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Chapter Text

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry!" Sobbed a blond man as he rode on his horse who galloped across a street covered with yellow maple leaves. The time was November, and the air was already chilly enough for the streams of the horse's breath to become visible. The horse was old, but greatly experienced as it had the experience of galloping across the United States of America, and riding on it was its companion.

The companion was obviously not in a good mood, as tears poured out of his eyes. In his arms, he holds a child. A child who had apparently lost his consciousness, but there was more to the state of the child than his lack of consciousness.

There were wrinkles on the child's face, but not natural wrinkles that humans get as their skin loses its elasticity as they grow old. These wrinkles were vertically formed across the boy's face like a paper origami neatly folded into a zig-zag shape. Was this a new form of curse, or a disease, or something alien that goes beyond human understanding? But what mattered was that the child was dying, and if he truly died… then the man on the horse would feel something much worse than death… something worse than watching his best friend getting killed by the fissure of light.

Before the boy, it was his wife who was suffering such symptoms. And to save his wife, he had become a criminal of the United States of America who managed to track him all the way down to Japan. He had stolen a Corpse. A Corpse that was able to perform miracles, but even miracles followed a rule. A single rule that the man forgot out of love and desperation. Even if the miracle cured his wife, it simply meant that the curse, the illness that had been tormenting the woman cannot be destroyed, but transferred to someplace else.

…

Or more specifically, somebody else. Somebody close. Somebody, who happened to be the child of the man and his wife.

"Equivalent exchange…" Whispered the man, urging his horse to run, but in a more different fashion. "How could I have forgotten…? I can't… I can't use the Corpse again. It's just going to deliver misfortune to someone else."

Suddenly, the man's dark, black pupils burst into black flame, a black flame showing the Dark Determination of the man who was now willing to do anything, even give up his humanity, to save his beloved child.

"George Joestar…" Whispered the man into the boy's ear. "Rina Higashikata… I'm so glad… I'm so blessed to get to meet you two. Because of you two I have found happiness that can't be replaced… and I can't exchange that for anything."

But with his son dying, there was one thing that he could exchange. Just one thing he could exchange that ensured his son and his wife's safety.

His very own life.

So he did. Shooting himself in the head with the help of his own powers that had been developed during his journey with an Italian man, he managed to transfer the curse into himself. With that, he and his son toppled down the horse who only snorted by the sudden loss of weight. Now the wrinkles were disappearing from the boy's face. Color rushed back into his cheeks and he could now move his fingers, his hand, his arm, and eventually his whole body with ease.

Meanwhile, the boy's father was slowly dying as his face started to fold like a paper origami. The pain was unbearable, but when imagining a world where he can't save his child or his wife, it became bearable. In fact, rather than pain all the man could feel now was relief and sadness as his sight started to get blurry. But at the corner of his eye, he could just make the appearance of his wife, wearing that same pretty kimono and running on her bare feet.

"Where are your shoes…?" Murmured the man as his frail body tried to reach her to comfort her. "Your feet… are hurting…"

Now, with his vision nearly gone, the performance of his ears started to drop, but he could still hear his wife screaming, wailing, and calling out his name over and over again. But all the man could do was cry, cry, cry with regret and guilt as he said his farewells with the softest voice.

"Farewell… Ri… na…"

Jonathan(Johnny) Joestar

Died November 11, 1901

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Died?

"My dearest… I love you…"

"I love you too…" He mumbled back absentmindedly.

"I love you with all my heart… I love you…"

"...? Wait… wait a minute."

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you"

"You're not Rina… who are you…?"

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you"

"Who are you?! Wh-where am I?!"

He finally realized that he wasn't able to see. He wasn't able to move. The only capabilities he had was to hear, speak, and—

"Hrrk!"

—and apparently the ability to feel something… something lukewarm suddenly wrapped its fingers around his… his insides… something important inside him… something beating… something…!

"Gah… aHHH!"

As he screamed he finally realized what was grasping him. It was his heart that was being squeezed. But as soon as the pain came like an ice bucket thrown over his head, the pain was gone and the lukewarm sensation returned as the fingers stroked his heart once again.

