The Devil Within 2 - (JoJo, Diavolo!SI)
High School is a drag.
Admittedly, education could be better if I had decided to take my adoptive father's suggestion of studying in Cagliari. Maybe I could have landed a scholarship for one of the nice schools in the north. Maybe I could have hit jackpot with a good enough Uni.
But no. I had been worried of crossing paths withHER.
To be fair, Donatella was not an outright menace... but she was a menace. She had truly made it a mission to befriend me. And no, it wasn't 'anime-like'. It wasn't out of this world slapstickery that made my brain melt through my ears. Oh no, it was pretty normal.
Exceptionally Normal at that.
As in, if she spotted me trying to enjoy a nice meal before lunch on my lonesome, she would ditch whatever friend she was chatting with to nag me.
I could have told her off or whatever, but I was in high school and social status does matter in our hometown. Everyone knew one another, and the Una family was, unsurprisingly, rich.
Slighting them meant 1) never having an easy life in Sardinia (or the regions where they had a stake in agricultural funds) and 2) having people think less positively of me when I was kind of the 'shy kid that would never harm a fly'.
This in turn made Donatella keen to push me on the edge. She invited me at the beach, out at a cafe, then at a cruise ship for one summer and I... I admit that I was losing my shit with her. I wasn't angry, just confused.
Why? Why was she being so hellbent in dating the fuck out of me?
I eventually asked her that (in more appropriate terms) and her answer left me floored.
"Hm? Why, can't I just be nice to a pretty person?"
At the time, I remembered this being part of her 'description' in the lore. Donatella Una disliked 'ugly people'. I always thought this meant she loathed external ugliness but-
"So, you are being nice because I am 'pretty'?"
"Your soul is, Davi!" She fussed, pouting as she leaned in to look right at my eyes. "And you have two bright eyes to show that of."
...
Dang, she is smooth.
I admit that I had to bow my head a lot even thought I didn't like this development. I knew I was going to handle a whole lot of trust-related situations. But I was willing to try for her. I saw what Diavolo found endearing. Such a driven person that made people flutter all around. If I was Dante, then she was my Beatrice (in the literary version, not the real one).
And soon it came down to kissing and holding hands... in private.
Dating was a bit of a scandalous affairs at 16, and it became a bit more 'acceptable' as we hit 16 and then 17.
High school approached its final days, and while there was no such a thing as a 'Prom Night' in any Italian institute, there were feasts held for those 'kids' that were done with school and passed with flying colors.
I genuinely loathed going through an even less pleasant version of my previous school path, but I was glad we all passed and that the beauty of the night managed to sweep off my feet.
I never dance. I truly hated the thought of doing something so expressive and so easy to fudge up. And when Donatella asked me, I had been reluctant to go for it.
"Oh, don't be like that. I will have you know I have gotten my feet stomped by my cousins a few times when they taught me how to dance."
I made an effort, she appreciated the fact she just came close once to get her left foot hit, but the overall night was delectable.
Her pure white dress accentuated her gorgeous self, her smile burning bright as her blue eyes found mine. I ended up spending the night at her place. Her parents were out of town for business, and the manor's staff was keen to allow our relationship on the basis that 'it was temporary'.
She was a bit tipsy, but I never once allowed her to undress as I brought her to bed, the kisses tempting but my worries way higher than anything booze could throw at me to lessen the fear of what was to come. We cuddled until the next day. She decided to sleep over since it was a Sunday, while I took off for home a happy guy...
Who was soon to be given a most grand disappointment.
Father Ernesto had mentioned mother a few times. Always trying to paint her as dead to try and keep me from finding out the truth. I never asked, already knowing the full truth, but I was given quite a surprise when I arrived back to the church and found that woman standing there with a fairly unnerved priest.
She had a proud smile, totally undeserved, and I was immediately able to recognize her. It was a mix of 'meta' and proper memory. I remember her face, her dark hair, and her dark eyes. How the hell did I get pink hair and green eyes? I would have known my dad identity already if he was a guy with those traits.
"Davide. This is... Your mother, Virginia."
Her smile widened for as long as it could, maybe expecting me to be an utter oaf and just be happy she was there...
But the harsh truth was that I got interested on her case. Bank Robbery and Assault, which led to ten years of jail. She was out of that place in 1975, when I was nine. It was currently 1984 and she had been out for nine years.
