𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 ⌜𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿⌟

11. 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 11. 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥-𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞

"𝗛𝗘𝗬! 𝗪𝗘'𝗥𝗘--"

"Oi, lower your voices," Buck's gruff voice filled the air, making Echo and Caroline silence themselves. Curiously, both heads peered into the kitchen. Echo's eyes softened at the sight laid before them.

You were fast asleep at the table, your legs tucked under you on the wooden kitchen chair. Arms folded under your head, you rested your cheek against your forearm, eyes closed peacefully, face relaxed. Your sleeves were pulled over your hands, balled up in your palms as you slept soundlessly.

"They fell asleep watching me fix their watch," Buck commented, a small smile on his face. "Poor thing was too exhausted to keep their eyes open."

"How's it going?" Echo asked, referring to the watch in the man's hands.

"Just readjusting the time," He replied.

"How long have they been out?" Caroline asked.

"About two hours," He said. "Was fightin' it the whole time, though."

"They never seem to sleep," Caroline said, gazing at you with soft eyes.

Your eyebrows began to furrow together, your peaceful face quickly disappearing and changing into one of distress. Suddenly you shot up, startling the three figures as you cried out.

"Dio!"

"Vex! It's alright!" Echo said, making you quickly look over at them. Your chest heaved up and down before you lowered your head down against your arms, wrapping them around your head.

"S-Sorry," You murmured.

"Are you alright?" Echo asked, placing a hand on your back.

"Yeah. Just a nightmare," You said quietly.

He'd been swarming your mind. Invading your every thought and sense. It felt like you couldn't even look at anything without your mind wandering back to him.

It was obvious that you were longing for him. As much as you didn't want to admit it, you missed Dio with everything you had. Perhaps it was because of how suddenly he was ripped from your life.

Or maybe it was just how you were longing for someone from your past. The people around you were good people, sure, but...they weren't who you wanted. They weren't the faces you wanted to see, the faces you missed so dearly.

It almost hurt, in a way. You felt like you had lost everything. And now that you had broken the only thing that you had left of Dio, you felt like you had nothing left. You just wanted to curl up in a ball and stay away from everything.

"Vex," Buck said. "I fixed it."

You immediately raised your head. He held up the pocket watch, making your shoulders relax. He held it out to you, allowing you to cradle it in your hands. You ran your hands over the engraving on the back, tracing over the letters of Dio's name.

"Thank you," You whispered, making Buck smile. He reached across the table, ruffling your hair up.

"No problem, kid."

"I'm older than you are," You said, making him do a double-take.

"How old are you?" He frowned.

"73."

"How?" He said. "You look like you're sixteen!"

"I aged well?" You shrugged, standing up. You slipped the watch back around your neck, the cool metal against your chest making you relax.

"Vex, we have a problem," Caroline said, looking to you as someone left the room. "There's a group of people searching after you. One of them is Joseph Joestar. Does that sound familiar to you?"

A moment of silence washed over the room. Buck frowned, turning his gaze down to you. He grabbed Echo's arm in surprise, making them look down at you as well.

Your eyes were wide, your gaze trembling. Scarred lips parted in shock, you clutched the watch in your hands so tightly your knuckles had gone white from the force. You suddenly stood up, flipping your hood over your head before turning to leave.

"Vex!" Caroline called. "Vex, where are you going?"

"Back to hell."

The three exchanged a worried glance. Echo frowned deeply, flinching when the door opened and then slammed shut behind you.

"I have a feeling Vex will not be returning for a while."

...

You exhaled sharply, rubbing circles into the side of your head. First, you mistook that boy as Elijah--they were almost identical it was frightening, then you broke the only thing that you had left of Dio, you dreamt of him; he was overtaking every part of you. Now, a Joestar was searching after you.

You were losing your mind, weren't you?

You looked over at the sound of car doors. Your gaze fixated on the trio of people walking towards you. When you saw the tall brunette man, you knew that he was Joseph Joestar. There was no doubt about it, he looked almost identical to his grandfather. And the blonde man, it was the second time you saw him, and now you could piece why he looked familiar. The Hamon was also what gave his heritage away. And then there was the girl, who so closely resembled you. It was almost scary how much she looked like you.

Joseph groaned. "How are we supposed to find this guy?" You watched as he folded his hands behind his head. You grinned.

"Easy," You said, making all of them stop, and turn their gazes upwards, where you rested on the top of the street lamp. "You already did."

You watched as recognition washed over the girl's face. "You're the person who was at the doctor's," She said, watching as you jumped onto the ground silently. "You're the person who sent Caesar and me back to the hospital in a cab."

"Sorry about kicking you in the face," You said, putting your hand in your hoodie. "But yes. That was me."

"Why are you helping us?" Joseph asked.

You flashed behind Joesph, peering at the star-shaped birthmark on his neck, then behind the girl out of pure curiosity. You quirked a brow when you saw it on her as well. Returning back to your original spot, you replaced both of your hands in your pocket.

"You both have the star-shaped birthmark. You're of the Joestar decent. And you," You said, turning to the blonde, Caesar. "You're Baron Zeppeli's grandson."

"You knew my grandfather?" He asked in surprise. "B-But how--"

"I didn't know him personally," You said, cutting him off. "Your grandfather was trying to kill someone I was...acquainted with. We worked together very briefly."

"Oh my God!" Joesph exclaimed suddenly, his eyes going wide. "I know who you are!"

The girl quirked a brow. "Well?" She said, looking from you to Joseph. "Care to share?"

"Speedwagon talked about you before! You--" Joseph cut himself off to try and calm his excitement down. "You're the person who worked with my grandfather. You were Dio's partner."

"Acquaintance," You corrected. "And, yes, I was. I saved your grandfather's arse multiple times."

"I--we--holy shit!" He said, too surprised to even form a sentence. 

"We need to take you back to Speedwagon," Caesar said. "I'm sure he'd be happy to hear what you have to say as well."

Speedwagon? He was...he was still alive? Hell, he had to be almost 80 at this point. You almost couldn't believe it. Robert E.O. Speedwagon was still kicking. 

You grinned at the thought of seeing him. 

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 11. 𝗘𝗡𝗗
𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: 25 𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 2021
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