Varanasi, India Age 737 Monday December 11th 1988
Inside Dio's mansion, chaos erupted as Enya fell to the ground, overcome with grief. A cat observed her curiously as something within Enya snapped.
"My son has been murdered," she cried out, her voice filled with sorrow and despair. "I can sense the misfortune that has befallen my son, J. Geil. The bond between mother and son has spoken! My precious, beautiful boy…"
Holes began to appear on her face and hands, and blood oozed out due to the extreme stress and anguish. Enya's heartache was palpable, and she continued to lament the loss of her son.
"You died, covered with wounds like this? I can feel it," she moaned. "I suffer the same pain you felt. You were magnificent as you fought for Lord Dio, my dear, J. Geil!"
Enya raised her hands to the sky, seeking some form of solace, but she dropped them back to the ground, unable to find any comfort. The cat nearby began to hiss, sensing the intensity of her emotions.
Enya's grief turned into anger. "How? How did they do it? To kill such a noble and pure soul like you. They must have done something underhanded." Tears streamed down her face as she expressed her outrage, and her body oozed more blood.
The cat continued to react with hostility. Enya jumped up and landed on her feet, her determination renewed. She rushed toward the cat.
"Damn them! The bastards!" Enya shouted in fury. "I will make sure they pay a terrifying price with the Empress card!"
"Move! This is a time for action. With the Stand that brings a slow death!" Enya slammed her cane against the cat's head, determined to take action. She gripped her cane tightly, ready to exact vengeance with her Stand, the Empress. "Oh, the anguish! I shall kill them all!" Enya declared as she ran out of the mansion, driven by acceptance and the thirst for revenge.
Meanwhile, Jojo and his companions were on a bus heading to the sacred city of Varanasi. Fasha was snuggled up to Jotaro, who had his arm around her, as they both gazed out of the window. The Saiyans were pointing out various landmarks they had never seen before.
Polnareff struck up a conversation with Nena, who was also on the bus. "Listen, I don't usually get on a soapbox like this," he began, "but stupid people are just that. You can repeat something a million times, and they still won't listen. You know the type, right? There's just no helping the poor souls. But you know, I never got your name."
"Nena," she replied.
"Nena! That's a great name," Polnareff complimented. "Daughter of that wealthy Varanasian family from around here, right? You're good-looking, and I can tell you're smart, too. I have an eye for people, which leads me to my point. Hol Horse is a horrible, lying bastard. He's manipulating you! Think how your parents would feel. You hear me? You can't end up like this. I know it's easy when you're in love. But you can't afford to see the world with such a narrow view. Take a step back and look at the whole picture."
As Polnareff emphasized his point, he mimicked looking through binoculars, while Joseph scratched his right arm, pondering the complexities of the situation.
"Hey, we're almost there," Kakyoin announced as the bus approached a city, crossing a bridge. It was the city of Varanasi, a place with a rich tapestry of life and spirituality. The sacred river, the Ganges, flowed through the city, hosting a myriad of scenes, from holy rituals to everyday activities. Varanasi was a place where life and death coexisted, where the river's holy waters symbolized the cycle of existence.
While they marveled at the unique blend of life in Varanasi, a fly buzzed around Joseph. With an abrupt motion, the mouth on Joseph's arm snapped shut, catching the fly mid-flight and biting its leg off. The insect's leg promptly fell to the ground. Joseph looked down at his right arm, his voice heavy with concern. "Man... This thing isn't getting any better."
Nena watched Joseph closely. The bus reached its destination, and they bid farewell to Nena. Jotaro noticed Joseph's appearance. "What's wrong, old man? You don't look so good."
Joseph showed them his right arm. "Looks like my bug bite got infected," he admitted.
Concerned, the group gathered around him. "It's definitely swollen. I think you should see a doctor before it gets worse," Kakyoin suggested.
Polnareff, with a hand on his chin, made a lighthearted observation, "Hey, doesn't that sort of look like a person's face?"
Joseph was unamused, "Stop kidding around, Polnareff."
Polnareff offered to accompany Joseph to the hospital, but Joseph was quick to refuse, "No! Stop treating me like a feeble old man."
"But you are. Mentally," Polnareff whispered. Laughter filled the air as the group shared a light moment. Nena, ever mischievous, stuck her tongue out. A small mouth giggled on her tongue as they walked toward the hospital.
Entering the bustling hospital, they were met with the organized chaos of medical professionals tending to patients. A stretcher was hurriedly wheeled toward the emergency room. Joseph motioned for the group to wait in the designated waiting area, where Bardock looked around cautiously. After glancing in both directions to ensure privacy, he leaned closer to Joseph and whispered.
"I checked people's ki around here. There seem to be two ki signatures, like when I sense someone summoning their Stand power," Bardock reported in a hushed tone.
