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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 16: Crazy Train, Part 4

Caren couldn't find it within herself to trust this odd masked man.

The mask of Arlecchino wasn't exactly one many were keen to remember, with the prankster Pulcinella being the one mask most remembered from classic Italian Theatrical works. To her, that mask was an unpredictable and unknown factor which urged her to ask Sakura to do something to confirm his version of the matter. So, as the man was being interrogated by Bucciarati regarding his job and the particular details regarding Sakura's current predicament, the plum-haired girl opted to call Great-Grandpa Joseph. The man was the one that supposedly tasked 'Arlecchino' to help them, thus he was the one that would absolutely confirm his explanation. It took a little while for the message to be noticed, but she was disappointed when the one that answered turned out to not be her great-grandfather.

Apologies, Miss Kujo. Master Joestar is currently busy training with young Master Shinji as of right now, but they should be back in a few hours. Alas, I think that Master Joestar did bring up some concerns and had engaged in conversations by the phone with the Foundation to provide you with extra protection.

-Reginald

Caren frowned at the message as Sakura quietly read it and her lips twitched as she felt that despite this confirmation, something about this whole situation didn't feel right. It was tied with her unique condition, that much she could say, but it wasn't the same unpleasant discomfort she would feel by malicious creatures. No, Arlecchino's essence felt… too pleasant. It felt familiar to a degree, almost close to what she once felt while Joseph Joestar was around. Same for that woman that wore shades, Lisa Lisa or something close to that. Yet this time she felt it was denser, stronger. It was odd, and something that just unnerved her to no end. Sakura was uneasy too, but she felt less worried about it since she pointed out that it could have been Hamon. The notion was possible, and it would also be fitting considering Hamon was the kind of ability that, despite its limits compared to having a Stand, was nonetheless worrisome to those foes that weren't prepared for it. These Magi that were hunting Sakura? They were up for a rude awakening on the matter.

But why didn't that lull her in a sense of calm? Caren asked that to herself, knowing that she had already proven through Sakura's own words that this wasn't a bad person. Even Bucciarati confirmed so by the end of the interrogation, and thus this 'stranger' was allowed in their group within the limited role of protecting Sakura. And her. It was still odd how he managed to board the train while it was moving, but the agent reasoned that he had to 'waste' a motorbike to reach for it. Quite an unusual way to infiltrate the train, but the way he said it felt almost like he didn't mind doing it and that the real trouble was the risk of missing the train rather than getting hurt. Which was quite… unusual.

As the others were done talking with him, Caren took this chance to finally approach him. Bruno and Abbacchio were still chatting with Prosciutto, while Pesci was huffing in frustration at Mista's teasing but smiling at Narancia and Trish as the duo tried to cheer him up. Quite the lovely sight, but nothing that really put her mind at ease before the many things she wasn't sure of with this new individual to keep an eye on during this trip.

"Is there something troubling you, Caren Kotomine?"

The teen's eyes narrowed at the masked man. His tone felt so condescending, and yet not too much with the 'ease' exuding from his words. It felt odd to listen as it reminded her of her father. And she loved her father which made her slightly reluctant to interact with this unknown individual. Still, she decided that perhaps being a 'petulant child' would work better in her current circumstance. She didn't like that, but she would have to do that for the sake of her questions.

"Why do you wear a mask?" Caren inquired directly, uncaring of the kind of outraged reaction she might get out of it.

"I was told that it was best to hide my identity from our foes due to their renowned tradition of… hunting down sworn enemies," The man calmly answered. "Also, I quite like this mask since my wife gave it to me as a gift when we visited Rome a few years ago."

Now she had some info that actually shaped this person. He was married and he wasn't native to Rome. That didn't exclude the chance he was a native of Italy, but the way his accent felt as she heard it lacking regional accents sure pushed onto the chance of him being a foreigner. It was something Caren picked up from listening to tourists' talking. Some had foreign accents, but some were fairly fluent but lacked any hint of accents from those that were considered regional Italians.

"You can use Hamon," She then affirmed, and the man hummed.

"That's… an interesting deduction."

"I can sense something from your spirit which is… bright. Brighter than Mr. Joestar's own power."

Arlecchino offered a sigh. "A good assumption, but I would say that it's mostly because Mr. Joestar's power had long started to wane due to his prolonged 'break' from training. Even though he may have resumed practicing with it for his adopted son's own training, his prime time has long passed."

Caren slowly nodded and she couldn't help but see that being the most probable reason. All in all, it wouldn't be a surprise if the old man had indeed grown weaker than he used to be in his youth due to the passing of time and his slacking. But just as she felt mostly satisfied with the questions, Arlecchino decided to speak up once more.

"Alas, there is a question I didn't manage to ask Bucciarati due to how tedious the current circumstance is, did any of the attackers mention any name that could be useful to identify the main source of trouble stacked against you and Sakura."

Frowning at this, the silver-haired girl took a moment to ponder about it as she was quite sure she did hear a few odd names being brought up, with the most recent one being-

"The woman that attacked Sakura in the train, she mentioned a name. A 'Master Atrum'."

The posture tensed, but for some reason the silver-haired girl felt that it wasn't an honest reaction to that discovery. Before she could comment about it, the man spoke up again.

"Atrum? Then I believe we're dealing with Atrum Galliasta and… this is indeed a meddlesome development."

Caren's eyes narrowed in confusion. "How so?"

