calm; she'd been doing it her entire life.

She spent more and more time in her lab to avoid the stresses of her home life. Eventually, she even began sleeping there. She'd dip into the Hotel California regularly to check in on everyone, but it was clear that the Artois family couldn't take much more. She needed to fix things soon.

That's why she was so elated to learn that Neil actually came through for her. He had some incredibly niche contacts when it came to acquiring Egyptian artifacts, and one of his connections managed to find an arrow that matched her description perfectly. She was in disbelief until the package arrived in her lab. She hadn't told anyone quite how powerful and important the arrow really was. When she held the box in her hands, she could feel her own Stand resonating with the contents. This was it… She had a Stand Arrow. There were so few in the world, and she had one of them. Neil was good for something after all. She couldn't have done it without him.

Later that night, Tsuru stood alone in her makeshift lab with the arrow in hand. She held it up to the light and admired its craftsmanship. It had been years since she held one of the arrows, and its beauty hadn't faded over time. They were alone at last… Now, all she needed to do was stab herself with it. She manifested Mother Dawn and had it hover in front of her. Tsuru took the arrow and jabbed it right into the Stand's cleavage. It sank into the Stand like a knife through warm butter, and she gasped as blood began to seep underneath her shirt. Tsuru collapsed onto her hands and knees, but Mother Dawn remained in its place. The Arrow stayed firm in its chest, and the Stand did not move an inch for quite some time.

All at once, Tsuru felt everything flash. Mother Dawn changed before her eyes. She witnessed its legs disappearing, replaced by a thin veil with stardust flowing inside. A metal pole sank through the Stand's head, impaling it completely and sticking into the floor. Several discs circled around the Stand as wooden horses began to run along its surfaces. She coughed with exhaustion as her Stand completely transformed. Finally, the arrowhead took its place right in the cleavage of the Stand's chest, pointing up to its chin. Mother Dawn was no more…

The Circle Game was born.

Tsuru stared in awe at her new ability as it floated before her. It had a godly presence, which might have been a narcissistic thing to think about one's own ability, but she didn't have any other word for it. She stood up and gave it a closer look. Unlike Mother Dawn, she didn't feel absolute control over this ability. The Circle Game felt less like a second body and more like an entity that shared Tsuru's mind. She reached out to touch it. The moment her finger made contact with The Circle Game, her vision flashed with a million memories all at once. She let out an overwhelmed scream as it rushed through her mind. She received too much knowledge to store, so it simply went in one ear and out the other. She witnessed the life and death of countless individuals like the fastest movies she'd ever seen. Entire histories flowed through her mind before being forgotten due to the constraints of her human brain. She fell onto her hands and knees once again and threw up. It was just too much…

She looked up at her Requiem Ability with a new sense of respect for its power. She still didn't fully understand its power, but she was beginning to see what it was capable of. The Circle Game seemed to be able to show her events through time. It wasn't just the past, either! Several of the memories she experienced were from the near or distant future! Surely, the future memories had to be unreliable. She knew the future was ever-changing, but just being able to see into it at all provided quite the insight. This was a Requiem Ability? It completely dwarfed Mother Dawn's power.

Tsuru felt a rush of adrenaline as she imagined fighting Blondie with this ability. That's when she got the idea to check into the future and see if she defeated the villain! She knew it wasn't absolute, but it would be helpful to see possible victories! She stood up and looked at her Requiem Stand once again. Tsuru reached over and rested her hand on its chest, closing her eyes and fixating her mind on a specific scenario.

Hundreds of possible futures flashed before her in less than half a second. Soon, it became too much for her yet again. She didn't want to puke a second time, so Tsuru stumbled back and leaned on a table for support. She collected her thoughts, thinking about all of the scenarios. Her stomach sank upon realizing what they all had in common.

She died.

In every single possible future, Tsuru was defeated by Blondie. She saw her death in hundreds of different ways. No matter the venue, no matter her plan, no matter how much backup she brought with her, Tsuru died at the hands of Blondie. This couldn't be right! She had to be seeing things! Tsuru put her hand into The Circle Game one more time and saw another barrage of possibilities. She yanked her hand away and coughed uncontrollably. The Requiem Ability was incredibly taxing on her body. She knew this was possible… The World's ability to stop time was very straining on the body. She had theorized that Dio's ability to control time would increase as his body continued to heal. That was true. It went from a fraction of a second all the way to five! She even thought he'd be able to do it for longer once he fully tamed Jonathan's body. Was her ability just too powerful for a human being to handle? Why was Rapture so special? It seemed like Blondie could use it without much issue. Maybe she just hid her fatigue rather well?

Tsuru sighed in defeat. The second wave of visions all ended the same. She didn't even see a single possibility that resulted in Blondie's demise. She just died and died! Why couldn't she defeat Blondie with such a powerful Requiem Stand? The Circle Game could attack, unlike Mother Dawn. In fact, she could tell it was insanely powerful! Not only that, but she could view past, present and future events to help with strategizing! So why was she losing in all of her predictions?

Funnily enough, she couldn't help but think back to the words of her old shrink, Dr. Moore. She remembered what he said about her inner child. He proposed that she would never be a well-functioning adult until she assumed responsibility for her trauma. She couldn't let her inner child bear all the pain forever… Didn't her therapist recommend reliving certain traumatic experiences as an adult? She quivered at the thought. The perfect opportunity for that was floating right in front of her.

Tsuru stood up once more and looked at her Stand. She felt shivers and terror as she imagined reliving even a second of her past. Despite that, her hand moved toward the ability. She touched The Circle Game, and it all went black. She was enveloped in that night. All the way back in 1964, she saw everything once more. From a third person perspective, she watched as her family was brutally murdered. She watched as the intruders tortured her until the police showed up. It only took a second of real time, but for Tsuru it played out over the course of thirty minutes. When her hand pulled itself away from The Circle Game, Tsuru was sobbing hysterically. She fell back, slamming her head on a table before landing on the floor. The woman rolled into a ball and sobbed against the tiled floor as she struggled to disperse the graphic images from the front of her mind. It was like she was back in that hellish place again! It was like she never even left! She screamed at the top of her lungs, and it probably sounded like bloody murder. In an attempt to make it stop, she slammed her own head against the hard floor. This didn't work… She had to ride it out.

