Always With You (Caejose)

Silence (1/7)

...Joseph POV...

The castle loomed in front of me, silent. Empty.

Where before I'd heard the telltale sounds of hamon crackling through the air-

Now there was nothing.

And something in me was beginning to break.

Lisa Lisa was silent beside me, her anticipation mingling with my anxiety. Fine dust shaded everything in the opening, disguising anything that might be in there.

I opened my mouth to call out his name, though shut it tightly after a second of internal struggle. I didn't want to hear only silence.

I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood as I stepped into that chamber. Lisa Lisa was not far behind me.

There was only silence as we stepped in.

The dust cleared with a soft breeze through the chamber, revealing dozens upon dozens of shimmering bubbles floating in the air.

My heart nearly froze. If those were still there... then that meant-

Hope flowered in my chest.

My gaze scoured the chamber in front of me.

But there was no sign of him. No sign of that beautiful Italian. I bit my tongue to keep from crying out his name, lest there be only silence in return.

Lisa Lisa stepped into the chamber, reaching up to touch one of those bubbles.

"JoJo," she said softly, tipping her head towards the small stairwell leading up to a balcony. I froze, heart stuttering out a painful beat.

There, floating in the air, was a bubble cast a crimson as sharp as blood.

Coiled inside was a long strip of fabric I knew only all too well. My knees shook as I sucked a small breath into lungs that were too tight to expand, pain resonating through my chest.

"No," I breathed. "No. He- he can't."

Lisa Lisa turned away, blinking quickly. I took a few stumbling steps forwards, reaching for that bubble.

Hoping that, as long as I didn't touch it, it wouldn't be real. That none of this would be real. That I would wake up, and he would still be there, as annoying and beautiful as ever.

But there was a soft pop, and hamon crackled over my fingers, that signature energy sparking along my nerves- telling me exactly whose it was. I caught that fabric in my fingers, gaze narrowing on a small ring there.

Oh. Oh, Caesar.

I knew exactly what it was.

Knew exactly what he had done with a painful sense of clarity.

A sharp gasp drew me from that aching pain throbbing in my chest. I turned, that sorrow turning into anger.

Lisa Lisa was standing there, one hand raised to her mouth in horror.

I'd overlooked the rubble earlier, but now-

My heart nearly stopped. Because a pool of blood spread on the ground from beneath that rubble, mixing with the dust and dirt spread over the floor.

And my heart burst.

My knees cracked as I fell, a wretched sob loosing from my lips.

He was... gone.

I fisted my hand in the fabric, bowing my head as my sobs quieted, tears rolling down my cheeks. Lisa Lisa turned away, unable to bring herself to stare at that blood any longer.

I glanced up, trying to find comfort in his last bubbles, only to find them gone. The hamon in them had expired, leaving them to pop against anything the dust in the air.

I bit down, gritting my teeth hard enough that my jaw ached.

I was such an idiot.

This was my fault.

All my fault.

I spread a hand over that rubble, the stone biting into my palm as I sucked in heaving breaths.

He'd died for nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

I rose my head, calming my breathing. I'd need every breath in the fight to come.

I stood then, slipping the ring onto my finger, tying the fabric around my head. A part of me calmed at the feeling of it, gentling at the reminder that no matter what, he would be with me. Always.

I glanced at the stone, swallowing thickly.

"Goodbye, Caesar."

Lisa Lisa moved up the steps, watching me with sad eyes. I paused for a moment in the room, hoping that he would say something back. That this would all be some huge misunderstanding.

But my hopes fell, shattering upon the bloody ground with what remained of my heart and soul.

Because there was only silence.

That aching, painful, desolate silence.

The silence of lost. Something that would never return.