She soon smiled less and less.
"D-Davide? Aren't you going to hug your mother?"
"Nine years," I muttered, and she froze up. "Nine years, and you have done nothing to approach this place. There is no restraining order on you towards me. Nothing that legally forbid you from coming to me when I was but a child that needed parents."
The woman scowled, turning to the priest. "This is your doing! You definitely told him that-"
"He told me you were in a better place. That you couldn't come home because you were 'missing'," I interjected flatly, my voice dry as her anger sizzled into nothing, wide eyes again aimed at me. "Alas, nothing prevented me from looking you on the papers. A criminal,. a thief. And, worst of all, one that has not stopped being a horrible person from what I caught up recently- another gang?"
"Oh shut up! You don't know nothing about what it feels to be poor and alone!"
I sneered at her. "I know that these two things you deserved by being a monster by stealing for your own benefits. I am not interested talking with you."
And she left, Father Ernesto apologized to me about this meeting, hoping that she had truly turned a new leaf but... him discovering she was still involved in those shady businesses made him back away from trying a reconciliation between us. He offered me some space, perhaps thinking I was in desperate need to 'recollect my thoughts'.
Which was true to an extent as I was trying to make sense of her visit. This wasn't a proper parent, she had no interest in me as a person. Money? I was hardly coming by doing odd jobs in town and keeping it low to avoid trouble. So, if it wasn't a matter of love or money...
What if it was a matter of favors?
After all, Virginia was involved in gangs, but decided to come back home. There was nothing here of value for her to steal, and perhaps what she was looking for was not a way to expand her riches. It was a matter of running away from someone.
Looking deeper on the matter as I walked off the church to dig on the matter, I found out about her current whereabouts. She was paying for a small appartment near the center under a different name. She also tended to go out in shades and with a hooded dress. Definitely not the kind of behavior of someone trying to redeem herself.
And as I found my way to the pier, I found out the full truth by paying a few unusual fellows that had been guarding some big shots from Tuscany.
"Nia? Yeah, that was a damn bitch. She tricked my boss, then tried to give us the slip but we found her back to her nice cozy home," The thug I paid for info explained to me. "All we need is the address and her pattern. Why? Can you help us with that?"
As I nodded, I found myself talking with the mafia associate sent to take care of my mother. I decided against providing my real name, using the nickname 'Naso Solido*' to prevent any correlation. The fact I didn't look like my mother at all helped me in passing as a 'disgruntled boy that got tricked by her too'. The boss was quite delighted to get the info, but when it come to the payment, I decided to switch it to something more of a 'favor'.
"If you plan to kill her at once, please have her corpse not found. I want her todisappear."
Taking money would have made me truly filthy inside. The same didn't feel about having her killed off without anyone knowing. And the reason why I was supportive of such an extreme action was a matter of desperation. After all, if she was able to track me down and grew in serious need for help, she could use my connection with Donatella to force me to do her things and...
The last thing I needed was to ruin it for Donatella. I had been spending most of my time with her shitting on the need to be this cozy with her, and yet now I was pulling a full 180: I was going to kill that one threat that could undermine my status quo and create me many issues.
Two days was all it took for Virginia to go missing. It was a rather sudden news that came up way later as the news spread in town that she had just disappeared without paying rent for the first month. Many were quick to suspect she just left, no one considering something more sinister.
And while part of me wanted to be disgusted by the way I didn't feel too upset about her passing, the rest of me was claimed by the fact that I spent a passionate night with Donatella before she left for Emilia-Romagna. She was quite demanding for it to be done raw since she was on some 'mighty good pill' meant to keep pregnancies under control.
I nodded along, the intensity leading up to the sex making me forget that I would end up impregnating her somehow. And that was the night as she left right the next day.
It was 1986 when I told Father Ernesto that a school friend of mine that had turned to his family's archeology business had asked for me to join an expedition in Egypt at a nice wage. He let me be, snatching a promise to keep letters going as I departed for Africa.
And while this felt like another first step into adulthood proper, I also dreaded what was to come: the Arrows.
I had to find them and, hopefully, my plan to cut through the plot will work. I needed my Stand and... beat DIO before he unlocked his.
AN
Going fast, but next time will actually see the Stand Arrow, King Crimson and... that's all. I think? It sounds simple, it ain't though. Not when the Arrows gives you the fevers. And the nightmares.