"Who… no, what are you…?"

"I love you."

Johnny Joestar opened his eyes, and winced as the strong sunlight reached his eyes.

"What… what happened?" Furiously, Johnny began to rub his eyes, blinking out the spots that were formed by the strong sun. Then, his mind started to whirl and think.

The first theory that came to mind was the afterlife. Surely, he should be dead, or be in a deathlike state after accepting Rina's unknown illness. But to feel… so alive… was this heaven? Will he be finally able to talk with Gyro again? Should he go to him and announce proudly that he kept his word of keeping Gyro's real name a secret?

Then… he started to see.

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…

He started to see unbelievable things… and this was coming from a man who went through the Steel Ball Run, where he had faced enemies with impossible powers and abilities.

He saw… anthropomorphic beings, walking in broad daylight. There were people covered in fur while having faces of an animal. There was a huge lizard dragging a carriage with its two feet like a dinosaur(Diego…?). There were structures all around him as if they were from the medieval ages, and the clothes they were seemed to be from the medieval ages itself.

Just… just where was he…?!

Then, the second theory came to his mind.

"Is this… Funny… Funny Valentine…?!" Gasped Johnny as he quickly looked to his left and right to find the blond jackass who also happened to be the 23rd president of the United States.

The president apparently had the ability to traverse through other dimensions as well as allowing several dimensions to coexist at the same time, and this strange world, just may be a parallel version of his original universe.

Instinctively, he raised his fingers, ready to shoot out his weapon at the moment's notice. He will not miss. He didn't miss when he shot him down, and he won't miss again if he showed up.

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…

No… wait… Funny Valentine's Stand 『Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap』 was destroyed… permanently. Besides, only one 『Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap』 was allowed to exist in all of the parallel universes, and he was the one to destroy that Stand… Besides… this world was way off the tangent to be even considered to be a parallel world.

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Yeah… this was an entirely different universe that had no attachment to the original world.

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…

But… knowing that his son and his wife were safe… Johnny was happy. He was happy although he knew the chances of ever seeing them again were close to zero.

And speaking of zero…

"Eh… huh…? Wait… no… no…! No, no, no, no, no…!"

Johnny Joestar had reached 'positive' with his loving beloved and his child. Before that he had reached 'zero' by accomplishing the Steel Ball Run. And before that he was 'negative'. When he was 'negative' nothing ever worked out. Even on his best days, he cursed God and felt like shit, and had to swallow down his temper that was aimed at his damned humiliated self.

…

Johnny Joestar has lost his 'positive' when he was separated from his beloved family and his horse. He should be at zero… in theory he should be at 'zero', but he never expected… he never expected…!

"My legs…! My legs! No…! No, not again! Not again!"

Johnny Joestar was a cripple, all over again.

He crawled. There was no other way to move. He crawled and he crawled. Without a wheelchair, without Slow Dancer, he had to resort to crawling the ground like a maggot. His rough hands were now marred with dirt and grime, and he had already collected a few coins out of pity from strangers. He was fortunate enough to find a public restroom to relieve himself, but to crawl on the piss-stained floor was just…!

'It's okay… I've gone through worse… this humiliation… this state of being 'negative' will come to pass… I believe in the Spin, I believe in my experiences… my legs will work again in the future… they will work in the future, they have to work in the future!'

"Well, well, well, look over here guys! We have a cripple!"

'Huh?' Thought Johnny before a large force slammed into the back of his head as it made harsh contact with the rocky floor. It didn't hurt as much as being shot, but the sudden attack left Johnny dazed as he failed to see a kick aimed at his stomach.

"Ahh!" Yelled Johnny as pain shot throughout his body as another kick landed somewhere on his body.

"Shut up, cripple! As if there's anybody around to help you!"

After a while, the beatings stopped and Johnny was finally given the time to analyze his opponents, his situation, and his options. There were three opponents in front of him. One was large and muscular, one was tall and lean, and the remaining one was stout and short. Currently, the tall and lean one posed the biggest threat as he was holding a knife close to Johnny's face, threatening him while the other two stood back with menacing poses.

