JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Neon Soul

CHAPTER 19: A Clockwork Surprise

"Attention passengers! We will be arriving at the island very shortly. It has also been brought to the crew's attention that most of you no longer wish to stop at the island. If you would like to stay, you are free to do so. However, the ferry will be departing as soon as all passengers have made their decision," announced the loudspeaker.

"Looks like everyone's still shaken up after that guy attacked. Especially for non-stand users, that must've been really scary," said Lucas, looking around.

"Yeah, definitely. But on the good side, that's four of the eight, right? There was Blythe on the motorcycle, Scarlett in the planetarium, that loser Greyson in the park, and we just fought... uhh... what was his name with the petrifying stand?"

"Oh yeah. Elijah, did you manage to catch his name by any chance?" asked Jorgia.

"I think his name was Percival. That's the name I saw on his jacket when I was fighting him."

"So, Blythe, Scarlett, Greyson, and Percival. I don't want to celebrate yet, but we have defeated four of her elite users or whatever. And Celine said the next relic could be here, so I'm expecting there to be another one waiting for us," said Vanessa, picking her head off Elijah's shoulder. The ferry slowly came to a stop at the small dock at the base of the island. An old weathered and wooden staircase led up to the mainland where the tower was located. Despite the tower's size, the island was much smaller when viewing it up close. The tower, however, stretched into the sky. It was cylindrical and boasted a high volume of windows. The penultimate level of the tower had six large windows that wrapped around the sides, with every other window being open and having a guardrail. The very top of the tower had a large round clock that faced the ocean and the city. The four of them got up from their seats and exited the ferry.

"Ha, what a surprise, we are the only ones," laughed Jorgia as she stepped foot on the island. After admiring the grandiosity of the tower, she turned back and waved at the ferry, signaling it to leave. A sailor appeared and retracted the gangplank.

"The next ferry is in an hour!" yelled the sailor as the ferry slowly departed.

"Alright, let's get... woah, Elijah, are you okay?"

Lucas and Vanessa turned around to see him lying on the ground, exhausted.

"Y-Yeah, I'll be okay. I think I overworked myself when I was fighting that guy. I... I need to rest for a bit," he said in a tired voice. Vanessa walked over to where he was lying down and sat next to him.

"I'm gonna stay here with him, guys. Just in case anything happens."

"O-Of course V. Lucas and I will go up there and check it out, right Lucas?"

"Yeah, just stay with him. It's all good. Scream if anything happens, okay? We'll come straight down," he said as the two of them started to walk towards the tower.

"I hope he's okay, dude. He did save all of us, so I'm not surprised he's drained. On another note, this tower is huge! And it was moved here 100 years ago, right? Man, that must've been a pain," commented Jorgia.

"Yeah. Well no. But kinda, yeah. Okay, so the clock is the original one, but they renovate the tower every couple of years."

"Ohhh, I see. That's pretty smart, keeping the clock. C'mon, leads head inside," she beckoned as she ran to the entrance of the tower.

"Ewww!!! What is that?!"

In front of her was a dead squirrel. But what was peculiar about it was that it looked as if it had been completely torn apart. Its rotting organs and tissues were covered in sand, and its mouth was filled with sand as well. Lucas ran to her side and looked at the squirrel.