After some time, Tsuru was silently shivering on the floor. She couldn't even make a sound anymore. All she did was twitch erratically and sniffle on occasion. Nothing had ever been clearer to her. She wasn't a strong person. She couldn't defeat Blondie, no matter her ability. She had been beaten down and broken as a child, and nothing would ever make her okay.

She wanted to die.

That was an odd thought. Never in her life had she actually desired death. She was a survivor to the core, and feared death more than anything. Despite that, she craved an ending to her pain as she writhed on the floor of her makeshift lab. Her eyes were damp, and her entire body ached. She just felt tired. It had been such a long life of misfortune and agony. She wasn't even forty, but she felt like an old woman.

Tsuru thought about her situation logically. She knew that humans had something akin to souls. Perhaps there really was an afterlife? She didn't buy into the idea, but what if there was peace waiting on the other side? Would nonexistence be peace as well? No matter what, the other side seemed more appealing than dealing with this. She wiped her eyes, slowly dragging herself to her feet. The Circle Game stared at her without any emotion. It was completely alien to her. If only she could give this power to someone more deserving, maybe they'd be able to defeat Blondie with it. She didn't know of anyone who fit the bill. The Joestars were loyal to the Speedwagon Foundation. Neil was a coward, and she would never risk Stella's life like that. Despite that, she knew in her heart that she didn't have what it took to defeat Blondie. Was she just a failure…?

"Heh… If only I could give it to my 'inner child.'" She spoke with a depressed sigh.

She caught her reflection in a mirror on the other side of the room. For a moment, Tsuru saw something unreal. Her adult reflection slowly shifted into that of her child self. She gasped, covering her mouth and stepping away. She just saw her inner child front and center in her mind! Was it trying to tell her something? She really was losing it… Regardless, she felt the nagging urge to look into this a little further. It had only been a joke, but what if there was a way to surrender her instincts to the inner child that had been fighting her battles for her entire life? If Dr. Moore was right, she'd been hoisting every tough decision and traumatic experience onto this youthful version of herself since that night in 1964. If anyone was ready to face Blondie, it would be that little girl.

The idea sounded insane, but Tsuru's entire life had been insane. She left sanity at the door a long time ago! Her hand slowly reached over to The Circle Game as she thought about the possibility of her inner child. Was there any timeline where she successfully cracked the code?

In an instant, she saw hundreds of possibilities. All of them had one striking similarity. Tsuru was a child in every vision! Not only that, but Blondie was much younger as well! She saw numerous battles raging all across time. There were thousands of ways she could combat Blondie as a child, but how…? Would a child even be able to withstand the power of The Circle Game? Her adult body couldn't handle using it much! That's when her eyes drifted over to the vials of higher being DNA on the far side of her lab. If the child were infused with the DNA of a vampire…? Maybe it would be a different story.

This was literally bonkers! Why was Tsuru even entertaining such a high-concept science fiction pitch!? Even if she found the proper balance of blood and hamon, where would she get the hamon without her connections at the foundation? That's when she remembered Neil. He could probably help if he knew where to look. She bit her lip. That wasn't even the craziest part! How would she turn herself into a child? That's when she remembered something Blondie said to her during one of their first conversations.

"There's science beyond your imagination. Cyborgs, cloning, futuristic medicine and so much more… It's not perfected yet, which is why we keep it secret."

Cloning. She'd nearly missed it in the wave of scientific revelations! Of course, the Speedwagon Foundation had futuristic science and technology far beyond Tsuru's department. Still, she knew nothing about cloning. Even if it could be done, she would need help. Unless… Did The Circle Game have the ability to show her the specific memories of other people? She raised her brow, reaching over and hesitantly tapping the Stand. She received a flurry of information from her boss's mind. Not Blondie, rather the head of the Speedwagon Foundation's head of science and research.

From there, she scanned through to find any memories pertaining to a cloning program. Bingo! They had one, it wasn't just an offhand comment from Blondie. It would take quite a while for her to learn all of this information. She couldn't just download it into her brain like a computer, but she could reference the memories of the researchers with her Requiem Stand at any time. Could this really work? She spent so much time focusing on the little details that she stopped and wondered if it was even sane. Even if she could produce a young clone of herself, what was she supposed to do? Was she meant to send it after Blondie and hope for the best? She couldn't argue against the results, though. She saw versions of herself battling Blondie in the future. It could happen if she took the right steps…

She just needed to steal a couple things from the Speedwagon Foundation.

Tsuru entered the Hotel California with a newfound resolve. She quickly found Stella and pulled her aside for a moment.

"Stella, I think I've come up with a solution." She smirked.

The redhead was in disbelief. "R-Really!? That's incredible! What's the plan?"

Tsuru took Stella by both of the shoulders and brought her a little further into the hall. "We need to go back to the foundation."

"W-What!? Are you crazy? That's suicide! You saw what happened last time!" She exclaimed.

"Stella, listen to me. I can't explain everything, but I have a new ability, okay? It lets me know things! And right now I know that we need to steal a bit of equipment from the Speedwagon Foundation! It's the only way to beat her."

"We almost got killed last time." Stella put her foot down. "How do you expect me to bring you back to that horrible place?"

"We can't stay here forever! Everyone's on edge, Stella! If we do this, you can go home! Doesn't that sound nice?" Tsuru reasoned.

Stella hung her head in defeat. "How am I supposed to argue with you?"

Tsuru gave her a one-armed hug before pulling away. "Thank you so much. We'll be in and out in no time flat. It's not a very big machine."

The women walked to the front door of Hotel California. Stella took a deep breath and pushed the door open. They arrived in Tokyo, Japan. Both of them instantly recognized the environment. It was the woods where they used to play and explore as little girls. Tsuru felt nostalgia, but far more confusion at the same time.

"Stella, why did you bring us here?" She asked nervously.

"I… Didn't." The woman admitted.

Before either of them could step out, they heard childlike laughter over the bend. Tsuru watched as two young girls sprinted down the hill and into view. One of them was a Japanese girl with a bowl cut and tired eyes. The other was a white girl with red hair and a missing tooth. Tsuru held her breath, not understanding how this could happen.

"Oh my God…" Stella whispered. "Are those…"

Tsuru put her arm out and prevented Stella from exiting the hotel. "Don't. Those girls are us."

