Madoka shook her head and frowned. She seemed just as upset as he was over the news that his mother had been ill for so long, although he had no idea why that could be. They didn't even know each other that well… not that either of them could remember, at least.
"I can't see a Stand anywhere nearby." There were tears rolling down her face, but she stood her ground, even as she shook with… whatever emotion she was feeling at the moment. "For all I know – we know – you could just be making all this up to get us off your back so you can kill us when we don't expect it."
Thumm.
"Mmm. True." The black-haired girl leaned back casually, her personalities seeming to mesh together for a moment before she slipped back into the calmer mask of Homura. "But there would be no point in killing you in… here. It is much simpler for him to have you trapped instead, losing and gaining memory, never really understanding how to escape. Even my companion can see that, even if he yearns to suck your blood."
"S-suck our blood?" Madoka put her hands up to her throat. "I don't know why, but that reminds me of something…" She took a slow, deep breath, calming herself down, and something crackled at her fingertips. Was that her Stand?
She stared off into the distance. "I don't know… I think I heard of something like that, a long time ago, longer than should be possible… I can't remember why it rings a bell, but..." She turned to Jotaro, frowning. "I think we might be facing more than just a Stand. There were… other abilities. And…" Her face scrunched up in confusion. "Is this relevant? It all feels like the craziest dream I've ever had…"
"What are you talking about, Madoka-chan? DIO, tell me what she means!"
Homura shrugged. "Beats me. It doesn't sound like something I was involved in."
"Why's there a squirrel?" Suddenly, Madoka grabbed at Jotaro's lapels; he tried to step back and avoid her, but bumped into the door instead. She ignored, or didn't notice, his sudden panic. "What the fuck was with that guy? Nazis! This doesn't seem like a safe environment for a little girl like me!"
He looked desperately towards Homura's shoulder and she shrugged. (Man, it really said a lot for someone's sanity when they were even more mad than she was.)
Thumm.
"Uhm…" He pried Madoka's hands off his jacket and tried to pretend he knew what to do. "Is this a memory?"
Another shrug from Homura. "Some memories come in more-or-less chronological order, sometimes. If the other soul in her body has a lot of them, they could all be mixing up. I went through the same thing when DIO began to get his memories back – I was remembering his life, but as if it was me living it. It can be… confusing."
"Ah." Jotaro frowned down at Madoka, who had crumpled to her knees and was holding her head in her hands. "I guess the blood thing triggered it."
"Indeed." The calm face stared vacantly at her pink head. "DIO says it's not anything he can recognise, so it probably isn't relevant to… what you want to know."
"Good grief." Jotaro pulled his hat down further over his eyes. From beside him, a little voice muttered, "Caesar…"
There was an awkward pause; apparently Homura was even less of a stunning conversationalist than Jotaro. She cleared her throat. "She's not even a magical girl. I'm surprised she still gets affected by the whole memory thing."
He shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's complicated. She remembers being a Stand user before… before whatever's going on now."
Thumm.
"I see." Homura's expression did not change. Good grief, they were like two fucking peas in a pod. He wondered how she and a person like 'DIO' could possibly get along. "I expect she's also getting delayed grief from Sayaka's death, and Kyouko's."
He froze. "How did you know about that?"
"I told you, the Stand user that's doing this to us is… mmm…" She tipped her head thoughtfully, putting a finger to her cheek. "I would say 'friend' or 'assistant' or even 'employee', but of course DIO calls her his slave and such."
"Tell me where to find her."
"Not happening." The smile was back, the one Jotaro was beginning to hate so much that it physically hurt. "You'll never find her, no matter how much you search. You'll never even be able to leave this town. It's useless, Jotaro, useless, useless, useless!"
Thumm.
His hands balled back into fists. Damn, he wanted to punch this goddamn motherfucker, possibly into the sun or the nearest volcano, but there was so much information locked up in that dark-haired head. It would go to waste if he crushed it between Star Platinum's massive fists.
He frowned, and wondered when he'd started thinking of Star Platinum as a separate entity from himself. It was just him in a different form, right?
Right?
Besides, he didn't really want to expose all that skin and purple to this bitch. He settled for a steady glare at her hands.
The crumpled heap of Madoka on the floor had, at least, finally stopped crying. He sighed. Damn, this was awkward. Was he supposed to… comfort her or something? God, this was why he could never –
Thumm.
He glanced up at the pictures on the wall again. There was one he hadn't noticed before: one hastily taken of Mami half out of her transformation, her lower half still swaddled by the tentacles of Hierophant Gold. In this light, it looked… well, suspiciously not-gold. More like a greenish tinge. Emerald, even.