Unfortunately for them, they picked the wrong cripple to mess around with.

"I don't know what I did to attract you people… I don't know what I have done for the three of you to ambush me… I don't know… But… please do keep in mind that if you continue… I'm going to fight back."

After a short silence, the three thugs laughed out loud, unaware of the sudden shift of mood that took place on the crippled man as his eyes burst into a flame of Dark Determination. If any one of them noticed such change… maybe they might've thought better than to continue. Alas, the three idiots did nothing of sorts as they sneered down at Johnny Joestar.

"Don't make me laugh, cripple! You wanna die, huh? You wanna die?!"

With the lean man's blade pressed against Johnny's left cheek, a thin sanguine line dribbled down from his cheek. However, Johnny's eyes never wavered as he stared straight into the lean man's eyes, who simply scowled at Johnny's attitude.

"Heh… what a confident expression for somebody who just had his ass beaten up." Snorted the large man. "Hurry up and give us all your possessions!"

"Sure." Spoke Johnny as he moved his body a bit. "But did you realize something?"

"Hah?" Spoke the lean man sneering at Johnny's face. "Realize what, cripple?"

"All five toes on my right foot are directly aimed at your chest."

"Chyumimi ~ in!"

With the strange chirping noise from a certain pink Stand, the toenails on the crippled feet of Johnny Joestar shot outward in a straight line as they spun at a tremendous rate. Its force ripped open Johnny's shoes and his socks and like bullets, they slammed and pierced into the lean man's body. Three nails were a direct hit while the other two missed, but it was enough for the man to drop the knife and scream in pain.

"AHHHH!" Howled the man as he clutched his gaping wounds that gushed out blood. "What in the… WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU JUST DO?!"

"『Tusk』" Answered Johnny Joestar, moving his left leg to cover up the state of his right shoe. After all, giving away the slightest information could mean losing and even worse: death. "That's all I'm going to say."

"Don't get cocky now you little sh—"

Before the muscular man could throw his punch, Johnny instantly raised his right forefinger and shot a nail bullet right into the man's shoulder. His shooting skills had improved to near perfection overtime, and in such a close range, there was no way he was going to miss it.

Blood splattered over the alleyway and now there were two grown men on the floor, clutching their wounds and screaming in pain. Meanwhile, the short one simply gaped and raised a trembling finger at Johnny.

"Y-you…!" He gasped. "You're a magic user! Shit! We picked on the wrong guy! Guys, get up! Get up now!"

Normally, Johnny would finish them off, just to be sure, but the sight of something caught his eye. There was a… a child. A child, standing just a few meters away from him and the thugs, staring, wide-eyes, at the scene.

…

She was blonde, with a slight dose of orange to add an extra zing to it all, and all the messy hair was tied to a single short ponytail at the back of her head. One other noticeable thing about the child was that she had strong muscles in her legs. Even from here, Johnny could observe the tense muscles coiled up in her legs, ready to bolt at moments notice.

Now with the child's sudden appearance, Johnny's hesitation lasted longer as the three thugs fled away. Somehow… somehow he couldn't find the strength or the determination to just kill those three thugs in front of a child. Was this an instinct as a father? Strange… but fortunately, his gut told that those three won't be appearing anytime soon.

"Uhh… umm…" Murmured the girl, clearly not knowing how to act in front of Johnny. "I-I'll take my leave, mister! I didn't see anything!"

After the child was gone from sight, Johnny simply sighed as the tension ceased. Was this punishment for stealing the Corpse? Was this hell designed just to torment him? He had no idea… he had no clue and that was why everything was so stressful.

Then, he heard the rushing footsteps of… somebody.

Judging by the rapid footsteps it was just one person running towards this area. Judging by the sound of it, it was likely that it was a female. But when judging the voices…

"I heard it coming from this alleyway, Puck! The person is in terrible danger!"

