Chapter 58: The path ahead.
Why? That's the only question that has swirled through Bronny's head. Why? He couldn't catch a break, and it was starting to annoy him, when this thing leave him alone? What did it want? Bronny rubbed his forehead in frustration, the White Figure had gone too far, and it was going to pay for it. He looked over to his side, Jolyne sat quietly, her eyes showed immense worry and fear, Bronny knew how she was feeling, he had the same feeling in him all the way back when this first started, and still had it now. "It's going to be ok JoJo," Bronny said, "that piece of shit is going to pay for this, I promise." Jolyne nodded, turning her gaze away from Bronny, "yeah, we will."
LeBron exited the infirmary; a look of sadness was etched across his face. Jolyne stood up quickly, moving towards him. "How are they?" She asked, "they aren't dead right? I swear I'll kick Josuke's ass if he dies!" LeBron chuckled slightly, "Josuke's gonna be ok," he said, "he's gotta a few bruises, but he'll be on his feet in no time." Jolyne sighed in relief, "good, and what about Giorno?" "Giorno…" LeBron sighed, rubbing his forehead, "Giorno's in a real bad way right now, I don't know if he'll make it, but he said he wanted to talk with you Jolyne." Jolyne nodded slightly, "o-oh, ok, I'll go right away." Jolyne walked past LeBron and into the infirmary. Giorno laid motionless on the hospital bed, many tubes and wires were attached to his body, he looked dead, his heart rate very low. Jolyne slowly walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Uncle Giorno?" Giorno slowly opened his eyes, he looked at Jolyne. "H-Hey…" Giorno muttered, "who are you?" Jolyne scoffed, "how am I? You got some nerve huh, you look like shit." Giorno smiled slightly, "t-that's nice of you to say, when I'm near dead…" Jolyne scratched her neck, "yeah, sorry." Giorno sighed, "it's ok, I know you mean well." Jolyne took a seat next to Giorno, "so, what did you need from me?" Giorno sat up slowly, "I need you listen to me closely, because what I'm saying, will be important to your future." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small box, "here, take this."
Jolyne took the box and looked at it intently. "So, what's in this thing?" Jolyne asked. "Open it and see for yourself." Jolyne nodded, she slowly opened the box, her eyes widened. She lifted the object into the air, it was an Arrow Piece. "Is this?" Giorno nodded. Jolyne looked at the piece, she didn't know what to think of this. "I…I shouldn't have this," she muttered. "Why not?" Jolyne put the piece back into the box, "I can't, this is something I can't have," she said, "this is way too important; you should give to Josuke or something." Giorno shook his head, "no, this is for you, you're the only on that can have it." "But why?" Giorno sat up, putting a hand on Jolyne's shoulder, "Jolyne, that star on your neck, it represents our bloodline, and you are the current owner of it," he said, "the future of the Joestar's ride on you."
Giorno held Jolyne's hand tight, "this White Figure is after the Arrow, and we can't let that happen, promise me, that you and the others will do what you can to find them." Jolyne nodded her head, "yeah, no problem, we won't stop till we find them all." Giorno sighed, he laid back down in the bed, "good, one more thing, there is something buried behind my mansion, or I guess what's left of it," Giorno muttered, "go there and find it, it will help you on your journey." Jolyne nodded, "I will." She turned and walked out of the room. "Your father would be proud of you Jolyne." Jolyne paused, she turned her head, "if you say so."
Jolyne walked out of the room, she was distressed. Giorno was right, she was the future of the Joestar Bloodline, and she had to do what she could to recover the Arrow. Bronny walked up to Jolyne, slinging his arm around her shoulder. "How's Giorno?" He asked. "To be honest, not good," replied Jolyne, "he was struggling just to talk, who knows what type of injuries he had." Jolyne sighed, "anyways, where's your dad?" "He went out with the others," Bronny said, "they're cleaning up the mess back at the mansion, that's as far as a I know." Jolyne nodded. Bronny took notice of the box in Jolyne's hands, "what's in there?" "It's a piece of the Arrow." Bronny's eyes widened slightly, "for real?" Jolyne nodded. "Lemme see." Jolyne opened the box, showing Bronny the piece inside. "Woah, that's the real thing alright," Bronny said, "that's crazy he gave it to you, this must mean that bastard has the others, we can't let it have this one too." "Giorno told me that there's something buried behind his mansion," spoke Jolyne, "he said it would help us with the Arrow situation." Bronny nodded, "then we'll head there now, come on."
