▪︎All for you▪︎ - Diego x Reader || DISCONTINUED

▪︎ 14. Pâro ▪︎

This story has given me more friends and has made me so inspired so far. This is the second chapter of the day, and I genuinely want to write the next one already :)

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Pâro
n. the feeling that no matter what you do is always somehow wrong-that any attempt to make your way comfortably through the world will only end up crossing some invisible taboo-as if there's some obvious way forward that everybody else can see but you, each of them leaning back in their chair and calling out helpfully, colder, colder, colder.

"Okay, Okay, how about this one... What did the ocean say to the beach?" Diego asked eagerly as we continued on the 7th stage. I had asked him to pull a few jokes, which he gladly did.

"Hmm... I don't know, maybe 'sea you later'?" I suggested.

"That's a good answer, but no. It said nothing, it just waved!" He laughed at his own jokes to the point where tears sippered from his eyes. To be honest, I couldn't quite tell if I was laughing because he was, or if the joke was actually funny.

"Okay, that was kinda good... Do you have any other ones?"

"You actually want to hear more?!" He shone up like a puppy once more, smiling widely at my request. His reptilian tail was once more wiggling behind him in excitement, but I chose to just admire that trait without mentioning it.

"Yeah, hit me with more of them!" I assured him.

"Next one, then! Why is the calender scary?"

"I don't know about that one... Why?"

"It says my days are numbered!" He laughed again, and I laughed along with him.

"Whatever people say, you're actually funny." I told him through laughters, and he looked up at me, momentarily looking a bit serious.

"...And whatever people say, you're actually kinda pretty." He replied back. I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat then and there, and Diego smirked at my widened eyes. I stared down at my reins, fiddling with them a bit as he chuckled.

"Uh- T- Thank you, I guess..." I stuttered.

"You're welcome, Sweetheart. Not to change the subject, but I have something I need to do in the town we're entering right now." I looked up and noticed the sign saying 'Gettysburg'. "Can I trust you to be left alone for a moment without messing things up?"

"I'm offended by how little faith you have in me."

"Don't be, I'm just being realistic." He smiled as he got off his horse, tying Silver Bullet to a fence nearby. I stepped off Athena as well, figuring I might as well stretch my legs in the meantime.

"What are you even doing?" I asked, and he sighed.

"Nothing. Now be good, and don't move."

"Or what?" Instead of a reply, he glared at me and I held up my hands. "Okay, okay..."

Diego walked away, turning the corner on a building not to be seen for a few minutes. I gave Athena some pats and treats while I looked around. The town itself looked pretty dead, as if something awful had happened here recently. While taking in my environment, I noticed another horse nearby. It was pretty familiar as well, so I decided to head over there and take a look. It turned out to be Gets Up, which was Hot Pants' horse.

I gave her some pats when I heard noise coming from inside the church... Or was it a chapel? I don't know, I wasn't really that aware of those things.

I snuck up to the entrance, peeking inside. To my horror, I witnessed blood, intestines and... Cocoons? What the fuck is going on?!

Gyro and Hot Pants were wrapped in some type of... uh... cocoon... And Johnny was shooting at some soldier. Around them were ghosts- or maybe poltergeists that scratched at Johnny's skin. Without thinking, I took a step inside.

"Hey, what the hell is going on here?!" I shouted. Hot Pants was dressed in nun's clothing, and her eyes widened when she saw me.

"Y/N, NO! DON'T COME IN HERE!" Right as I realized what she had said, something grabbed onto my leg. I looked down, and saw a pitch black arm. I'm not saying the arm itself was black, but it looked to be covered in something... ashy?

"SHIT, WHAT IS THAT?!" The hand grabbed my ankle and pulled me to the floor, giving me the perfect view of the face.

The face of Eric, my ex-fiancé.

"It's a materialization of guilt! Don't let it overtake you, it's not real!" Gyro shouted from the other side of the room. Unfortunately, he was too late. I was already staring deeply into the empty eyes of Eric. He stared at me like a corpse with his mouth opened, trying to get some sounds out. I completely froze, wondering why I hadn't just listened to Diego when he asked me to stay where I was.

Eric crawled towards me, and I lost all awareness of my surroundings. Suddenly, all I could think about was how it was my fault. It was my fault that he died, it's my fault that his family lost a son. It was my fault that he had lost his life. I was the reason, I was the reason for everything. Everything that had led up to this moment was my fault, it was all because of me. I shouldn't have walked in here either, and I shouldn't have ignored Diego. I should have listened. I hate myself, why do I always ruin everything? I'm the reason Eric is dead, and now I'm putting people at risk. I can't... I can't do this anymore...

Some type of membrane began covering my legs, but I didn't fight it. I let it cover my body, because it had to. This was my way to repent for my sins. A life for a life, so to say. I killed Eric, so I had to die. It only made sense, right? Though, I had wished I'd gotten to see Diego again...

A gunshot echoed through the building, but my body had no energy left, all I could do was listen.

"I did it! I shot him!" Johnny exclaimed in relief. His heavy breathing sounded painful, possibly because he was shot earlier. At least, I think it was his blood I saw when I entered the building.

"Impressive, but he isn't dead yet." Another voice spoke. This one was unfamiliar, but familiar at the same time. Had I heard it before, or was I just imagining it? Either way, I wasn't sure who it was.

"No way... It's... It's you?!" Johnny sounded scared- terrified even. Who could ever give him that impression? "President Valentine?!"

"I'll be taking these..." The president said, and he seemed to be picking something up from the ground. I forced myself to turn around to look at him, but I quickly regretted that.

I saw him hold one of the corpse parts in his hands, which seemed to be the opposite hand from the one Hot Pants had earlier. I wasn't even sure where those parts were now, either. He walked over to me, crouching down right by face. He grabbed my throat and lifted me up into the air with ease.

"You..." He muttered, holding a tight grip on my throat. "I think I'm gonna borrow you for a while." I couldn't breathe anymore, and I frantically tried to get some air into my lungs. "It seems to me like you have something I want. I could just... take it from you now. But wouldn't that be a loss of resources? I've seen you traveling with Dio Brando. If I take you as well, he'll be sure to bring me the last part when he goes to rescue you."

Valentine dropped me to the ground, and I took a huge breath. The air burned all the way down into my lungs, and I was relieved to be on the floor again. The feeling didn't last for long unfortunately, because the president was quick to grab the collar of my shirt and drag me across the floor.

"NOOOO!" Johnny yelled in our direction, but Valentine continued forward. Gyro and Hot Pants were unable to follow as well, since they were in a similar state to me.

"Come on now, puppet. We'll have some fun, you and I." Valentine smiled down on me as he dragged me over the pavement. Soon enough, I was in a carriage by his side, wondering which breath would be my last.