Joseph, reminded of his own abilities, focused on sensing the ki energy around him. He took deep breaths and honed in on the ki signatures, trying to match them with the individuals in the room. His abilities were limited to the immediate surroundings, encompassing the 15-foot square waiting area. While he was no master at this, he soon recognized a familiar signature hiding nearby. Their eyes locked, and Nena was clearly astonished. She waved, and Joseph turned to examine the peculiar bug bite on his arm, shaped like a face. He realized that it was Nena's Stand ability.
With the line progressing, Joseph's turn came up. He raised his arm, showcasing the swollen bug bite. The receptionist, clearly unimpressed, said, "We will call you when we are ready for you," pushing some forms toward Joseph. He complied, filling them out before taking a seat in the waiting room.
In the hospital, they waited, their patience ebbing and flowing as the room cleared and filled with new arrivals. Eventually, a doctor emerged and called out, "Joseph Joestar?" Joseph stood up, and the doctor led them beyond the doors.
As they walked, they passed by an open door where Joseph couldn't help but glance inside. "I'm sorry kid, it won't happen." said a doctor pointing to an X-ray of a child's foot, with another X-ray of another child's foot beside it, showing some cracked bones. The kid in the wheelchair had curly hair, and tears were streaming down his face. His mother was crying too. Joseph continued down the corridor, overhearing another conversation.
"I caught them all?" came a confused voice, belonging to a boy with black hair covered in Lichtenberg Figures. He was sitting on a pull-out bed, and the doctor had gray hair.
"Yes, I'm sorry, we ran some blood tests. But it seems you caught a disease that will kill you if not monitored correctly. But take these. It was very dangerous running at night during a thunderstorm. Lucky the lightning that struck you scared away the birds that were chasing and biting you. It would have been better if you had been in a coma than this," the doctor said, shedding tears while holding up some pills.
"But is my mouse safe?" the boy asked.
"Yes, but it seems that it turned yellow after the lightning strike," the doctor replied, opening a cage and handing the boy his pet mouse, which glowed yellow.
"Thanks for this," the boy's mother expressed her gratitude.
"No worries, Mrs. Ketchum. It seems like he will make a full recovery in a few years' time," the doctor reassured her. Joseph looked around, feeling a sense of urgency, and hurried on his way.
Further down the corridor, he heard a man yelling, "You think this jacket could stop the Pharaoh from his duel? Yugi, what's going on here?" Curiosity got the best of Joseph, and he peeked inside to see a kid in a straightjacket.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Moto, your son seems to have Dissociative Identity Disorder or multiple personalities. This could have happened after your son had finished that puzzle in the shape of a pyramid, where one piece popped off and caused a concussion," the doctor explained. Joseph couldn't believe his eyes when the man transformed into a boy, a transformation that went unnoticed by everyone else. Using his ki sense, he detected two souls residing within the same body.
"Mom, the Pharaoh is telling me that I need to play games with my friend Kaiba," the boy said. Joseph quickly left the scene, catching up with the doctor.
They entered a room, and Joseph settled into a chair. The doctor approached with his hands outstretched, and Joseph extended his right arm, displaying the infected bug bite. The doctor inspected it carefully, even pushing and prodding at the inflamed area.
"It's definitely infected, not a normal bug bite I've seen. I'll just lance this. It'll worsen if we don't drain the fluid," the doctor explained. Joseph's face paled as he had memories of his time recovering from the Pillar Men and countless needles.
"Can't we just put medicine and a bandage on it and call it a day?" Joseph pleaded, hoping to avoid another painful medical procedure.
"Not to worry. We'll numb the area, so it won't hurt. No problem at all," the doctor reassured Joseph. He then directed him to lie down on the examination table.
As Joseph reclined,The doctor prepared his tools. "I studied medicine in England. I can do appendectomies, too. Uh-oh. It's a little rusty. Well, no problem," the doctor commented as he checked the scalpel.
With everything set, the examination lamp's bright light shining in Joseph's eyes, memories from his past battles surge to the forefront of his mind. he is transported back to the snowy peaks of Switzerland, where he once faced off against the ancient Pillar Men.
In the midst of a blizzard, Joseph stood defiantly before Esidisi, the fiery warrior of the Pillar Men, his wits and resourcefulness his only weapons against the formidable foe. With Esidisi's deceptive tactics threatening to overwhelm him, he remembers running to save the red stone from falling off the cliff.
the doctor urged, "All right. Let's slice it open." Joseph squinted remembering where he was. He quivered as he looked away saying "Come on! I don't want to watch it being cut open." "No problem." said the doctor
After a series of slicing sounds, Joseph grew anxious. "Hey, are you done? Is it over yet?" he inquired. When he finally dared to look, his eyes widened with shock. The scalpel had slipped from the doctor's hand and was lodged in his head. The doctor lay on the ground, lifeless.