Something stirred in his memory. A name that hadn't had any meaning when he had heard it a couple days ago, other than seeming right.
"Hey, uh… Homura-chan? Or DIO, or whichever?" The dark-haired girl blinked, her smile opening up a little. "You know everyone's codename personalities, don't you?"
"I can't deny it. It would be stupid of me not to plan ahead for any situation."
"Right." He pointed to the pictures of Mami, one whole and one… not. (That was still her head. Yup. Okay.) "So she…"
"Ah, Mami-san," Homura's teeth glinted in the light. "She was called 'Kakyoin'. A terrible fighter, with a heart of gold. How very sad."
He gritted his teeth and rubbed his forehead under his hat; wished Madoka would get up, do something, even use her wish so he wouldn't have to think about this. Not right now, facing his enemy and with no way to fight against her teleportation, or whatever. He could barely even respond to the insult about Mami's fighting.
(Was there just something about being in the same room as DIO which brought your memories back?)
Thumm.
(What was this emotion connected with the name?)
He took a deep breath. "The… the person whose soul was bound to Mami-san's…" An image of curly red hair, falling over a pair of eyes. Two scarred, violet eyes. "His name was Kakyoin Noriaki. And he's dead now." A pause. "I guess."
(And it wasn't enough for such a person, it wasn't enough to say 'I guess' and leave it like that, but he couldn't remember why, and he felt… weird. Sad and wrong.)
"Hmm." The girl stood up and turned to face the wall, studying the pictures intently. "It seems that way, doesn't it?" She made a few motions with her hands, and the pictures began to move around, seemingly at random. "However, there might be a way for you to retrieve his soul. And the souls of your other friends, of course."
"What? Tell me!"
"Well, defeat the Stand user, of course." She bent forward and put a hand to the wall, shaking. For a moment, Jotaro wondered whether she was going to cry or something. But the dark head tipped back, and suddenly a manic, wide-eyed laugh burst from her small pink lips, and she looked at him over her shoulder. He flinched. "You'll never find her! You'll never be able to defeat her entire – ahaha – Stand! You'd be crazy to even try! Only I have power over her, and I put a flesh bud in her brain, even though she's unflinchingly loyal! Oh, god..." She clutched at the side of her head gleefully. "Aah, it's so funny, you'll never figure it out! Your soul will be trapped in here forever just like everyone else!"
Thumm.
"What do you mean, in here?" Without Jotaro noticing, Madoka had managed to compose herself and sit up on her knees, facing the laughing girl.
Homura grinned up at the ceiling, her hands on her face. "Oh, dear Ra, I could kiss you right now! This… this is perfect! We have them exactly where I wanted them, and they don't even know what's going on yet! Oh, this is such a useful Stand… So convenient…" Her eyes turned back to the two of them, staring at her open mouthed. "Don't you see, dear ones? You're in it! This entire city is the inside of a Stand!"
And there it was. The key piece of the puzzle. Even if nothing else made sense, that was one thing that he could use to understand this world.
He hadn't left the city. He hadn't even tried. Would he, perhaps, have come across some sort of wall? Or would he simply have been turned around, and find himself going back the way he came?
Homura covered her mouth and straightened up; all at once, she was back to the serious, calm version of herself. "Good grief. DIO gets talkative sometimes."
She could say that again. But she probably wouldn't. (And… had she stolen his catch phrase?)
"I guess that's all you're going to tell us." He spared a glance for Madoka, still sitting comfortably on the floor. "Let's go."
"Wait! Madoka-chan, Jotaro-kun! I have to warn you!" She held out her hand, fluttering slightly as if there was something boiling over under the surface of her skin. (It was like looking in a mirror, still. He wondered who had copied whom, and whether it meant something.) "Madoka-chan… there's a big, dangerous witch coming tomorrow." She pointed to one of the pictures, the upside-down poufy dress lady. (Or was it an ice cream cone?) "It's made of a lot of bound up souls all crammed together, and it's worse than a normal witch." She shuddered. "Much worse. So… I don't know. Get under cover, I guess. Normally, I'd tell you to run away, but…" She gestured around her. "Not much you can do about that."
Thumm.
"Right." Madoka got up and dusted off her school uniform. "Thank you, Homura-chan. For everything." She gave a small bow, and a wicked grin came over her face. "Your next line is, 'Get out of my house'!"
"Get out of my – ahh!" Homura, for the first time that day, looked completely and utterly horrified. "Just go! Now!"
They went. Now.
