Swallowing the Sun

8th Sunrise: New Dawn (Part I)

"This is Italian now, so don't be confused."

"This is Nihonggo now, so don't be confused."

This…

Arianna stared at the scampering cockroach from the corner, and just as it was about to crawl into the crack on the wall, a kid with bright purple hair who could only be six, quickly caught it and crushed it with her hand.

Is a fucking nightmare.

"Ha, so you're finally awake sleeping beauty." Someone spoke to her, the voice coming from the darkest corner of the room. She can't quite see them, but from her view, she can vaguely make out pale colored hair and a pair of bright reflector blue eyes.

Giorno who was checking out the small, highly barred window suddenly turned back and was instantly by her side.

"Aria! Are you okay? Do you still feel cold? Do you need anything? Are you―"

She kept an ear for all his worried questioning while her eyes roamed over him, trying to locate any visible injuries.

He looks fine at least. She narrowed her eyes, noting that he looked paler. Or is he really?

"I'm fine Gio," She answered in Italian, noticing how the other five children had looked at them in interest for speaking another tongue. Seeing that he was about to rebuke her statement, Arianna held Giorno's hand close to her forehead. "I just have a light fever now."

"Thank God." He then proceeds to bury his face onto her hair. It seems that they were at least given beds and mattresses, no matter how rickety and unwashed they were.

She started stroking his hair and Giorno let out a shuddering relieved sigh.

"How about you?" Arianna asked.

"What?" Giorno's answering question came out muffled by her hair.

"I'm asking if you're fine." Arianna repeated patiently.

He hummed in agreement. "I'm okay."

Silence and, "Are you really?"

Giorno reluctantly lifted his face in order to face her, his eyes all but burning with a new glow that she'd never seen before in him.

They're the eyes of someone full of resolve. Someone who is concerned and someone not about to give up.

With the outlook of their situation, it's a good thing. Arianna does not want her brother to break. Ever. Under any circumstance she would not let that happen.

But this new fire in his gaze, made her feel both sad and proud at the same time.

(Because of their circumstance, Giorno is forced to grow up early. Because of this he's unable to become a child.)

Giorno's eyes narrowed. "Yes really. You should be more worried about yourself and I don't like repeating myself. You know that right?"

"But of course." Arianna replied with an appeasing tone. Giving him a smile for extra measure.

The start of someone slow clapping startled the both of them from their own little world, both of their heads swiveling to the side to see the approaching figure.

"Simply wonderful, amazing really! That was very touching! So touching that it bring tears to my eyes!"

It was all said in a dramatic and mocking fashion by the same kid who had greeted her first. Stepping up the cheesy villainesque theatrics, the boy started walking onto the only light source that can be afforded through the only window available in the room.

As he came closer, the older boy's features became clearer. His silver hair fell over his forehead in a mess of spiked waves, highlighting his porcelain skin that may have never seen the warmth of the sun, glowing and pale under the afternoon light. His eyes were like a pair of bright sapphires plugged into his sockets framed by long pale lashes, the electric blue color of his eyes completing his angelic visage.

Though as angelic as his appearance is, his expression is anything but that.

Arianna has a feeling that this boy is rotten. Because she has seen that expression one to many times on somebody else.

(There's madness hidden under there, a kind of anger that was so deep seethed that it could cut, and a kind of despair that wouldn't hesitate to drag everyone down with him, full of childish glee and spite. His body language portrays a kind of superiority like he is better than anyone, like he knows that he is better than anyone. It was so familiar to the Emi inside of Arianna that she had to blink several times to confirm what she was seeing. The image didn't changed and the boy continued to smile at her.)

(She saw that same irritating smugness from her best friend after all. It was so much like her friend Gideon that for a moment, bright blonde overlapped silver and electric blue turned into sparkling green, with a few blinks, the image vanished and all that was left was a ten year old kid with some sort of blooming superiority complex.)

The boy is rotten.