"I know they're us! Who else could they be!? Why did you just stop me from walking out?"

"Because I don't remember meeting our future selves in the woods, and I'd like to keep it that way." Tsuru hissed.

"But that can't really be us, right? It has to be some kind of trick! Maybe I have the door calibrated wrong?" Stella shook her head.

"Calibrated wrong? Stella, you opened the door into another time. How is that even possible? If we step outside, we could seriously mess with the fabric of time. I have no idea how any of this works. We need to get out of here."

The girls ran back into view, unable to see their adult selves watching through a one-way door in the future. Stella shoved Tsuru over and tackled her. They wrestled in the grass playfully for a minute before Tsuru successfully pinned the girl down.

"I win again!" Tsuru proclaimed.

"No fair! You're too strong!" Stella whined.

The adult Tsuru felt tears welling in her eyes as she watched the children frolicking without a care in the world. She leaned against Stella, sniffling a bit. "Life used to be simpler, didn't it?" She asked softly.

"Yeah…" Stella admitted.

"Do you think the door led here because you were afraid of losing me?" She whispered.

"I don't know… If the Hotel California can travel through time, what does that mean for us? Can we just run away to a simpler time…?" She asked with a hint of hope.

"There's no such thing as a simpler time, Stella. The Vietnam War was going on while we rolled around in the grass without a care in the world. The Congo Crisis, the Cold War, so much was happening right under our noses. It's always a time of pain and suffering. If we went back to these simpler times, we'd be worrying about the tragedies all the same."

"But we wouldn't have to live in Vietnam! We could live anywhere, right? Just pick the safest place and set up shop there for the rest of our lives?" Stella argued.

"And then what? This isn't just a fight to protect ourselves. If we can stop Blondie, we might be able to save a lot of lives. What if she succeeds and starts a war of her own? I feel like I'm the only one who can stop it."

"Jesus, Tsuru, drop the hero complex! You said it yourself! You're not some messiah! You're just a scared, terrified girl who doesn't know what to do! Why does this have to be your responsibility? Won't someone else come along?"

"If everybody felt that way, nobody would come along." Tsuru pulled away from Stella. "Please, keep your head in the game. I need to go to the Speedwagon Foundation, present day. We don't want to show up early and ruin history."

Stella sighed, pulling the door shut and watching their child selves disappear. She opened the door once again, this time to her Virginia home. Tsuru didn't step outside, waiting to see what was happening. She saw Stella walking outside with a twin in each arm as Adrian carried a big cooler over to the car. The twins were babies, meaning they were once again in the wrong time.

"Stella…" She sounded concerned.

"I'm trying my best, okay!? I think my power is evolving, or something!" She groaned, slamming the door shut and focusing all of her attention on it.

She swung the door open one more time and looked around. "Okay! We're at the Speedwagon Foundation! It looks pretty modern, but I can't slap a timestamp on it! Is this the right area, or should we move to a different hall?"

Tsuru compared this hall to the one from The Circle Game's vision. She pursed her lips in thought. "Picture the entire building in your mind… We should be about four halls to the left, and a few doors up."

Stella pulled the door closed, pushing it open one more time. They landed perfectly in the room Tsuru intended!

"Right here! This is perfect!" Tsuru stepped out of the hotel and ran over to analyze the equipment. She summoned The Circle Game and touched it for just a moment to make sure she was gathering the right material. Stella walked into the lab, eyeing the place nervously.

"I should warn you, I don't know if this is the exact time we left… It feels a little off." She admitted.

Tsuru shrugged. "It shouldn't matter what time I steal the equipment from. You can work on your precision when we're safe."

Stella wandered over to a mug of coffee and noticed a newspaper serving as a coaster beneath it. She slid the mug to the side and checked the date.

"February 11th, 1998… Wow, this is the future." She mumbled.

"I suppose we're not at risk of changing the past, then. I'd still rather be quick. Help me with this." She motioned toward a decently sized machine.

Stella grabbed one end of it and helped carry it into the Hotel California. They made a few trips, grabbing everything they might need before shutting the door. Once they were safe, Stella felt the urge to ask about Tsuru's new ability.

"How did you get that new Stand?" She mumbled, having witnessed The Circle Game for a brief moment in the lab. "Is yours evolving like mine?"

Tsuru thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Sure."

"Sure?" Stella sighed. "You're keeping secrets from me? Even after everything I've done for you, you have to hide things?"

The scientist frowned. It was a fair point. Did she really need to keep secrets from Stella of all people? She pondered on it, realizing she was being foolish. "I'm sorry…" She sighed. "There are arrows, right? These arrows can grant people Stands. I acquired one, and used it to gain an additional Stand Ability."

"That's incredible." Stella marveled. "Can you get even more?"

"I don't think so… It's just my normal Stand, and this bonus ability so long as I have the arrow inside. That seems to be the limit."

"How many arrows are there?" Stella asked.

"Honestly? I don't know… I know of five."

"Five!? That's so many! What if they fall into the wrong hands?" Stella gasped.

"I suppose someone could end the world if they wanted." Tsuru answered bluntly.

"They could make an army of Stands! That's terrible! Aren't you going to stop it?"

"Stop it? I'm trying to stop Blondie! Let's tackle one thing at a time here." Tsuru scoffed in annoyance.

Stella bit her lip as it all dawned on her. "I knew the outside was dangerous… There could be hundreds of Stand Users out there waiting to kill us. Maybe even thousands, or millions! How would we ever know!? How could you possibly know?"

"What are you talking about?" Tsuru raised a brow.

"You keep saying the outside is safe, but it isn't! The only safe place is right here! It's like a jungle out there with big cats and hulking primates at every turn! What does defeating Blondie even matter if there are four more Stand Arrows in circulation? Those are more dangerous than nukes!"

"Get a hold of yourself!" Tsuru shouted. "You're freaking me out, Stella! Are you gonna become one of those people who only go outside in giant hamster balls? Of course there's dangerous stuff outside! That's life!"

"But it doesn't have to be! The Hotel California is safe! What's so bad about living here with me!?" Stella screamed at the top of her lungs.

Tsuru felt rather shocked by that outburst. She glanced over at her stolen equipment, and then back to the redhead. "Stella… I love you." She said slowly.