"Atrum is no arrogant fool at times. Sure, he is known to share many similarities with many traditional magi, but he is a man that adapts to overcome obstacles along his path to success. Any chance where he is allowed to analyze defeats and plot for more attempts, and he will take this opportunity to eventually catch up with a most nefarious and troublesome plan."

"...How do you know this much about him?"

"Anyone that has experience with the Clock Tower knows of the unusual nature of the Galliasta Family. Before Atrum's ascension to lordship, there were other members, brothers, which competed against each other for that title. Atrum was a prodigious foe that had them beaten with incredible efficiency. He is rather taken by power, and the moment he will be able to attain something incredible to ascend to the Root, he will waste all resources just to reach it."

"But… Why Sakura?"

"I would say it's 'secret', but I believe your father has actually brought up to you about what the Holy Grail War once was."

"Yes? But how does this connect to Sakura? She wasn't tied to this matter until the very end-"

"Not the full end. No."

Caren frowned even harder, her confusion grew until the man finally gave her an explanation on what was going on and… it left her perplexed and worried.

"Sakura currently has traces of the Grail in her body. Her Stand conceptualized these shards within her ability to use partial Wishcraft to enable her ultimate skill. That ability can revert to the shard if Atrum manages to take hold of her and, with proper preparation, could turn Sakura as a battery for a Holy Grail."

"But… how would he be able to then find the Holy Grail? I thought it was destroyed," Caren argued and Arlecchino shook his head.

"The Einzbern Grail was broken… but there are other ways to achieve Heaven's Feel. Some Grails are 'older' by tradition, and yet can be used within the Holy Grail Array without even requiring the summoning of a Servant."

That sounded dreadful, and soon the girl's gaze trailed away from Arlecchino as she stopped over Sakura's current position. The plum-haired girl, her closest friend, was calmly playing with Coco Jumbo, seemingly unaware of what was going on with her and why Atrum wanted to capture her now.

"Should she know about this?"

"She should," The agent confirmed. "But I believe it's best I do so in a more 'private' setting since I've just noticed your uncle had been trying to eavesdrop on our conversation."

The girl paused again and then turned to see that Abbacchio had indeed walked away from Bucciarati and had been staring at the two for sometime. It was quite amusing to a degree, to see the 'tough guy' that was her uncle huff and puff about whatever kind of 'nefarious plot' she had stumbled upon. He wouldn't be wrong to assume the information she got was unpleasant, but it was the furthest thing from what sort of silly worry the man might have on the matter.

And for now, Caren's real worry was aimed at Sakura as she now knew her friend was going to need help in these trying times.

They were close to reaching Florence. She was close.

Arcueid was smiling eye-to-eye as she finished her 'Morning Sundae' and prepared to go through a small preparatory training session before getting the stage for the planned battle finalized. It's been a while, and yet the blonde vampire hadn't wasted time in finding something to curb her boredom to acceptable levels. The sweets and delicious food offered by the locals were more than appeasing when it came to deal with her cravings, but Arcueid hadn't just slothfully wasted time in a lazy lifestyle. After memorizing Florence's streets, checking its monuments and then finding appropriate spots where to rest without being disturbed, the girl had rekindled some training to keep her shape up. It's been so long since she fought and she didn't want to be beaten through a technicality she could have avoided. Her blood would just boil and burst at the notion of being defeated through arrogance.

No, Arcueid trained her butt up to a proper form as she got herself ready to use a good part of the skills she had forgotten about. It wasn't a training session intended to 'improve her current power', but to remember those things she forgot and which could be useful against her foes. It was something that had gnawed at her mind for some time and while she thought it would have all distracted her from her main goal, she had to pull back from that mindset when something else came through training. And that was a greater desire to fight her. It was like a craving, an urge which had been subdued at first but now claimed for blood. Her blood. Her pain, their desire to survive.

Maybe it was because she was putting more effort than before for that event, or maybe she was finally catching up at the notion of fighting someone worthwhile. It would be her first serious fight and… that intrigued her. Would it be as difficult as her older sister told her about? Or maybe like Zelretch told her when Type-Moon was around and he had to brawl with her parent. Maybe she was going a bit too far with this, but Arcueid felt excited, she felt enticed into that brawl and she was itching to finally get things started. Thus the vampire pressed on being as prepared as possible, to have all places and situations set up for the matter and then let the purest form of chaos ensue to her heart's contentment. It was going to be great- no, even more than just that. And they would all feel… whole.

Time was passing, the last countdown had started as the heiress to the strongest monster prepared to face the heiress to the most determined man on the planet.

AN

I may have gotten Arcueid a bit bloodthirsty in this chapter, but she is only 'excited'. This is the first serious fight she has to handle and with someone that she knows will match with her current potential. So, she feels giddy about it.

REVIEW Q&A!

1740: It's Chibi Arcueid since she didn't have to wake up many times to deal with Roa and had slumbered for a very long time.

Guest 1 (Chapter 15): Already said Alaya sometimes 'simp' them but has no fave Jojo. Maybe Speedwaifu. Everyone loves Speedwaifu.

Guest 2 (Chapter 15): That's a match made in heaven. These two would be a blast as friends. And Johnny… I guess it depends on which version of him. EarlySBR!Johnny would probably not care to hate someone, but PostSBR!Johnny would be outright pissed at people like BB and Kiara since they gain pleasure from ruining people's lives. Having struggled to become the person he turned into through Gyro's help and moral support, he knows that these kind of people are the anti-thesis of his late friend and he would take this personally.