("Oh come now Emi, don't look at me like that. I can't help it that I find their miserable faces funny and I was bored, really bored. It's your fault for going away for days. You're the only one remotely interesting around here.")

But he is also beautiful.

("It's not my fault for making them fall in love with me. I just lent her my pen, I didn't know that she would take it for something else. Ha! Must be my face." "What are you talking about, your face is disgusting." "Disgustingly beautiful that is." "Keep telling that to yourself." "Good thing that I like your face Emi or else you would have had a broken nose.")

Actually, now that Arianna thought of it, all the children in this room are all exceptionally beautiful in their own way.

There's this girl from earlier with bright purple hair paired with a set of wide absent amethyst eyes, the girl looks like a doll, dead eyes and all. The boy – or is it a girl? She can't tell – hiding behind the doll girl has the brightest shade of green for eyes and a bird's nest of dark green almost black hair resting on his head, he was beautiful in the way fairy tale fairies were told. An older, dark skinned boy sat on the farthest corner of the room with his right knee propped up and one arm resting on it. He has finely curled black hair and even darker hooded eyes, he has this mysterious and calm air about him, a mysterious prince. And lastly, a girl with scarlet red hair and sharp silver eyes, she held elegance and grace in her posture but the fire inside of her eyes made the picture of an elegant warrior princess.

Then there's the two of them.

She is not being overly proud of their appearance or anything, but Arianna knows that both she and Giorno are beautiful children.

Giorno used to wear his hair in an unflattering bowl cut because Mia couldn't be bothered to style it, but with the help of Madonna and Arianna, his hair fell into soft spikes and soft waves that reached his shoulders. Yes, it made him look a bit feminine but Giorno seems to enjoy having longer hair and his happiness is enough answer for her. Coupled with his inquisitive wide intelligent seafoam eyes that were framed by thick long lashes and his refined facial structure that can be seen through the baby fat, it is undeniable that her brother looked like an aristocratic little prince. A young little lord.

Arianna herself isn't going to gloss over her own appearance, not because she's vain, no, because it's a fact. She knows that her unique golden curls that had orange tinted tips made her look like the cherubins often depicted in famous paintings. Her fair skin that had a natural blushing glow paired with her seafoam eyes that were uniquely speckled with gold – something that's becoming more prominent unlike Giorno's – being framed by long dark blonde curled lashes didn't help the cherubin aesthetic.

All the children in this room shared one defining fact that they are all pleasing to the eyes. Just the thought of it was sickening and she has to swallow down the bile climbing up her esophagus.

This must be where they kept the beautiful children.

The sudden realization made her headache flare something fierce as something bloomed in her chest, kindling the flames and was now starting to revive with a mighty roar.

(Arianna's anger is a controlled chaos. She can control it and hold it in, let it simmer, cooldown until it's one a sheath that's withholding a dam inside. She plans and plans and plans. When the right opportunity strikes, she lets the kindle of flames roar into a raging explosion, letting the sheath of ice melt and let the dam flow free, decimating only the controlled area.)

Not all humans act human, just like how these inhuman acts made humans into humans. Sins are what made humans to be, well, humans, humans are not free of sins and faults, it's what made them who they are. Stupid, arrogant, greedy, prideful and the likes, mixed in with several virtues that they acquired via their nature and nurture.

But this, this type of depravity, selling other humans as if they were just some merchandises for a bazaar, selling children, is nothing short of beyond fucked up proportions.

(Is this how animals feel when they're being sold off?)

Arianna doesn't know what to describe how she is currently feeling about their situation other than Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfu―

(She holds the fire in and lets it cooldown. If she wants to get back to these bastards then she needs to fucking plan. When that's done, she'll let it all out. Gotta stay calm and cooldown the dam.)

"Hello…" Arianna started in a quiet but curious tone.

The boy's smile became wider.