"Not enough. Not in the right way." The woman whispered, fixing a strand of her hair.

Tsuru closed her eyes and clenched her jaw with frustration. They were really doing this again? She didn't have time for such a hard conversation. Stella was the one who went and got a husband! She was the one who had kids! How was Tsuru possibly the bad guy for refusing to elope with a married woman who also refused to be a public item?

"I think I should go to my lab and work on this, Stella…" She sighed. "Please, let me out of here. We can cool down. We can fix this."

The door opened on its own as Stella looked away. "Just go…"

Tsuru felt a pain in her heart as she grabbed the cloning machine and a few other pieces of paperwork. It was a little much to carry, but she had The Circle Game grab a spare item or two. Without another word, she walked out of the hotel and into her lab. The lights were out, which was rather annoying. She placed her things down and walked over to flip the switch. When she lit up the room, her jaw dropped. There were cobwebs and dust bunnies all around her lab! She looked around and found nothing but dust and wear on all of her new equipment!

"Oh c'mon…" She walked over to the door and opened it. When she went outside, she saw the Archer estate on a sunny day.

Neil had several enormous renovations over the past few years, and Tsuru could barely recognize the property. She stepped into the grass and held her forehead in frustration. Tsuru was so caught up in herself that she didn't notice a little girl scampering over to her in the grass.

"Hello!" The girl greeted her happily.

Tsuru was shocked out of it and looked down at the tot. She felt her eyes widen upon realizing who it was. She was looking at little Marina Archer! The newborn baby appeared to be around six or seven years old!

"Oh, hello!" She smiled wearily. "One minute, okay…?"

She was in the wrong time period? Did that have any kind of negative consequence? Her lab still existed, though it needed a good dusting. Why didn't Stella notice her error and open the Hotel California back up?

"Stella?" She called into the air around her. "Can you open up…? I think I'm messing with timelines!"

No answer. Marina walked into the lab and looked around.

"Phew! My Dad doesn't let me come in here! He says it's an important place." She giggled.

Tsuru needed a moment to collect herself. "Sweetie," She turned to face Marina. "I'm actually a friend of your Dad's. Could you go get him for me? Tell him Tsuru is waiting in the lab."

Marina nodded and sprinted out of the lab with a happy little wail. Tsuru cleared her throat and shut the lab's door. After taking a moment of silence in the dusty lab, she called out for her friend once again.

"Stella!" She sounded worried. "I'm sorry, okay? Please, come talk to me… I want to make this work. We can beat this together!"

No answer. Tsuru felt like she was losing her mind. Stella couldn't possibly abandon her in the future, could she? Her mind wandered, thinking about how much Stella struggled with her ability during their last heist. Was it possible that Stella literally couldn't retrieve her? She felt like she was going to be sick.

After an eternity of silence, Tsuru heard a door opening behind her. She quickly turned to see, though she couldn't understand the sight before her. The Hotel California had indeed opened to her once again, but it looked completely different. The lobby seemed unkempt and decrepit. The wallpaper was torn, and the entire room seemed to have aged tremendously in just a few minutes. She walked over and tried to step inside, but was stopped by an invisible barrier in the doorway. The air seemed to ripple from her impact.

What on Earth was going on? Why couldn't she enter the Hotel California? She felt even more anxiety building in her stomach as she stepped away from the door.

"Stella?" She whispered into the portal, almost afraid to hear an answer.

Eventually, she heard a faint hum approaching from inside. Tsuru watched in disbelief as a translucent Stella began to appear in the lobby. The woman floated over to the doorway, but did not pass through the threshold.

"Hello, Tsuru…" Stella had an almost angelic presence to her.

"What happened?" Is all Tsuru could ask.

The redhead was clearly trying to mask her pain as she looked down at her best friend. "It's… been a while." She admitted.

Tsuru shook her head. "No… It's only been a few minutes. I just saw you…"

"Tsuru, you're the smartest person I've ever known. Don't play dumb with me."

"I don't understand." Tsuru whispered with a break in her voice.

"Neither did I, not for a long time… The Hotel California is an extension of my spirit. We're one in the same. It's not like your Mother Dawn, or Shirlie's Pa-Pa-Power. I don't have to summon it into being, because it's always in a physical state. I can manifest the entrance at any door throughout space, as well as time. The only issue is how lonely of an ability it really is…"

"Why haven't you come through the door?" Tsuru asked quietly.

"I can't. The minute you left the Hotel California and stepped into 1998 without me, our timelines became desynchronized. I'm in full control of the hotel's movements anymore. It seems to cycle from the moment of my birth to the moment of my death at an inconsistent rate. We saw ourselves playing in Tokyo, didn't we? That's one of my favorite memories… It makes sense that the door led there the first time."

"So what if our timelines are skewed? I don't care… Just let me in." Tsuru begged, resting her hand on the door's invisible barrier.

"It all went so wrong, Tsuru. I tried to find you, but you were never the right you. You were always a little too young, or a little too old. I had to go it alone, and I made so many mistakes. Without you to defeat Blondie, I became paranoid. My solution was clumsy and emotional, just like me… I decided to kidnap every Stand User possible and keep them captive in my Hotel California. If they were all stuck here, they couldn't cause problems on the outside. Blondie wouldn't be able to recruit for her organization, either."

"Stella…" Tsuru sighed.

"I know. It was an insane idea, and it got me killed. Turns out trapping yourself in a tank with a bunch of sharks is hazardous to your health." She chuckled.

"Killed? Oh God, Stella. What about the kids? Where are they?"

"I let them go… They're in the world all alone now. It was so horrifying, Tsuru, but it was my only choice. I had created a prison, and I was my own warden… In an attempt to create order, all I did was tear my family apart."

What was Tsuru supposed to say? Her friend was dead? They had been arguing just a few minutes ago! This couldn't be real. Was the world really trying to take the last thing she had?

"Where are the twins? I'll raise them." She said with conviction.

Stella shook her head. "They're not in this time. They're grown up, Tsuru. I saw them with my own eyes. They've matured, and they're safe. I'm so proud of everything they've accomplished, and everything they have left to do."

Tsuru's eyes bounced repeatedly between Stella and the floor as she tried to grapple with the situation.

"I can't just be alone, Stella! I know I act like that's what I want, but without you…" She hung her head, the woman's face scrunching up as she tried not to cry. "Without you, I'm nothing."

