Self-love (Jjba Fanfic)

10

I stand in a corner of the room, watching as JoJo begins his speech to Dio. 

"I have found proof of your misdeeds, Dio," Jojo states as he puts the candle on a nearby table "I've given the antidote to father just now... He will make a wonderful recovery". Dio sighs as he goes to take a seat near the candle. He looks to the floor, refusing to make eye contact with the man in front of him.

"I don't understand dio. You were a brother to me and Atticus, and father loved you as one of his own." Johnathan continues, "Unfortunately, I must turn my own brother in." The blonde sighed and clutched his chest. "Jojo, I have a selfish request," he spoke out softly before looking at the standing male. "Please give me time to turn myself in! I want to confess my love for the woman who stole my heart before I am taken away!" he pleads with tears peaking out of his eyes. When I hear those words, I felt a shiver down my spine. I unknowingly moved back towards Speedwagon, who held my arm to steady me. I put my hand over his as I continued to listen to the conversation in front of me.

"I know what I've done is wrong! Poverty has made me greedy enough to try and kill the man who raised me as his own!" He cries out with a pained look on his face, "I know I'm guilty, but I returned here to turn myself in! I could've run, but I've come here!" Johnathan looked at his adoptive brother in surprise. "That is true.." he whispered as he took in the information.

"I have many regrets; I want to make amends with those I have wronged." Dio sobbed as he reached his arm into his sling. "Please, Jojo..." Johnathan, with a look of compassion, starts to make his way over to Dio, but before he could get too close, I spoke up. 

"That's enough, dio," I say out loud with my normal voice. "I wouldn't go any further, Mr. Joestar; that man is a liar," I hear Speedwagon say beside me as he lights a match, lighting up our corner. Dio looks at us in surprise and says, "You might be wondering who I am? Allow me to introduce myself." Speedwagon says with confidence "I am a meddler by the name of Robert E. Speedwagon!".

"And I," I speak up as I blow out the match "am not the person you knew all these years". I yanked my cloak off with a swift motion, letting it fly off my body. I let my hair out of its ponytail as I gave him a glare. "My name is Aaliyha, Aaliyha Mangual."

The three men stared at me shocked as I discarded my cloak to the side and said, "I requested the help of Mr. Speedwagon to expose you, Dio Brando!" I yelled out, pointing to him.

"Yes, and because I like Mr. Joestar, I will let him in on something. I was raised in squalor with Ms. Mangual. We have seen the worst of the worst in our lives, but my nose is able to smell the difference between a good and bad person." He says as he walks over towards the now sweating man in the seat, "And this man! smells worse than a pile of vomit."

Speedwagon slams his fists into the table harshly, causing the candles to blow out and fall over. "Wicked by circumstance? No, this man was born to be evil!" He screams out, and I look at the scene with a stern expression, slowly making my way next to Jonathan.

"I've seen your wickedness firsthand, Dio; my eyes have never failed me, and I've put up with your act for far too long," I state as I lean over the table to come close to his face. I notice a soft blush on his netural face as he avoids everywhere but my eyes. "You are truly a disgusting man indeed," I whisper softly in his ear before pulling myself up to stand straight. The two men next to me seem to also be flustered by my actions, but I could care less as I felt myself getting more and more angry at the blond man sitting in the chair in front of me.

Speedwagon clicks his tongue at Dios stiff position and sticks his arm behind a curtain to pull out a small Asian man. "Remember him?" he says as Dio looks at the man in front of him in fear "This man is willing to testify to the police that he sold you the poison to kill Mr. Joestar.". 

I stared down at Dio as I saw his facade start to crumble; he looked like a scared cat backed into a corner. "I've seen enough," a deep voice rang out. I opened the curtain to reveal Mr. Joestar and a small group of officers. "This truly is a shame; I've put so much time and love into you, like you were one of my own Dio." The older Joestar spoke with a heartbroken expression. I smiled softly at him as I grabbed his hand. "Mr. Joestar, I think you've seen enough. You need to rest," I spoke as I began to walk him up the stairs. "Alright, Jojo, do what you must. I don't wish to see my son arrested," he said solemnly to his son while following me up the stairs.

"So this is it...the end," we hear Dio say as he stands up from his seat. Mr. Joestar stops, causing me to copy him, and I look over at the scene with a bittersweet feeling. Suddenly, I hear the old Asian man speak, "They aren't going to catch him, ya know? The marks on his ear are a mark of the devil's luck," he sums up before turning back to the scene. For a moment, I freeze remembering the book. I search for my book in my pockets, ignoring the two's interaction. It took me a minute to find it, but when I pulled it out, I flipped to Dio's page and skimmed through to the part of his arrest. My eyes widened as I looked at the events that take place after he surrenders to Johnathan. I looked up to see Mr. Joestar, away from my side, running up to Johnathan and Dio ripping out of his sling, brandishing a knife along with a mask. 

"Jojo, move out of the way now!" I scream at the top of my lungs as my body reaches out to him. "I'll use your blood, Jojo!" Dio screams out, thrusting his knife out towards the young man. My screams are drowned out with everyone else's screams as Dio's knife lands a hit, only it's not Jojo who got stabbed but.. " father!!!!!" Me and Jojo screamed, and the room filled with chaos as Dio laughed while putting on the bloody mask and the police captain gave an order to shoot the young man who had just stabbed the old man. I couldn't focus on my surroundings as I looked at my only father figure in Jojo's arms. My throat burned and my eyes stung as tears spilled like waterfalls. 

This can't be happening to me. This is the only thought in my head as I grip onto his sleeve like a little girl would. "Jojo, aaliyha," he croaked as he reached his hand out to caress our cheeks one at a time. "I should have dodged the knife, father; I was too distracted by the mask.." The young man cried out his apologies' while clutching his dying father's body. My grip on his sleeve only tightened as he gave us a pained smile. "Jojo, I want you to have this," he says softly, holding up his hand to show a gold ring. "It was your mother's," he coughs out. I started to cry harder, along with Jojo. "P-please. You can't leave me, Mr. Joestar," I cried out in a hoarse whisper. The man chuckled and turned his attention to me. "Aaliyha, you were the daughter I never had. You've made me proud to know you. The real you I hope you show that to the world," he whispered. "I leave you a spot in my will...."

I sniffled and hugged him gently, along with Jojo. "Thank you, Papa," I whispered in his ear, along with a kiss on his cheek. I slowly felt the warmth leave him as Speedwagon and the police caption began to converse about something. I didn't want to listen, as it was something I already knew. I only hugged the corpse tighter, refusing to let go, until I hear Speedwagon scream about Dios body.

I snapped out of my trance to see dios body was indeed gone.