"Hello to you as well. The name's Candido Luce, what about you? Your brother hadn't said anything since you guys were brought here by the suited monkeys, for a second there I thought he was mute until he's gone King Kong when we're being handed 'food' earlier."

Really? She blinked at the boy and then looked at her brother and then back to the older boy.

"Giorno had always been less of a speaker between the two of us." And neither has he acted savaged before. Maybe the situation was affecting her brother more than she thought.

"It seems so." His smirk was hitting memories best kept in the past. "So, Aria right?"

"Arianna Giovanna and my brother's name is Giorno. But feel free to call me Aria."

"Pretty name, I guess it fits you."

"Can't say that it's the same for you." The words flew out of her mouth easily without control, perhaps Arianna is seeing too much of her best friend from the boy that her lips had become looser or it could be because of the fever.

She could only hope that he takes it well.

(Candido could either mean pure white or snow-like, probably a nod to his appearance. But figuratively speaking, Candido could also mean 'innocence', which the boy was anything but that based from the personality that Arianna could grasp from him at the moment. His last name Luce means 'light', putting his name together it meant 'pure white light', which is hilariously ironic since the boy seemed to radiate chaos and madness instead.)

There was silence for a few and the next there were two people laughing at her blunt statement.

"Oh my Lord! Hahahaha," An older girl who had been brushing her pretty red hair came over, her sharp silver eyes watery from laughing. "You got him on that one."

"Hahahahaha! God, I would be offended Pompom if it weren't true hahaha," Candido Luce wiped the corner of his eyes. "I like you! We should become best friends!" He said it with a wide grin showing rows of unusual pointed teeth.

…

Pale skin started going red and is sure to bruise later. The boy, Gideon – or Dio as he would like to be called the self-entitled bastard– who had been messing with her cousin stood stuck still after Emi delivered a decently powerful sucker punch. His leaf green eyes cycled into mortified anger quickly before changing into surprised interest after finally seeing who actually punched him.

"Bother Nathan again and I'll do more than punch you. You seem to have a very kickable face now that I thought of it." Emi brushed off a pale blonde strand that fell from her ponytail, tucking it to her left ear.

Distantly, she could hear Jonathan yelling and his friends, Robin and Cesar, cursing Gideon to not even think of retaliating to a girl smaller than him.

A girl my foot! Who were the ones who screams like a little girl when they see a cockroach again?

The two blondes dutifully ignored the trio that were fast approaching and just continued to stare at one another.

The moment was broken when the boy suddenly started laughing, by this time, her cousin Jonathan and his friends were standing 'protectively' in front of Emi.

"Dio, don't mix Emi into this. I'll take you on if you do!"

Rolling his eyes, Gideon spat blood on perfectly cut grass, the gardener is sure to have a cow tomorrow.

"Is that the best thing you can do little Jojo? Even your pretty little cousin over there can give a stronger punch than the lackluster taps you call a punch." He waved his hands at them in dismissal, accosting the three boys even further.

"Now get out of the way, I'm still talking to your cousin."

"Like hell we will Dio!"

"I'm not just gonna let you touch a single strand of Emilia's hair!"

"Come on guys, let's go."

With Jonathan's lead, the other's followed, Emi trailing behind them with Gideon standing still on his spot.

"Booooring," He rolled his eyes at them, catching Emi's pale baby blue eyes, his lips lifted into a smirk.

"I like you. We should become best friends."

For some reason, Emi wanted to laugh, she, after all, had just punched him not even two minutes ago. Their staring contest only ended after Jonathan urged her to walk in front with them behind her.

She didn't know how it happened from there, but they did end up becoming friends and at some point, they became best friends. They bonded over shitty (step)dads and super moms and other woes of life.

Too bad, what could be developed was cut shortly with the end of her life.

…

Coming back to her senses, Arianna gave a smile, that to others appeared radiant and heartfelt.

"I'd be glad to." She tightened her hold on Giorno. "I've never had any other best friend or friend other than Gio."