Joseph sat up in bed, staring at the lifeless body before him, a bewildered expression on his face. Suddenly, a high-pitched voice rang out, "Hey, Doctor! Trying to cut me open? That's a pretty stupid move, you old fart!"
Joseph quickly glanced around and then lifted his arm. The puzzle pieces of the situation clicked into place. His eyes sparkled, and he formed a smirk. He placed a finger to his lips and declared, "Your next line will be 'I'm the Empress, as in the Empress card, Old Man Joseph! And now, I'm gonna bloody you up good!'"
Empress responded as Joseph had predicted, "I'm the Empress, as in the Empress card, Old Man Joseph! And now, I'm gonna bloody you up good!" The Stand looked surprised, but Joseph confidently addressed it.
"Your stand user is Nena, right?" Joseph inquired, to which Empress initially hesitated and then defiantly spat at him as he deftly moved his head out of the way.
Joseph swiftly exited the room, attempting to draw as little attention as possible to the bizarre situation with the Empress. He moved past other rooms, and when he reached the waiting room, he found the Saiyans watching TV while the others slept.
Gesturing at the Empress and then pointing towards Nena, he suggested, "We should go." The Saiyans and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.
The Empress's voice resonated in Nena's mind, urging her to run. She awakened from her slumber, disoriented and frightened. She quickly got up and fled. Joseph summoned Hermit Purple, its Hamon energy crackling as vines burst forth, wrapping around Nena. The group acted as though nothing unusual had occurred and left the hospital.
Once they had secured hotel rooms, Polnareff regarded Nena with a mix of pity and understanding. He spoke, acknowledging her complex situation, "You could have lived a good life with Hol Horse. I now know you realized he was playing you."
Nena gave a weary sigh, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She breathed a sigh of relief as if she had just released a held breath."But you are too cute to be the enemy, i want to kiss you." said Polnareff, ready to kiss her, However, her form then began to change. She shrank and expanded outward, her layered clothing unfurling to reveal an overweight figure. Polnareff's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he screamed in astonishment.
Kakyoin approached Polnareff, patting him on the back to calm him down. Polnareff, recovering his composure, quipped, "I can see why you put up with Hol Horse's games. Nobody would love you except Hol Horse."
Meanwhile, Bardock summoned a ki blade, which immediately drew Joseph's attention. Nena, unsure of what was happening, watched as Joseph exposed the Empress. As Bardock's blade drew nearer, the Empress began pleading, "Don't do it, I'm sorry." But it was too late. The blade made contact, slicing through the Empress, and it was quickly removed, causing blood to ooze from the wound.
Nena was trembling, her eyes filled with tears. Bardock held the Empress in the palm of his hand, his expression stern and judgmental. Everyone's eyes were fixed on him.
"Hmm, quick or painful," Bardock muttered, his words echoing ominously in the room. Nena squirmed as nobody dared to respond. Bardock summoned 'Purpose Song,' his Stand exuding an aura of death. As its burial gown fluttered without any wind, he held out the Stand's right pointer finger, bringing it close to the Empress. Nearby, Sadao played a somber rendition of the funeral march on his saxophone before stopping abruptly, looking up and muttering, "Too soon."
The Purpose Song Stand's finger made contact with the Empress. Nena, waiting for a reaction, looked around in relief, about to express her thoughts, when a sudden scream exploded from her. She and her Stand vanished in an instant, and the vines of Hermit Purple sagged before disappearing back to Joseph. With the disappearance of Purpose Song, the sounds of the outside world resumed, and everyone present collectively released a breath they didn't realize they'd been holding.
"In the morning, we're heading towards Pakistan. We've arranged vehicles for our travel. Get some sleep," instructed Joseph as he made his way out of the room.
"It's still light outside. Do you want to explore the city?" Fasha suggested getting up and coaxing Jotaro to join her.
"That sounds fun," Polnareff replied, while the others remained seated.
"Yare yare daze," sighed Jotaro, taken by surprise as Fasha tugged him out of the room. As they walked side by side, he looked down at the girl beside him, feeling an unfamiliar sensation stirring within.
Standing in the hallway, Fasha and Jotaro faced each other, their eyes locking. They gazed at each other, captivated by their eye contact. Just as the connection between them intensified, they were abruptly brought back to reality by the sound of the janitor whistling while opening the stairway door. They hurriedly broke their eye contact and swiftly left the building.
Out in the streets, they walked around and stumbled upon a festival, adorned with banners hanging from buildings. The festival was alive, with people gathered in clusters conversing, and shops lining the streets attracting attention. Fasha and Jotaro approached a booth displaying an array of clothing options.
