Bound by Blood; Chosen by Fate

Chapter Nineteen

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I ran a hand over my hair, blowing out a light breath.

"I met Joseph at my father's funeral. I was... fifteen? We were finally introduced to each other then."

I curled my hands around the mug, absorbing the warmth there, as if it could get me through what I was going to say next.

"After that, things just got more chaotic."

I paused for a moment, rolling over the thoughts in my head, struggling to push away the darker memories lingering there.

"Elizabeth called us to Mexico. All three of us went- Joseph, Dio, and I. The creators of the mask was there- one of them, at least. We defeated him after realizing that they were susceptible to sunlight."

Caesar blinked.

"You were fifteen?"

"Sixteen," I corrected. He stared at me, then let his gaze move to Joseph.

"And how old were you?"

"Fourteen," he responded easily, tapping his heels against the counter with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

I continued before Caesar had time to ask more questions.

"About a year later we realized there were more. In Italy." I paused, letting a cool breath brush over my lips. "Three of them, too." A shudder ran through my body, and a soft tension filled the air, a gentle pressure winding over my ankle. Joseph watched me with quiet, sad eyes. I gave him a small, shaky smile. "At that point, we realized we needed more help. Elizabeth introduced us to  Jotaro and Josuke. We were in hamon under the combined tutoring of William and Joseph's mother."

Caesar perked up at the name of his brother, gaze darting between Joseph and I.

"It was also around this time that we developed stands," Joseph cut in as I paused again, fingers whitening around the ceramic mug as I searched for the words to continue. "Well, Josuke and I," Joseph clarified. Caesar seemed surprised.

"You don't have one?" He asked me. I shook my head, taking another sip of the now lukewarm tea.

"Hamon is my only weapon."

"And Jotaro is the same?"

Joseph and I fell silent for a long beat. Caesar rose both brows as we shared a heavy glance.

"He... can't use either," I said finally, testing the words carefully, watching Caesar's reaction. His face remained impressively neutral, minus the twitch of his lips.

"We were able to pin down two of the three, and a time in which the third was in a different country. They were vulnerable without their leader," Joseph continued slowly.

A quiet beat of silence, where Caesar seemed to realize that it turned dark. His lips thinned, eyes darting nervously between us as he waited for our words. Our history.

"We split up in order to hit them at the same time," I continued, pressing my palms into the table to suppress the shaking.

"Jotaro went with Joseph, Elizabeth and Dio. I went with Josuke and your brother."

Joseph moved again, sitting in the chair next to me. His stand curled gently around my calf, warm reassurance that it was over- that I was safe. His face had lost the forced cheer, replaced with cold calculation. Caesar seemed unsettled, foot tapping the ground quietly.

"They'd tricked us. Instead of splitting up, all three cornered Elizabeth's group."

I sucked a shaking breath, and Joseph took over, resting his elbows on the table.