Luce grinned while the redhead nicknamed Pompom gave an 'aww'.

"Now, now, we can't have that, right Poms?"

"Tout à fait." The older girl answered perfectly accented French, it's probably either she is French or she originally came from France but Italian by blood. "But can't you stop giving me weird nicknames already Luce?"

"Nope. Not happening." The white haired kid emphasized the last syllables of his refusal just to be annoying.

Red eyebrows ticked in irritation.

A sigh. "My name is Pomodoro Rossa, you can call me Rossa or Ross."

Who the hell names their daughter 'Tomato'?

Rossa pointed at the doll-like purple haired girl. "Why don't we introduce each other? Let's start with you Vi."

The girl jumped excitably on the crusty mattress she's been sitting on, making the dust rose up like smoke.

"Hi! Hello! My name is Viola Uva! But everybody calls me Vivi or Vi or Viva or Viola or Uva! I really, really, really like your face! It's like this one barbie doll that I had before my big brother bit off the head because he said she was too pretty, too pretty that it's not real, and he said that no one can be more prettier than me! But you remind me a lot of her, but don't worry, I don't think big brother would bite your head off, because your real and too pretty to be bitten!"

The newly introduced Viola said that all in one breath, nodding her head as she does so, unaware of how unnerving her innocent rambling was.

"Anyways, what were you two talking about earlier? Is that a secret code? Or ooohh, ooohh, could it be the words used in heaven! You both are angels, right? You should be, because both of you look like the angels on the weird place where people sing, kneel and make wishes to a bloody naked man nailed to a cross!"

Luce snorted at Viola's last exclamation.

"Ahm… we're not angels Vivi. The words we were using earlier was Japanese."

"Japanese?"

"Yes. It's a language used in Japan where we were born in."

"Oooohhhhh…. So, heaven is really called Japan?" She tilted her head like a confused cute puppy. If Arianna wasn't so tired, she might have found it adorable but she really wants to eat and sleep.

"I don't think that's what she meant Viva." A soft airy voice came from the petite green eyed boy(?) beside her. He hunched himself over when he noticed that all eyes were on him.

"Huh?"

"I t-think it's a country t-t-that is o-outside of Italia."

"Oh." The girl deflated. "So, they're not angels?"

"They could be." Luce added unhelpfully, it earned him a whack in the back by Rossa.

"Don't listen to him Vi. Just look at this imbécile, he looks like an angel bu―"

"He is the spawn of Lucifer – I think that's what the 'Luce' in his name stands for, short for Lucifer! I really am smart! – and Satan and all things unholy! I know Ross, you say it aaaaaaaaaall the time!"

Luce started clutching on his off white – or maybe it is white, just dirty – shirt as if in pain.

"OoooooowWwwwW! The pain of being called out!"

"Don't worry Candy! I've decided that I'll become Satan or Lucifer so you won't go to hell alone when you die! And I'll be there to rule it so you won't get too punished for being bad!"

"They're weird." Giorno whispered so quietly that only Arianna could hear.

"That declaration disturbs, reassures and impresses me at the same time. I like it."

"I know, but calling someone weird is rude."

"Thank you!"

"I'm sorry."

"That's not a compliment Vi."

Someone cleared their throat. "Oscuro Cenere." The older boy on the farthest side of the room with deep black eyes gave a small nod.

Yet another appropriate name.

All eyes shifted to the shy kid who had been hiding behind Viola was shaken to go next. He fiddled with the old musty blanket on his hands, twisting it and then straightening it.

"V-Verde F-F-Fuliggine it's n-n-nice to meet b-b-both of you." Verde tried for a smile but ended up being a grimace of pain.

Doing another once over, Arianna tried to sit up, but with Giorno on top of her she soon gave up, she's too tired and hungry for this.

"I would bow to all of you politely but I am currently unable to."

She directed her gaze towards the boy who's desperately trying to meld into her.

"But it's all nice to meet you."