"The screaming seemed to have stopped… we might be too late, Lia"

Two…? That can't be right… Johnny can only hear the footsteps of one person, not two. But soon, he saw why he only heard the footsteps of one.

Suddenly, a girl with silver hair made her appearance in the alleyway and… and what was that? A cat?

…

A floating cat wearing a knapsack?

"Are you alright? Oh my…! You're bleeding!" Cried the girl as she rushed over to him.

Blinking, Johnny suddenly felt another trickle of wetness rolling down his face, but this wasn't from the wound from the knife.

'Oh…' Thought Johnny dumbly as he touched the wetness only to find more blood. 'It was the first attack… blunt trauma… it ripped my flesh I suppose…'

"H-here let me help!" Stuttered the girl as she tried to move Johnny to a more comfortable position. Alas, she lacked the strength to move him around, causing her to huff.

"I-I'm sorry sir, but can you move please? You've… you've lost a lot of blood, oh dear, oh dear!"

"Don't worry." He spoke as some blood squirted out of his head wound. "Most of those on the floor don't belong to me."

"Hoh… is that so?" Spoke the cat—

Wait… what? Let's… let's run that down again…

Spoke the cat.

"What the… did that… did that cat just talk…?" Whispered Johnny, making sure that he wasn't seeing any hallucinations.

"A cat?" Huffed the small floating creature annoyed, as Johnny attempted to crawl back to get some space between them. "How rude! I'm a spirit! A great spirit in fact!"

"What… spirit?" Questioned Johnny, raising up his fingers pointing at the cat, just to be on the safe side.

"Hey now." Now, all the joyous and playful mood was gone from its tone as Johnny could physically and mentally feel his skin freezing, as his fingers felt like falling off. "I don't care if you try to hurt me because you won't succeed. But considering that my daughter is around and that she might get caught in the crossfire…"

"Drop your fingers, human."

Johnny immediately dropped them, sensing that there was no way to defeat this cat or spirit as it proclaimed itself to be. His face had become as pale as the moon, and his body was now drenched in cold sweat. No matter what, there was no way Johnny could imagine anything toppling down this being. Perhaps Funny Valentine's powers may destroy the spirit while it had its guard down, but besides being ambushed, Johnny really couldn't see a way to defeat this bizarre cat.

Maybe… maybe if he was back on Slow Dancer, he might have had the chance of winning, but not when he was in the state of 'negative'. Moreover, there was no need to antagonize with any more strangers in this bizarre world.

"Forgive me." Gasped Johnny as he felt a tingling sensation on top of his head. "I… I'm just very lost, and very confused… I lost… I think I lost everything precious to me, my emotions are spiraling out of control and I… and I can't…"

Suddenly, tears began dribbling down Johnny's face as the tingling sensation turned into a soothing phenomenon. Now, after facing death from the strange cat, Johnny finally let his tears free as he sobbed once again.

His life in his original universe had ended when he was just 29, and coming to think of it he left so much behind. He lost Rina, he lost George, he lost his father, and… and to think that he would never be able to even know how his family is doing, it was just too much for Johnny to take. Even when he had lost everything twice in his life, nothing could compare to this loss. The loss of all of his loved ones, the severed connection with all of the people that mattered to him.

In this lonely world, he was truly in the state of 'negative', and he began to doubt if he could find the strength and courage to try to go back to zero.

(Puck POV)

"Pu~ck!"

"I didn't do anything to him, Emilia! I swear! He just fainted out of his fatigue condition!" Spoke Puck, trying his best to calm down Emilia's pout. Although this side of her looked so adorable, Puck hadn't done anything wrong! With his empathy, he caught the human's turmoil of negative emotions, and felt pity for him. And besides, there was no malice in his actions, but with Emilia around, he had to give him a warning!

"You can't just go around and scare people like that! Besides, he was already heavily injured! And why would you go and make him cry like that?!"

Now that was totally not his fault! Whatever happened to the human had apparently caught up with him right at that moment, and he simply cried because of that! There was nothing more to it!