"Lift your chin, please." Stella choked back her own pain to comfort her friend. "You're not alone. You have so much to do. We can't reunite, because I've seen the fruit of your labor. I met her, Tsuru." She whispered.

"Her?" The woman sounded confused.

"Your project. I finally understand what you stole from Blondie all those years ago. I can't be a part of your present, because I'm already a part of your future."

The scientist felt a rush of emotions. Time was always in flux, but just hearing that her project was a success soothed her worries immensely.

"What about when I'm finished? When I get to my future…? Will you be there?" She asked with bitter hope.

"In a way, I'll always be with you…" Stella smiled.

"Spoken like someone who won't actually be with me…" Tsuru crossed her arms with a huff.

This evoked a laugh from Stella. "You still hate metaphors, don't you?"

"I just prefer when people give it to me straight."

"Then I'll be straight for you… I'm dead, and by the end of all of this, you will be too. I know you've looked into your future, Tsuru. You know what comes next. You can do it… I've seen living proof. She's incredible."

Tears flowed freely from Tsuru's eyes as she listened to her friend speak. The woman wiped her cheeks and sniffled as she nodded her head reflexively.

"She is?"

Stella nodded. "I believe in her. She saved everyone inside my hotel and restored my senses. In a way, you never stopped looking after me, and I'll never stop looking after you."

Tsuru nodded, sobbing briefly into her hand. "If I came back with you, that future might not happen... That's why I have to stay here?"

Stella nodded.

"Okay. Then I'll do it. For you, for the twins, for everybody… I'll take care of you all."

The ghost closed her eyes, finally coming close to a moment of peace. "Thank you, Tsuru…"

She leaned closer into the doorway, slowly passing the barrier and entering the lab. Stella glowed brilliantly as she hovered before Tsuru. A single teardrop trailed down her cheek and dropped onto the floor. It twinkled upon impact and dissolved into a sea of sparkling lights. Stella's entire body began to fade as she drew closer to Tsuru. Her radiant hands cupped both of the woman's cheeks as she smiled down at her.

"That's all I needed… I just had to see you one more time."

Tsuru's eyes widened as she took in the view. Her hands raised up Stella's side, and she felt an odd reverence as she looked into her friend's eyes.

"Is this it…?" She whispered.

The spirit nodded. "Take care of my twins when you see them…" Stella was becoming harder to see with each passing moment.

Knowing this was her last chance, Tsuru decided to indulge in what they both wanted for so many years. She lifted her hands to Stella's face and dragged her in for a chaste, fleeting embrace. The spirit let out a short gasp as they made contact, but neither of them made a peep for a beautiful moment after that. Their lips popped apart with a looming sense of finality. Both of them huffed with flushed faces as they looked deeply into one another's eyes.

Eventually, Stella was awoken from her trance. "That's what it's like…?" She seemed to be crying and giggling all at once.

"So much wasted time." Tsuru laughed tragically.

"There's no way to waste time with you…" Stella assured her.

The spirit began to fade more and more from the world of the living, no matter how hard she tried to remain. Tsuru felt as her friend became harder to hold. The redhead leaned in and hugged her friend with all her might. As the tightness waned away, she felt herself passing through Tsuru and into the great beyond. The scientist closed her eyes as Stella seemed to slip through her fingers like sand. Finally, the spirit fell, impacting the floor and bursting into a shimmering light. She was gone, but she didn't leave Tsuru alone. No, Tsuru was left with a burning purpose. She knew what she needed to do.

Tsuru wiped her eyes, clearing her throat as she stormed over to the pile of stolen equipment. Moments later, the door swung open. Neil stumbled into the lab absolutely flabbergasted by the woman's return.

"Tsuru!?" He shouted. "Blimey, it's true! You're back! What the hell happened to you? I thought you were dead!"

"I don't have time to explain." She grunted. The woman lifted up a heavy piece of equipment before slamming it down onto her work desk. "Give me a hand."

The sheepish man carefully traversed the dusty lab and made his way over to the intimidating scientist. "W-what are you even here for?"

Tsuru grabbed the sample of vampiric blood from its chamber and smiled to herself. She presented it to Neil for a moment before placing it down by the machine. She scurried over to her things and grabbed half a dozen instruments before returning to the desk. She was in such a frenzy, Neil wondered if she even heard him.

"To work."

Eight months went by, but Tsuru didn't take an idle moment throughout. There was so much to do! She stood in her lab and stared into the mirror with a neutral expression. It was December of 1998, and she was weeks away from giving birth to her daughter. She held her pregnant belly with two hands, thinking about the life that was growing inside. The door opened, grabbing the woman's attention.

Neil walked in with a bag of coffee beans and the most recent newspaper. He noticed Tsuru admiring her baby bump and looked away. He respected and feared her far too much to comment on her partaking in something so feminine. Would she slap him, or sew his toes together? He really had no way of knowing with her.

"Evening," He sighed, placing the supplies down on her desk.

Tsuru had been sleeping in her lab for months, even as her pregnancy progressed. There was a shamefully tiny cot located in the corner of the room, and it was sagging quite a bit after months of wear. Neil tried to get her to sleep in the house, or at least let him buy her a bed, but she refused. It was the life she chose, and he couldn't stop her.

"Any news?" Tsuru sighed, stepping away from the mirror.

"Nothing pertinent, just the paper." Neil tapped it on the table. "I don't suppose today's the day you tell me what's going on."

"I don't suppose it is." She smirked.

"Fair enough. What's your plan for after the baby pops out then? Daycare?" He raised his brow, sounding a bit worried about her plans.

"Neil, I'm only going to ask you for one more thing before this is all over. Do you think you can help me with that?" She asked softly.

"Just one more? Do you plan on leaving?"

"In a manner of speaking." She admitted.

"Alright then, anything you need. You're not going to leave the baby here, are you?" He frowned. "I don't understand where that tot came from, but you can't bring her to some place dangerous."

"She's going to be fine. A few months after she's born, I'm going to need your help rehoming her." Tsuru explained, resting a hand on her stomach.

"Rehome?" Neil took a deep breath. "If that's what you think is best."

"There's a very specific family that needs to raise her. They'll keep her safe in ways I never could. She'll be protected until she's ready."

