To The Stars

9

You three fall, not reaching the bottom until a couple seconds later. Creating a splash once you land, you reach a hand down and inspect the liquid, squinting. You cringe at the consistency, automatically knowing.

"Oil... Gross." You mutter, "Ah, and my clothes got ruined too...!"

"It's 24 meters to the top. Climb only using your hands." The woman instructs from the entrance. "There is no other exit. If you can't climb, you'll die down there."

You can hear the doors rumble as they close, leaving the three of you to fend for yourselves.

"We have to get up this slippery, 24-meter tall pillar?!" Joseph exclaims, meanwhile Caesar has already started.

"Might as well get it over with." You state, "Come on, JoJo. Or you'll be left behind."

Setting your hands on the giant structure, you take a deep breath and hoist yourself up, only slip back down moments later.

The Brit snickers. "Looks like I won't be the only one left here if you suck at it, too."

Your brows furrow.

"I swear I'll drown you right here and now." You growl, pulling him closer to the oil by his neck.

Returning to the pillar, you stare at it with intense concentration, trying to figure out how exactly to approach this issue. You glance up and notice something about Caesar. On closer inspection, you can jist barely make out him using Hamon on only his finger tips.

Looking back down at your hands, you clench them into a fist and raise your head in determination.

Placing your hands back on the column, you focus your Hamon on the very tips of your fingers, releasing a small but steady flow. You figured that if this wasn't enough, you could increase the amount later.

You raise one leg, then an arm, then the other leg, then the other arm. Pulling yourself up and out of the dreaded pool of oil, you find the method to be sufficient for the task at hand. Though, you knew this would be hell for your arms.

"JoJo, the longer it takes, the harder it well get! Hurry and climb!" The blond warns from above, but slips down a meter or two in the process.

You can hear Joseph banging on the pillar, complaining to himself as you begin to catch up with Caesar, though just barely.

"A lot of trainees died trying to climb this thing, huh?" The brunette says, "Are you sure they weren't simply to stupid?"

From the corner of your eye, you spot Lisa Lisa at the top with a hand full of daggers. She throws one past you, and your gaze follows it to JoJo, who had somehow managed to wrap his jacket around the stone structure and was climbing with it.

He falls back into the oil with a splash.

"Using anything but Hamon is an insult to the pillar! Hell Climb Pillar loves only Hamon and rejects all else!" The lady proclaims, "Never forget that!"

"Wait! Hold on, Lisa Lisa! I mean, Coach!" Joseph calls, clinging onto the column as she walks away. She stops and turns to face him. "Y-You won't really let me die down here if I don't have the power to climb up. It's my first day here. This is just a test to fire me up. You'll pull me out later, right?"

She gives him an uninterested look and continues off.

Snickering, you resume climbing up the pillar.

~Timeskip~

It's been over a day since you were thrown into Hell Climb Pillar, and you've barely managed to pull yourself to the same level as Caesar. His feet are just behind your head, losing speed as he strains to hold on longer.

Your arms ache as you do your best to maintain your breathing, squeezing your eyes shut as you hoist yourself up another few inches.

When looking down while advancing upwards, and idea pops into your head. It'll take up more Hamon, but at least your arms will have less stress put on them.

Pausing, you take another deep breath and emit less Hamon from your hands, then begin to release more from the front of your feet. You let out an internal sigh of relief as your arms are finally able to rest from carrying your whole body, before extending your legs, pushing yourself up. To conserve Hamon, you decide to alternate between your hands and feet rather than using all four.

15 meters up, you stop and lean back, checking up on Joseph. He's still at the bottom, not having made any progress.

You begin to worry when he suddenly jumps out of the oil and onto the pillar, sticking to it.

A small smile of relief and content surfaces on your face before you continue making your way up. But from this point, you, too, begin slowing down.

The column starts to widen from 18 meters, forcing you to begin climbing at a disadvantageous angle. You just silently thank yourself for coming up with the idea to use your feet, making the challenge a tad bit easier. It also allowed you to pull ahead of Caesar, though by just under a meter.

All of a sudden the pillar begins to rumble, shaking profusely.

You stop dead in your tracks, confused and concerned. Glancing downwards, you look to JoJo and Caesar to ask what's going on.

"What's going on?!" The Italian asks urgently.

"No!" The 19-year-old gasps.

"(Y/n)! Watch out! Something's's coming!"

Whipping my head to look under me, I see the pillar begin to split ever so slightly, a fine line appearing. A sudden rush of adrenaline runs through me, allowing me to jump forward before something spews out of the crack at high speed and force.

I quickly turn to the other two, only to find them trapped beneath the sheet of liquid.

"Crap! I turned something on!" Joseph exclaims.

"What the hell did you do?!" You interrogate him.

"I just rested myself in a crack! I didn't think something like this would end up happening!" He answers honestly.

"Did you not hear what Lisa Lisa said?! Hell Climb Pillar loves only Hamon! Only Hamon, you hear?"

You stay in that position, worried and not knowing how to help.

"(Y/n), you go on ahead!" You hear Caesar shout from the other side.

"But-" You start to protest, but, the other cuts you off.

"Go, (y/n)! Don't get held back just because I gummed the works!"

Reluctantly, you turn around and agree. "Fine. But if you guys don't bust out of there by tomorrow, I'm going back down to get you!"

Some adrenaline still present from the event, you go back to ascending the pillar. By the time you get to 21 meters, Caesar had managed to pass the deadly barrier of oil.

Around two hours later, you reach the top, swinging a leg over and rolling onto it.

No longer having to use Hamon, you gasp for air, your vision going blurry every now and then as you stare at the ceiling. A shadow blocks the light from reaching your face. Looking to the side, you see your coach standing there.

"You're the first one to complete despite not having any formal training." She states with a cold tone, "Congratulations. You won't be using a mask for training."

You sigh, closing your eyes. "You're crazy. Both you and your training."

A/n: Hey y'all, sorry if the writing seems a bit bland atm. I'm just not really motivated to write this rn, or at least, I'm not motivated for this scene in particular. But I decided to add sone 1930's slang in here, and probably will do so in the next chapters. I'll try updating more in the future, along with better writing.
Hope you're all safe and well! ^-^