Jotaro's cheeks reddened as Fasha elegantly draped a shawl over herself, the color beautifully complementing her purple eyes. Tentatively, he reached out, touching the fabric's texture. His hand moved up to her neck and then brushed against her face. Catching her curious gaze, Jotaro picked up the shawl and placed it back on the rack.
Fasha, feeling the warmth on her face, glanced around briefly before selecting a leather vest and handing it to Jotaro, her cheeks tinged red. Jotaro stepped into a makeshift changing stall and started to remove his jacket. Pausing for a moment, he took off his shirt and donned the leather vest. Pushing open the curtain, he emerged.
Their eyes met, and Fasha's face reddened even more as she approached him. Her hands grazed the vest, tracing the patterns before skimming across his chest and abs. Jotaro grinned, causing Fasha to give a small squeak looking away. He moved back to change, carefully returning the vest to its place. Walking out together, they avoided eye contact, both feeling embarrassed about their actions.
They continued on toward the pier, noticing a crowd gathered around a sign. In the water, small two-person boats were docked, some farther out from the shore. As they approached, the crowd dispersed, and the owner of the boats approached them.
"Free boat ride for couples today and tomorrow. If you're not a couple, there's a fee," the owner announced, singling out Jotaro and Fasha. "You look like a couple, why not spend a romantic evening on the water." Their cheeks flushed, and they glanced away, shyly moving forward as the owner guided them to a boat. Boarding it, the owner explained how to operate the boat. He undid the rope, and they rowed away from the dock, out to the quiet water.
As they rowed further from the shore, the current nudged the boat, bringing Jotaro and Fasha close together. They instinctively grabbed hold of each other to prevent falling. Their lips unexpectedly met. Eyes locked in surprise, they parted briefly to catch their breath.
"So, is this a date?" Fasha inquired, seeking clarity. Jotaro nodded in agreement.
"So, how did you like the trip so far?" Jotaro asked, breaking the silence.
"Very informative. It's like visiting many planets all tied into one. The different cultures help with that. I would have wanted to travel the world anyways, but there is one bonus I got from this trip," Fasha replied.
"What is the bonus?" Jotaro inquired.
"I get to take you along for the ride," Fasha confessed.
They both blushed at that statement. More boats moved away from the dock. The sun sank, giving out a beautiful sunset with reds, yellows, and blues mixing together. It was dark now, and lights came on, illuminating the water. Jotaro and Fasha looked at each other, captivated by the light in their eyes.
Fasha broke away and looked up into the sky. Stars started to appear, captivating her. Jotaro joined in, glancing up at the stars. "The sky looks beautiful," Fasha observed.
"The night sky changes every night. The moon should be out," Jotaro remarked.
This made Fasha close her eyes and bury her head into his jacket. "What kind of moon do you guys have?" she asked fearfully.
"Why do you ask, not going to transform during the moon, are you?" Jotaro said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood.
Fasha nodded, clearly anxious. Jotaro was taken aback. "I'm sorry. Why didn't you tell me this?" he asked, looking concerned.
Fasha put her hands around Jotaro. "I was afraid that you would be mean and leave me for being a monster," she cried.
Jotaro put a comforting hand on Fasha. "Don't worry, I will never leave you. Now, let's get back to the hotel," Jotaro assured, rowing back while making sure Fasha's face was covered.
As they held each other, Jotaro's mind wandered back to their journey. "You know, I've been meaning to ask," he said, breaking the silence. "Why is Bardock always so protective over you? And how did you two meet?"
Fasha smiled softly, pulling back slightly to look at him. "Well, there's something you should know. Bardock isn't just a friend or a teammate. He's my brother."
Jotaro's eyes widened in surprise. "Your brother? Why didn't you tell me?"
"We didn't think it was important to mention at first," Fasha explained. "We've been through a lot together, and sometimes it's easier to just be teammates. We met through our family, of course. We grew up together, trained together. He's always been the protective older brother type."
Jotaro nodded, understanding dawning on his face. "That explains a lot. You two do have a certain synchronicity. I guess I never put it together."
Fasha laughed lightly. "Well, now you know. Bardock's protectiveness comes from a place of love. He's always looked out for me, even when I didn't want him to."
Jotaro smiled, pulling her close again. "I'm glad you told me. It makes me appreciate both of you even more."
The boats drifted further from the dock, and as the stars filled the sky, Jotaro and Fasha felt closer than ever, their bond strengthened by shared secrets and newfound understanding.
Upon their return to the dock, the owner securely tied the boat. Jotaro disembarked first, expressing gratitude to the owner with a handshake. Fasha, with her eyes closed, cautiously stepped out of the boat, aided by Jotaro. They strolled back to the hotel, Fasha's head buried in his jacket for a sense of safety. Once indoors and away from any windows, Jotaro reassured her of safety. Reluctantly, Fasha pulled away, pouting, and murmured, "You smell nice," before they both retired to their respective rooms for the night.