"I'd be more than happy to buy you a plane ticket, Tsuru. Money's no object. If I may, though, shouldn't a family like that be able to make arrangements for the adoption on their own?"

"Well…" Tsuru trailed off with a little shrug. "It's not exactly a consensual adoption."

"Consensual!? All adoptions are consensual, you wild woman!" Neil exclaimed. "How on Earth are you going to persuade someone into raising your baby? Is this the family of the father?"

"There's no father, Neil. I've explained this a dozen times." Tsuru snapped back.

"Yes, you've told me a story a hundred times. Am I really meant to believe you made a baby in a test tube and inseminated yourself with it? Why would you ever do something like that?"

"Reasons beyond your understanding." She waved a dismissive hand and strode over to her desk. "Can I count on you to get her there, Neil?"

The man let out a deep huff as he looked up into Tsuru's eyes. "I've been nothing but accommodating for years, Tsuru. Of course I'll take care of it…"

The way his sentence hung on the end of his lips made Tsuru dread an incoming "but." Sure enough, he took a breath and continued.

"The thing is, with you gone, what's protecting my family?"

The woman scoffed. "You're perfectly safe, Neil. Nobody wants to hurt you or Marina."

"They might not want us, but they want the feather! I've had that damn thing rotating around offshore storage facilities for almost a decade now! Blondie knows better than to make a move on my assets for the time being, but what if things change? What if she becomes emboldened by something? How can I protect my daughter if they decide to kick down my door?"

"If they kick down your door? You die." Tsuru answered bluntly. "Lucky for you, that won't happen. You've got friends in high places, right? Make some more friends in low ones too. Keep a finger to the pulse, monitor their movements. An organization of that size is like a stampede. They're powerful, but they'll wake the entire village before they arrive."

"Sometimes I question why I ever got myself involved in such a horrifying conflict." Neil admitted.

"I do too." Tsuru shook her head. "I can tell you're a good man, Neil, but you're nothing short of a coward. I would know… It's honestly a little insane to me that you let a cute blonde drag you into all this."

"She was more than a cute blonde." Neil pushed back with a calm tone. "I loved her, Tsuru. Even if she was only using me, it doesn't matter… My feelings were real in the moment. And besides, she brought the brightest light of my life into the world. Marina is worth all of this. I would do anything to protect her."

"Anything?" Tsuru mused for a moment.

"Yes."

"Would youdie for her, Neil?" She stepped a little closer, challenging the notion.

"What father wouldn't?" Neil stood his ground.

"No father would admit he wouldn't, obviously. I'm asking if you would really be willing to lay your life down for that girl? What if there's nothing after you die? What if you just slip into the black and never return? No heaven, no Cynthia waiting on the other side… Would you embrace that void to protect your little girl?" She got right up in his face, looking deep into his eyes.

Surprisingly, Neil didn't flinch.

"I. Would." He almost growled.

She could tell he was serious. At least, he believed he would in the moment. She pulled away with a little nod of approval. Tsuru moved over to her cabinets and pulled out a folder of notes. She returned with a sketch of the Stand Arrow and handed it to Neil.

"You helped me recover one of these from Egypt, remember?"

"Of course I do, it only cost me an arm and a leg." Neil chuckled.

"These arrows are special. If they prick your skin, they can give you special abilities. You know Stella's magic doors? Those were from the arrow." She left out some key details, like how Stella had the virus in her bloodline and never directly came into contact with an arrow. Neil didn't need all of the messy semantics. "It even extends to your descendants too. If you cut yourself with one of these arrows, you and Marina would receive enough power to protect yourself."

Neil lifted the paper up to his glasses and stared at the design in awe. "My goodness… Can I use the arrow now?"

Tsuru shook her head. "The arrow you gave me isn't available at the moment. Besides, I don't recommend you actually use it. If someone like you were to receive a Stand Ability, you'd be dead within a month."

"W-What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you're not strong enough to control the power, it consumes you like a sickness. You run a high fever, slip into a coma and eventually die."

Neil lowered his head with a stoic look in his eyes. He held the paper to his chest, fully understanding the message. "...you only want me to use an arrow if it's for Marina?" He asked quietly.

She nodded.

"If I die, she gets to keep her ability?"

"It's even better than that. You'll be her connection to the arrow. If she's too weak to handle it, the connection will be severed upon your death. That means she'll get to live. If she's strong enough, she'll keep the ability after you're gone."

"So there's no danger to her at all?" Neil asked with a glimmer of hope.

"You'll give her a fighting chance." Tsuru smiled.

Neil cleared his throat and lifted his chin. "Right. That's only if things look too bleak, though. I fully intend to protect her with the resources available to me in the present. Still… Thank you." He smiled.

"Don't mention it, Neil." Tsuru sighed, glancing down at her paper.

The man walked over to the lab's exit, lingering in the doorway for a moment as he admired the dust particles floating in a beam of sunlight. Something tugged at his mind as he loitered in Tsuru's space.

"I know you don't plan on this, but… Our girls?" He looked over his shoulder.

Tsuru lifted her eyes from her paper and raised a brow.

"Do you think they'd be good friends?" Neil smiled.

She couldn't help but smile in response. Tsuru lifted the newspaper up and pulled it open with a little grunt. "If she's anything like Cynthia, I think they'd be at each other's throats."

That got a laugh out of the man. "Isn't that what girls do? I like to think they'd help each other too… Maybe they'll meet someday. The world's awfully small, you know."

"Maybe…" Tsuru shook her head with a sigh. "Goodnight, Neil."

"Right, right… Sleep well." He stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Morioh City was a pleasant little suburban bedtown located just outside of S-City, Japan. It was growing every day, and even some parts of the city remained unfinished. The downtown area was always bustling with crowds of busy teenagers procrastinating from their studies and businessmen stepping off the train after a hard day's work. Morioh was the kind of city that everyone in Japan dreamed of living in. It wasn't too big, but there was no shortage of things to do. When the sun set by the harbor and the lighthouse caught its rays just right, the tower almost seemed like a disco ball projecting beautiful glimmering orbs of light onto the town below.

It was also the town that Joseph Joestar was currently staying in.

