Eventually the pair came out into blindingly bright sunlight, on the deck of an unfamiliar ship. A rope tethered it to a not-so-unfamiliar ship, and 8 faced stared worriedly at her and Shizuka. She gave them a wave, and they reluctantly waved back. They carefully walked across the rope, the smell of seawater making Murasa teeter a bit. For some reason, intense waves of nausea rocked her body like a tiny boat caught in a huge storm. It brought back painful memories. She wrenched her eyes shut and continued along. She felt her feet touch solid ground, and she gently opened them to see her crew worriedly gathered around her. Shizuka disengaged the rope attaching them to the other ship with a slight roll of the eyes.
"'Cap! You're back, and okay!"
"We were unbelievably worried about you..."
"I'm sorry I didn't do anything to help... It all happened so fast!"
"D'you know who nabbed you?"
"Who was that girl?"
"What happened to you?"
"You seem pretty shaken up. You alright?"
"Oi, give the girl some space, for God's sake!"
Jolyne helped her sit down on the sun-warmed deck. Murasa massaged her wrists and ankles and slumped forward, clearly exhausted from the entire ordeal. Her hat slipped off her head with this, clearly admitting defeat alongside its wearer. A heavy silence fell over them.
"I saw... Her." she finally said. "She... She was a sight for sore eyes, to say the least. I don't know what happened to her, but she was so... Different."
"'She'? Who do you mean, 'Cap?" Josuke asked.
"Yukari. The person who's supposed to be getting you home." Murasa replied, running her hands through her soft, curly hair. "When she wasn't insulting me, she kept mentioning this person. DIO, I think his name was? I believe I met him as well."
"She sure did. I saw his ugly mug too, clear as day." Shizuka chimed in, sitting a little too close to the edge of the ship for comfort.
8 gasps reverbed around Murasa all at once. Jotaro, Joseph, and Jonathan all grimaced as if they had heard this spiel before.
"Y-you did say, DIO, correct? Because if that's the case... I fear your world, Gensokyo, is in grave danger..." said Jonathan.
"Huh? Why d'you say that? Yeah, Yukari might be acting a little loopy, but it's nothing Reimu or somebody can't fix." she confusedly replied.
"You don't understand. That lady, Yukari? She's acting like this because she's under his control. And if there are other powerful beings like her here, he'll definitely go for them next." Jotaro spat.
"So what you're saying is, This DIO guy has Yukari under some sort of mind control?"
"That's exactly what we're saying, hun. And if we don't stop him, he could take over Gensokyo, which is definitely not good." Joseph said grimly.
"So what are we supposed to do about it? He's got Yukari under his spell. She's the one that controls all the borders. It's not like we can stop her..."
"There might be a way." piped up Jonathan, who was silent up until now. "It's quite convoluted, but perhaps Yukari is not the only one he's controlling. If we manage to get them on our side, then perhaps we might stand a chance against them?"
"It's plausible, but here's the thing: Their ship is much, much bigger than ours, and if there is anyone else being puppeted, then they'll have the upper hand, by default. The 9 of us can't defeat them alone." said Murasa.
"Yeah, but judging by this whole situation, Yukari had also been taken from wherever she was before he arrived, and there was that other girl... So, if there is anyone else that got kidnapped, then maybe we can go find something out from whoever happened to be around?" Josuke interjected.
"You make a good point. We should start with Hakugyokurou, as that's where Yukari is usually found. We gotta work quickly, though. Who knows what kind of havoc those two could wreak in that time." said Murasa, not seeing any other option. "It's decided, then. Tomorrow, we'll set sail for Hakugyokurou, the realm of the dead."
The situation was clearly dire, so Murasa attempted to withhold her questions for the moment. However, they ate away at her, regardless.
"Can someone explain where this girl came from?!" She blurted, gesturing to Shizuka.
Shizuka gave a great, bellowing laugh, which definitely didn't fit her lanky frame and delicate-looking structure.
"Oh, me? Like I said, the name's Shizuka. If you're really that curious, I'm from where they are," she said, lazily pointing at the other Joestars. "I got worried about how long they were gone, but there wasn't really much I could do, so I went to bed, same as usual, and I woke up here, on this ship. It had to have been fate playing her hand, 'else it would have dropped me anywhere."
"Well, standard spiriting away faire, but... I'm still wondering something," Murasa paused, trying to work out some phrasing that wasn't offensive. "You and Joseph act pretty similarly... What's the deal with that?"
She gave a huge, toothy grin.
"That's my dad! Adoptive dad, of course, but a father nonetheless. 'S where I get my fusion accent from. I'm of Japanese background, but he's an Englishman, so that way of speaking also stuck."
Murasa turned to Joseph, who was beaming with more pride than ever. Clearly, the grafted lemon doesn't fall far from the host tree, even if that tree was growing apples at first. The girl was pleasant enough; a little headstrong, and extremely carefree, but still a nice addition.
"Is that so? It's great to have another set of hands to help out. If you're comfortable with that arrangement, I mean."
"Pfft, are you kidding me? I wouldn't give up an opportunity like this for the WORLD! How many people can say they've crewed a real, live ship in a faraway land? I'm all on board, Cap'n!" She said, her eyes sparking and twinkling like a galaxy of stars.
Her enthusiasm impressed Murasa. She'll definitely have to stick around.
"Enough lollygagging about. We've got preparations to make, crew! To Hakugyokurou, and hopefully, far enough to save the world!" She roared triumphantly.
Her call was met with an equally excited set of voices. She took her place in the navigation room, and they set off, with no time to waste.