MAGO - Stardust Crusaders X OC

Chapter Thirteen: Wednesday, December 14

And so, the next day, after packing up her things and leaving her suitcase with the hotel staff as Mr Joestar had instructed, Sana found herself alone on the streets of Calcutta. The day was sweltering. There was no cloud cover, and the crowds surrounding Sana only increased the levels of heat.

Sana knew what her specific area to search was. It would likely only take a couple of hours, but then the group had decided to meet for lunch and then resume the searching. Still, that gave Sana two hours of strangers to sift through, constantly watching her back in case one of them decided to attack her. It didn't matter if she'd sparred with the others. It didn't matter if she'd developed some new short-range attack. She was still alone in an unknown country and completely exposed to and at the mercy of any enemies that wanted her dead.

Before, Sana hadn't minded this too much. After all, she had to get Polnareff back safely, and that was what mattered. That was the aim, the objective, the goal that Sana would devote herself fully to.

But now, everything was warped. This wasn't the Calcutta she'd liked two days ago. This one's tides of people were suffocating instead of intriguing. Instead of treading water, Sana was close to drowning.

She kept looking over her shoulder. Behind her. At this person and that one and was that movement or just her imagination? She didn't know, she didn't know, she didn't know. How had Polnareff survived this? Did he feel this? Would he understand? There was only one way to find out, and that was to get him back.

Everywhere. People were everywhere. Surrounding her from all sides, in Sana's peripheral vision. She didn't know if they were friend or foe or stranger, her eyes lingered too long on all of them. None of them were Polnareff. None of them had two right hands. The sun shone down on everyone, its heat more intense than it had been before. Sana half-wondered how many people passed out from heat stroke here every day.

And the noise. How was it possible to even search for a friend when there was so much noise? How was it possible to even stay safe, stay alive, when everyone's talking at all times and the voices soar above anything else? Everything was everywhere all at once and it made Sana's skin crawl. She needed to finish the search, do it properly, but she couldn't wait for it to be over, and were their eyes on her? Sana narrowed her eyes and watched them. No. Maybe not. But she could feel someone's eyes on her. Someone was watching her, but who..? Nobody. Nobody. Nobody was conspicuous, Sana searched the crowds, and there was nothing at all.

So why-

Thump.

"You should watch where you're going. How the hell are you gonna find Polnareff if you can't even see in front of you?"

Sana looked up at Jotaro, whom she'd just slammed into while trying to look at everyone else. His face was the standard scowl, and Sana stepped back. "Sorry. I was a little on edge."

"Yeah. I could tell," Jotaro said. "You're in my section. I guess that means you're done with yours?"

Sana nodded, because she was. He was right, this wasn't her section any more. In trying to evade her nonexistent pursuers, she'd left the place she was supposed to search entirely. Still, she'd done it, and it had probably been a couple of hours anyway. It was okay.

Except it wasn't, really, because she hadn't found Polnareff. And without him, all that effort was for nothing.

"Fine. Come with me," Jotaro said.

Sana looked up at him quickly, followed by a small frown. "What? Why?"

"You don't wanna be alone, right?" Jotaro said. "C'mon. It's been two hours. We've gotta head back, anyway."