A Devil with an Angel's Heart

Chapter 18, Part 2

||Jotaro

Polnareff was digging into his food while Jotaro stood a little ways from the camp, looking out into the vast nothingness of the desert, the endless starry night, lost in thought, "So, this is Saudi Arabia....About 8,800 kilometres away from Japan. It's been about for weeks since we began our journey. If we don't hurry, we'll be in serious trouble." "It's a beautiful night sky. We wouldn't be able to see so many stars in Tokyo." Kate slightly took a hold of his hand. Jotaro didn't know how long Kate had been standing there, but as if sensing what he was thinking about she had changed the subject, her intense green eyes resting on him. He looked up, "Yeah, the stars are beautiful." he hummed in agreement, enjoying her soothing presence. Kate squeezed his hand shortly before letting go, knowing he wasn't the type to hold hands. Together they turned to rejoin the others. On the way back he passed a scorpion, noticing that Kate greeted the little fella but kept her distance. Right, scorpions were creatures of hell. When they reached camp he saw Kakyoin sitting on a rock, looking absolutely miserable. "Kakyoin..." Jotaro thought worriedly and sat down next to Polnareff, who immediately leaned over, "Hey, Jotaro. What do you think is up with Kakyoin? First he nearly kills us in his sleep, now he looks like he's coming apart at his seams. He even went after the baby. Something's just not right. If you ask me, he's at his wit's end. I hate to say it, I really do, but we may have to send him packing." "Now listen." Kate growled into his ear, "First of all, Kakyoin didn't crash our plane on purpose and secondly, you should have a little more faith." Kate then walked over to the red-haired teen, putting a hand on his arm. The two quietly talking to each other.

The old man was making some food in a pot. "Something smells good. What kind of food is that?" Polnareff inquired. "This is baby food." explained the old man, "It's a delicious concoction of milk, egg yolks, bananas and bread all stewed together. So, you wanna taste?" Polnareff opened his mouth, tasting the food. "Wow! This is flat-out amazing! Give me more!" he exclaimed. "Easy now! There won't be any left for the baby!" the old man chastised. "That's it! You're not getting anymore." "Mr. Joestar, Polnareff, did you see that?" Kakyoin approached them. "Kak, wait, they won't-" Kate spoke up. "I was right, after all! The baby isn't normal. He just killed a scorpion!" Kakyoin exclaimed, "He stabbed it! The boy skewered it with his own safety pin!" "Kakyoin, hold on. What the hell you talkin' about?" the old man asked. "That baby, damnit. I'm telling you that boy isn't human!" Kakyoin shouted, "He's not even a year old, yet. But he knew what a scorpion was! And he killed it with those tiny hands of his!" "A scorpion, where is it?" the old man rushed to the baby, checking for the scorpion. "It's in here! Where'd it go?" Kakyoin rummaged through the baby's basket. "There should be an impaled scorpion in here!....It's...gone." Everyone looked at Kakyoin. "I swear it's true! He must have hidden it somewhere!" Kakyoin shouted desperately. "We got it, Kakyoin. That's enough!" the old man said firmly. "Mr. Joestar." Kakyoin protested. "Like I said, you're clearly exhausted." the old man wouldn't have it. "We'll talk after you calm down." The boys looked at him and Kakyoin realised they thought he was going crazy. Kate stood near him, mumbling something, "I saw it, too, Kak. But you have to stay calm, how are they going to believe you, when you're so frantic?" Jotaro looked away, these two had been awfully close ever since this morning. He saw his grandfather feeding the baby, which refused to eat. "What's the matter? You were hungry a minute ago, right? Did you suddenly lose that big appetite?" the old man spoke, clearly using baby talk. Kakyoin had ignored Kate, slapping away her hand. He rushed to the old man and slapped the bowl of baby food out of the old man's hand, "Mr. Joestar, listen. I'm not imagining things. I don't know where he could've hidden the blasted scorpion, but I'm sure that he's a Stand user! And I have just the thing to prove to you that I'm telling the truth!" Kakyoin declared boldly, revealing the cuts on his arm, "Can you see these cuts? It's clearly a warning. I had them when I woke up! It must have happened to me when I was sleeping earlier!" "Oh my god!" the old man shouted. "Kakyoin, you didn't do that to yourself, did you?" Jotaro asked. "Say what?" Kakyoin was surprised. "It's finally happened..." Polnareff muttered. "he didn't do it himself! His switchblade was clean, he had them after our flight crashed! I saw it myself! Besides he was sleeping the entire time, how could he possibly have cut himself!" Kate defended Kakyoin. Oh, no. Had she lost it, too? How could she possibly believe Kakyoin? This was a baby. A baby! Not even a year old! "Looks like I have no other choice! Time for a little force!" Kakyoin declared, summoning Hierophant Green.