The grins, smiles and look of acknowledgement gave her some relief that these children wouldn't try to single them out for being the new kids. Inwardly she grimaced and tried to call on Madonna.

It didn't work.

If Madonna was here, the guardian spirit would just liquify the wall where the window was, they seemed to be at the ground floor with the way she could vaguely here someone talking outside. They could have escaped in here but the challenge starts with getting away from the mafiosi guarding the damn place.

Mafiosi who indulge in human trafficking and drug cartels.

Mafiosi who probably don't give a shit to whatever happens to said humans in the rings as long as they don't escape and make a nuisance of themselves.

(At the moment, they should keep their heads low and observe. The planning comes after and executing it is a whole different agenda. But the next best thing for now was to survive.)

But nonetheless, to know that it exists and to see that it actually exists are two entirely different things.

It's still nauseating, to witness human beings do something so despicable as selling other people, children God what the fuck― and make it seem like they're only selling items. And maybe in their eyes they're just items.

But to see children like her – well she's physically still a child – look so comfortable at the situation they were on is really unnerving. Arianna can't see any sign of fear in their eyes, even Verde who by all means is probably the most jittery among them.

Do they even know the situation that they are in?

Do they have any idea of what's going on? Do they know that they are going to be sold?

What have they seen to warrant being nonchalant in this fuckhole?

Have they been in here for long?

Have they―

No, Arianna took on the jaded eyes and the wary way they look at the door every now and then.

They know exactly what's going on.

(Arianna would be damned if she let them all stay in here. She'll pull them in on their escape plan if she has to, but if it wasn't plausible then she has to carry it in her conscience that she wasn't able to save these children that she just met. Arianna might be soft, but she'll be damned if she would let her brother get hurt because of her softness. Family first, herself second, children third and then other respectable human beings. That's how she'd functioned before and that's how she'll function now. The main reason why she took the bullet that was supposed to be for her Mom, family first before herself.)

"Aria, are you hungry?"

Her musings were cut short by Giorno, who got up from his very comfortable snuggling.

From the pocket of his oversized hoodie he pulls out two pieces of stale looking bread and hands it to her after helping her sit up.

"Thank you Gio." Her eyes widened when she saw the metal object sticking at the bread and without much thought, she pulled it out and it was a key.

"Is this… Is this the key to that door?" She asked carefully. Her mind reeling at the fact that her brother had done something so bold and ingenious.

Though really, it was Arianna who had taught him how to swipe things from unsuspecting people. A skill that her old best friend from the other life had taught her. Giorno had taken to the skill with the ease of a fish to water, unlike Arianna who had a little bit of trouble on her first life though Gideon would insist that she was a natural thief. It's impressive, and the main reason why the both of them was able to buy their own food when both Maurizio and Mia forgot to feed them. They 'borrow' Mia's money most of the time and swipe Maurizio's only when he was completely hammered. The man, not a complete idiot it seems, accuses them of stealing whenever his money was missing so they have taken to swiping at him when he's inebriated.

But still, what Giorno just did is nothing short of impressive and he had been always been reluctant at the act of stealing, knowing that it was wrong. And Arianna sure as hell told him that it was wrong. Gotta raise him to become an 'upstanding' rule-abiding citizen and all that, but with the bullshit that is the government here, they have to make do to survive in the environment. Adapting is surviving, that's one of the etched rules that she made for herself and her ability to adapt was one of the traits Gideon had been envious of her.

(Arianna had told him that yes, it was wrong, but it was also Maurizio's and Mia's responsibility to feed them and provide financial support, so to speak, they're just handling what the adults should be doing. And they weren't stealing anything from other people either and only getting what was necessary for them to survive.)

"Yes, I saw that it was the one that one of those creatures used." The biting resentment in his tone had Arianna reeling.