Tsuru had used her ability to predict where Joseph would be when the time was right. Everything was in order. She had said what little goodbyes she had left in the world and made her way to suburban Japan to fulfill her duty. She was completely inconspicuous as she walked through the town, fitting in perfectly among the Japanese mothers all holding their children happily. She was carrying her daughter against her chest as she made her way across the street. It was a very somber day for Tsuru, for she knew it was her last day on Earth. She wasn't afraid. No, in a sense she would live on for quite some time. If anything, she felt a bit of relief tugging at her stomach as she approached the end of her story.

The mother bobbed and weaved around the busy pedestrians of Morioh City and made her way to the hotel she'd been staying in for the past few nights. It wasn't as lavish as the Morioh Grand Hotel, but she wanted to avoid the Joestars anyway. She entered her room and took a deep breath. What came next was the only part of the ordeal that she'd been truly dreading. She placed her baby down in the portable crib and gave her a playfully smile. The child was so adorable in every way! She was the spitting image of Tsuru, except for the star birthmark on her shoulder. That must have been caused by Dio's blood. Tsuru walked away from the crib and stood in the center of the room. The little girl mewled and whined for her mother, but eventually settled on her butt and silently stared ahead.

Tsuru folded her hands and looked into the mirror resting on the vanity in front of her. She stared into her reflection and took a moment to collect herself. Then, she spoke.

"I'm leaving this message for you in a place where only you can find it… The past." She spoke with a shaky voice at first. "Shizuka, my darling… This all must be so confusing."

Shizuka's consciousness shifted from Tsuru's perspective into the reflection's gaze. She became aware of her own existence after what felt like an eternity of watching through Tsuru's eyes. She remembered where she was, and how the woman had promised her answers. It was all too much to process at once! She was left speechless. It took her a moment to realize that she was still witnessing a memory. Even if she had something to say, this Tsuru wouldn't be able to hear her. It was a message left for her in Morioh of 1999. She felt a little ache in her heart when she realized that something was waiting for her in Morioh. She just looked in the wrong time period…

"I'm speaking with you this way because by the time you hear this, I'll be gone from this world. The Tsuru that's been with you for all this time isn't my full consciousness… She's an echo of my soul left within The Circle Game as it watches over you. Where's my real soul, then…? Well… There's so much I want to tell you. First, I want to say that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything that you just witnessed. My life has been a never-ending slideshow of pain and grief. I'm sure I cut out the gruesome bits, but you probably saw some terrible things in my past."

The woman was already crying, lifting a hand to brush away the tears as she tried to continue. "Dolly told me I was strong. She fetishized strength to the point that it consumed her. She began to see it in every aspect of life, even where it was absent. I'm not strong, Shizuka. I'm anything but. I've had a long time to think, and I realized that every single decision I made in life was driven by fear. I feared what Dio would do to me if I didn't make myself useful. I feared what Dolly would do if I didn't help her achieve immortality. Even when I did something noble, it was out of fear. I helped Cynthia because I feared the shame I would feel if I did nothing… I fought alongside Stella because I feared losing her and the twins. Even right now, as I stand here before you, I'm afraid of what you think of me. I understand if you hate me, Shizuka… I'm the architect of all your woes. Every battle you've fought is because I wanted you there. Every time you've come close to dying, it's because I needed you to become stronger. Even your family was picked by me. In a way, I feel like a monstrous god mercilessly tugging at a puppet's strings. If you hate me, I welcome it…"

There was a long silence as she collected her thoughts.

"But, in a way, you are me. You are every part of me that's worth keeping. I gave you my mind, my tenacity, and my fighting spirit. I gave you my Requiem Stand, and the knowledge I've gained through years of research and suffering. As you grow older, you'll unlock more and more of my knowledge until your mind is fit to receive it all. I'm not really dying, because you are a living continuation of my best qualities."

Shizuka wanted to cry. She watched as her mother bore her very soul into the mirror with a wavering, tearful voice. She wanted to reach out and embrace Tsuru, to tell her she would be okay, but there was nothing to be done. Was it even right to think of this woman as her mother anymore? Their connection went so far beyond that.

"Despite that, you are not me." Tsuru said sternly. "We may share a soul, but I was shaped by my trauma. It defined every aspect of my character and eroded my psyche until nothing remained. That misery, that pain, that trauma and horror, I'm not giving any of it to you. There's this notion that if you survive something, it makes you stronger. Someone once told me that the strongest blades are forged in the hottest flames. I don't agree. Trauma doesn't make you a better person. It doesn't make you wise or cunning. It just scars you. I'm just a hellmouth. I attract all the negativity in an area before collapsing into myself and exploding... That's why I'll never make you experience an ounce of my pain. Even if it prevents you from fully understanding me, that's fine. I left parts of my life hazy and vague for a very good reason. You don't need to know everything about me, Shizuka. You only need to know that I love you."

Tsuru stepped closer to the mirror as she spoke. "For so long, I've thrust my fears and uncertainty onto my inner child. I forced her to bear the weight of the world so I could hide away from it forever. That's not how it should be. I need to let her go. I need to give her the childhood I never had, with a safe family filled with people who can protect her better than I ever could. That's why I made you, Shizuka. You're our chance at a happy ending. I made so many mistakes in my life, but you can learn from them… You'll grow into the woman I could never hope to be."

She reached over and touched the mirror with a small smile. "My aunt always criticized me whenever I tried ikebana. I never seemed to get it right. It came so effortlessly to her, and I grew to hate flowers because of it. That's not the way I feel anymore, Shizuka…You are my finest work. Every element is exactly as it should be, sound and balanced. That's why I chose to name you 静華, a quiet flower growing beautifully from the soil. If my life amounts to the fertilizer that nourishes your bloom, I'm happy."

Shizuka bit her lip as she learned the true meaning of her name. Was it fate that Joseph and Jotaro picked the same name for her, or a mere coincidence? She always assumed her name was a fun play on the family nickname "Jojo." That may have been true, but now she knew her mother intended the spelling of "quiet flower."

"I'm not going to let you inherit all of my problems, Shizuka. My Requiem Stand is with you right now, protecting you from any danger. It only appears when absolutely necessary, but I'm sure you've met it by now. Our bodies are identical, and soon our souls will be one. The Circle Game will recognize you as its User. Not only that; you're infused with a perfected strand of nullified Pillar Man and vampiric DNA, allowing you to utilize significantly more Stand Power than a mere human. This means your body can handle powering your own Stand alongside my ability. Not only that, but you should be able to unleash the true power of The Circle Game against Dolly, something I could never handle. I manifested that ability in a time of utter desperation to defeat her. It is the perfect power to combat Rapture's terrible strength. Take it to Dolly and let it take care of everything. Then… Live." She smiled wearily, lowering her head.