The two walked out of the hospital, meeting up with the others. "We need to get back to Giorno's mansion," Bronny said, "it looks like we have a new job to do." "Oh? And what would that be?" Jolyne opened the box and showed them the Arrow piece, "the White Figure is after the Arrow Pieces, we know this, so we have to protect this one, there's something at Giorno's mansion that can help us find it." Noel sighed loudly, "nothing is ever just relaxation with you two is it?" She groaned, "oh well, can't say it's not excited." "It seems there is never a dull moment with you lot," Kira muttered, "let's get this over with, the faster the better." The group piled into Joshua's car, driving off. In the distance, the White Figure watched closely. "This boy is finally getting it," it said, "once he starts this journey, my time will finally come." The White Figure turned to the man behind it, "your Stand, can track these children, correct?" The man nodded. "Good, keep it on them for now, my agents will meet with them soon enough," The White Figure, "but one thing I for sure, Bronny James cannot die, the others are expendable, but Bronny is not, make sure he lives." "Yes, my master."
The group made it to Giorno's mansion, they piled out of the car and moved to the back. "Man, this place looks like shit," Rae muttered, "what that white thing is, it's a serious problem." They looked around the desolate mansion, "if I could ask Bronny?" Joshua asked, "where exactly do we look?" Bronny shrugged his shoulders, "beats me, Jolyne?" "All Giorno said was that it's buried somewhere here," replied Jolyne, "but where is exactly is a question." Noel stepped forward, "I could help," she said, "my Black-Eyed Peas can search through the ground for whatever is there, just give me some time." Noel knelt down and summoned her Stand. She put her hands into the ground and walked around, looking for whatever was in the ground.
"Wait, I think I found something." Noel pulled up a large black box, "I suppose this is what you were looking for?" "I guess so," Bronny said. He took the box from Noel and opened it. "Well, what's inside?" Jolyne asked. "It's… a map." Bronny took the map out of the box and opened it, it was of Italy, many markings were made in different locations across the country, all spread far from each other. "I see, it's kinda like a treasure map," Joshua said, "and I have a good idea what the treasure is." "So do I." Jolyne held her Arrow Piece tight, "they must be the location of the other pieces, think about it, the White Figure can't have gotten all of the pieces, if we want to recover the Arrow, we have to beat him to these spots."
The group all looked at one another, "I don't know about this," Rae muttered, "maybe we should leave this to the others." "Giorno and Josuke are both in the hospital," Bronny said, "we don't know what's out there, they may not be able to handle it." Rae frowned, "and we can?" "We were able to solve the murders pretty much by ourselves," Joshua said, "if the others are occupied, we're the only ones who can do this." Rae stayed silent, turning her gaze.
"Why don't we do a count of hands," Bronny said, "if you all have cold feet about this, you don't have to come, but if you do, raise your hands." Bronny and Jolyne held their hands up, looking at the others. Noel sighed, "these last few weeks have been hell," she muttered, "but… I know things are gonna get worse if we don't do something, you were there for me when my sister died, so I'll stick with you guys till the end." She put her hands up. Joshua was next, "I dragged you all into this mess, I wouldn't leave for anything." Kira chuckled softly, "you are certainly the most fascinating person I've ever met Bronny, and I mean that in a good way," he said, reluctantly, he put his hands up, "don't think I'm doing this for you though, this is to insure my own survival."
The group turned to Rae, her hands still at her side. "What about you Rae?" Jolyne asked. Rae turned her gaze away, "no, we shouldn't do this, we can't do this…" "If we don't do it, who will?" Bronny said, "this isn't something that we just ignore, it's going to be part of our lives forever, unless we change it." Rae looked to the floor, "then, do it without me." Rae walked away from the group. "I didn't expect that from her," Noel said, "you think something is wrong with her?" "Yeah, I don't know what, but she isn't acting like herself," replied Joshua, "but if she doesn't want to come, that's her choice." Bronny sighed, "I'll try to talk to her," he said, "let's meet up by Joshua's place later."