Giorno wasn't much for grudges and hate. Even though he knows that their own mother doesn't want them, even though they experience constant physical, verbal and emotional abuse from both parents but more from Maurizio, even though he was made to constantly question his worth as a person – God fuck, children shouldn't question whether they deserve to fucking live – even through all the pain that the world seemed to hurl at him. Giorno never resented anyone, not neglectful Mia, not abusive Mauricio and not even the Goddamn world they were born to.

So this… this development was new.

Arianna is certain that it was partially her fault. Giorno is not quick to anger. His patience extraordinarily long for a child his age, though not a fan of repeating himself.

One thing that only gets under the boy's skin is if it involves Arianna. Madonna would surely make it to the list if she was accessible for other people to insult and such.

(Four girls losing their favorite pins that magically showed up in her drawer after the day they made fun of Arianna's unique hair color, sizable lunch money that was swiped under Mia's purse after the woman complained about her always smiling, sixteen different children of different ages somehow tripping over a sizable number of stairs after bullying her. The list goes on, but all of it pertains to people who has slighted her in some way that gets them injured or stolen from. His protectiveness reminded her of Ken, her little brother who pretends to not care because it's not cool and the little brother who punches men twice his age for simply looking at her funny, the main target being Gideon for always being a giggly shit to her tsundere edgelord of a brother.)

The audible awed sound snaps Arianna back to attention and she whips her head to face the Albino.

"Wait, when did you swipe that?"

Luce asked with a look of interest and surprise in his eyes.

"When I was grabbing all the bread earlier." Giorno answered plainly, not minding the probing eyes at him.

"So… you did it when you were being rabid about food earlier? Did you plan that?! How did you even managed to do that without them noticing?" The redhead asked, the older girl looked impressed with her brother.

Giorno only hummed as an answer before shoving the bread to her mouth.

"Eat. You need food because you're sick. Worry about escaping later."

Dumbfounded, Arianna did as told and took a bite at the bread roll, not really tasting anything.

Damn, my baby brother is awesome.

"Holy shit."

THWACK!

"Ow!"

"Language." Rossa said chidingly, though her mind wasn't really into it. Her silver eyes glanced at the door where no keyhole was present, Arianna figured earlier that it was locked from the outside.

That's another blockade to their freedom.

(But no matter, they can plan. Study the enemy and study the territory. The mafiosi must be scrambling in trying to find the key and they probably wouldn't think to themselves that the new merchandise would and could still the key on the first day of being in here. They probably think that newbies would be too scared or in shock to try it, which was fair. Giorno's levelheadedness had taken to a high rise it seemed coupled with copious amount of resolve and determination, if Arianna said that she wasn't proud then that would be a lie. Joestars pride themselves for strength, stubbornness, drive, determination, quick wittedness and unpredictability. Who is Arianna to not be proud of that?)

Looking at her brother, she gave a smile – and to Giorno's delight, that smile alone could rival the sun with its radiance and the warmth he feels in his chest blooms again – and continued to pat her brother's hair who looked at her as if she's the one who's done something amazing.

"That was awesome Gio, I knew that I can always count on you."

A/N: I'M ALIVE! Woot! Woot! I'm a free woman as of now, no more shitty schoolwork and shitty groupmates! I live and it's awesome I survived! Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this. If you're a reader from my other fics I deeply apologize but I won't be able to upload still. This was the only chapter I was able to retrieve and my shitty computer keeps reminding me how shitty it was for deleting my shit. I'm very sorry in advance to you guys ok and be patient with me.

I'm supposed to be asleep and it's 3 am here so I'm sorry if there are grammar mistakes and misspelling and do kindly point it out.

Name meaning with the kids

Candido Luce - White Light

Pomodoro Rossa - Tomato Red

Viola Uva - Purple Grape

Oscuro Cenere - Dark Ash

Verde Fuliggine - Green Soot

As y'all can see there's a theme here. I swear they're all important and I'm sorry for sprouting OCs out of the blue, just bear with me and go along for the ride. Take care and love y'all XOXOXO