Shizuka felt herself being pulled from The Circle Game's projection and into the waking world once again. She tried to fight it, desperate to hear more of her mother's words. As she faded from the hotel room, the familiar melodic voice of The Circle Game's filled her mind. The words were different this time, and it was spoken straight instead of being sung.

Nature and nurture, my sweet little tot…

No, you're not quite me, though you're not quite not…

See you dance through the flowers, such joy I have wrought…

Now in these final hours, I lay down to rot...

Hold your chin high with power, you haven't forgot…

Of your sweet mother coward, and how hard she fought…

Shizuka woke up with a start in the hospital room with all her friends. She was suffering from a cold sweat, her hair matted to her face with sweat as she heaved for air. She looked around only to find everyone else was still asleep. The girl fell back in the chair and rested her head on it with a sigh. She stared at the dark ceiling, listening to the soothing melody of medical equipment beeping and whirring in the distance. What was she supposed to make of any of that…? She got her answers after all that time, but did she even understand what they meant?

That was a problem for tomorrow…

To be Continued...

Author's Note, Ikeband Summary:

The chapter begins with Tsuru sitting in a police station after the murder of her family. She is left an orphan, and is placed with her aunt in Tokyo for the rest of her childhood. Two years later, at the age of twelve, Tsuru is faced with a terrifying anomaly called a "Hellmouth," which is a blackhole of negative energy that naturally forms and balances the Earth's energy. It targets the negative energy in her soul after tasting her trauma, and almost consumes her before she's saved by two Egyptian travelers. The saviors are Muhammad Avdol and his grandfather Aharon. They roam the world in search of dangerous spiritual anomalies and try to quell them before anyone gets hurt. This event sparks Tsuru's fascination with the supernatural.

Weeks later, Tsuru is working in her flower shop when a little ginger girl walks in and introduces herself. The girl is named Stella Artois, and they become best friends. When Tsuru is a grown woman, she discusses traveling to Egypt with Stella. She lies about her reasoning, secretly hoping to meet the Avdol family and ask them questions about the world. We all know what happens when she arrives in Egypt, though.

After Dio is killed, Tsuru takes measures to ensure that she is seen as one of his victims, not a co-conspirator. She is found by Jotaro and Joseph, and begs Jotaro to burn Dio's mansion to hide the secret of heaven. From there, she passes out.

Tsuru wakes up in the hospital and meets Madame Dolly for the first time. After some recovery time, she is hired by the Speedwagon Foundation and tasked with the discovery of immortality by using vampiric blood.

She learns that her assistant, Cynthia Armstrong, has been tampering with her experiments and confronts her. Cynthia explains that Dolly isn't who she seems, and begs Tsuru for help. After some consideration, Tsuru manages to help Cynthia flee the country. She then confronts Dolly about her plans, pretending that she wants in on them.

Months later, Dolly reveals that she is aware of Tsuru's hand in allowing Cynthia to escape the country, and tells the woman that her blunder cost the Speedwagon Foundation Kars's feather. Tsuru fears for her life, and comes up with a plan for acquiring a Stand Ability. After this, she learns that her friend Stella has manifested a Stand Ability, Hotel California. They use the ability to enter the Speedwagon Foundation and steal Dolly's access to vampiric blood. They're confronted by Dolly, and Tsuru awakens her Stand, Mother Dawn. Mother Dawn's full scope is unclear for the time being, but it seems to be able to make Tsuru completely invincible for a brief period of time.

Tsuru and Stella escape Dolly and live within the Hotel California with Stella's husband Adrian, and their twin children Pepsi and Shirlie. Tsuru goes to find Cynthia Armstrong at Neil Archer's estate, but learns that she died during childbirth. Her daughter Marina lives on, and Neil offers Tsuru a place to work on defeating Dolly. She accepts.

After some time, Tsuru acquires a Stand Arrow thanks to the resources of Neil. She pierces her Mother Dawn with the arrow, turning it into The Circle Game, a Requiem Stand that can gather any information she wishes from the past, present, and potential futures. She uses this ability to relive her trauma from the past, and look into the future to find any potential ways to defeat Dolly. She finds nothing, not a single outcome where she's victorious. That's when she remembers a project from the Speedwagon Foundation, a prototype program for cloning human beings. She knows what she has to do, and uses the Hotel California to return to the Foundation one last time.

On their way to the Foundation, Tsuru and Stella accidentally travel into the past and witness their childhood together. The Hotel California was evolving, beginning to exist outside of time as well as space. They made their way back to the foundation in the year 1998, about six years into the future.

After stealing the cloning machine, Tsuru and Stella have an argument about the existence of Stand Arrows. Stella becomes obsessed with the fear that Stand Users will someday end the world, and Tsuru storms out of the Hotel in a huff. When she leaves, she stumbles into her lab at Neil's estate, but she is in the wrong time period.

Stella arrives, but it's not the Stella from Tsuru's time. Instead, it appears to be Stella at the end of her timeline, well after Shizuka and the group's time in Hotel California. Stella knows what Tsuru accomplished after seeing Shizuka in action, and arrives to wish Tsuru good luck. They cannot reunite, as their timelines are misaligned. Stella was unable to reach Tsuru for so long, and now if she tried to take her in, Tsuru wouldn't cause the events that lead to Stella's rescue from Diva. Because of this, they must go their separate ways. Stella and Tsuru's feelings for one another are finally spoken plainly, and they share a romantic kiss before Stella's spirit fades from our world. Time never lined up for them, but they could have been such a great couple in another life.

With a newfound purpose, Tsuru cloned herself, inseminating her womb with an infant version of herself and eventually giving birth to it. This child was Shizuka, born in December of 1998. She takes the child to Morioh after a few months to find Joseph Joestar. After leaving a message for Shizuka to find in the past, Tsuru arranges for the baby to end up with the Joestars, and meets an ambiguous fate. She is dead, but whether she lives on in Shizuka is a question for another day.