"Chyumii~"

At the sudden noise, Puck whirled his head towards the human who was resting on his lap. And… just in the corner of his eyes… he could make out the shape of… of something. Something pink, and strange. Like a mutated lesser spirit or something similar to that. But before he could get a closer look, the… thing disappeared instantly. And… the human had woken up.

"... ah… so it wasn't a dream…"

Puck winced as his empathy kicked in again. Whatever this person had gone through… it was extremely bad to a point where Puck felt extreme pity for him. His emotions… it told him that he indeed has lost somebody that meant everything to him, just like how Emilia meant everything to Puck. Thankfully, this man seemed to be less emotional than Puck himself, seeing how he wasn't going on a full rampage but… considering the blood spilled on the floor that might not be the case. Plus, for a crippled human, he had some skills. Spilling that much blood with no traces of weapons…

Grunting, the human sat up into a sitting position, only using his arms, and got into a quite strange position. Then, he touched his head, surprised to find no wounds etched upon it.

"Don't worry about it." Spoke Emilia, now her mask returning as she resumed her cool demeanor. "I healed your wounds."

"Heal… my wounds?" Spoke the human, obviously confused. Then, he stared at Puck once again. "Are… are you perhaps a Stand…?"

What a weird question.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Sighed Puck in fake exasperation as he placed his cute paws onto his face, as he began to rub it around. "I am a cute spirit! And a great one too!"

"... yeah… thought so…" Muttered the human to himself, but with Puck's sensitive ears, he caught those words.

What was a Stand? Was it his terminology for spirits? Eh, it could be anything. Puck didn't really mind as long as he didn't pose a threat to his daughter.

"Well… I believe that I must thank you." Spoke the man as he bowed his head. "It seems that I am in your debt."

"Don't worry about your debt." Spoke Emilia as she stepped forward. "Instead, can you tell me if you happened to see a thief?"

"I'm sorry, but can you be a bit more elaborate?"

"My… my insignia was stolen by a thief, and I was chasing them down… Please, have you seen a thief carrying my insignia? It's this big," Emilia made a shape with her fingers. "And has a small jewel stuck in the middle of it."

"Are you sure the thief went through this alleyway?" Asked the man sincerely.

"Yes. Puck confirmed that he saw the thief heading towards this alleyway, but… this is the last place we've seen them go."

"Then, I believe I know who the thief might actually be." Spoke the man, sincere again. "But I only know her appearance, not her identity."

"He hasn't lied so far." Spoke Puck confidently as he nodded at his daughter who looked at him for confirmation. "And he doesn't seem to have any malicious intent or such… Plus, I think he's a good person overall!"

"..."

Emilia, who was still unskilled with human emotions didn't catch it, but Puck did. Apparently, the human didn't think himself to be a 'good' person. Was this self-hatred related to whatever happened to him that lost everything he loved?

"I see… can you perhaps tell me her description?"

"Judging by her size, I would say that the child was around fourteen or something like that. She has blonde hair, with a bit of orange…"

As he gave Emilia a good description, Puck simply stood back and kept on observing the human.

Somehow… This human intrigued him. There was just something about him that attracted Puck, and based on his emotions, Puck was sure that he would make a good friend for Emilia, although it was up to Emilia to take the chance of friendship. But what was it that intrigued him? What was it?!

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…

Oh… maybe it was because of that… the strange pink thing that said something cute, but not as cute as himself. Somehow, Emilia didn't hear it, but Puck was sure that he heard and saw the pink thing. Wherever it was, it was hiding behind the human and was doing a good job of hiding since Puck couldn't sense it anywhere. Yes… along with his intriguing character, pitiful history and body conditions, the strange pink creature that Puck nearly encountered simply made this human more interesting!

"Well then… Thank you for helping me. That insignia is a very important item for me so… thank you!"

"A-ah, no problem." The human replied, quite startled by the sudden radiance that was emitted by his daughter's gratitude. Hahh… truly, his daughter was an amazing being.

"Well then, let's leave this alleyway. It's dangerous to be in places like these."

Then, with those words, she tugged on the human's arm, attempting to lead him out of the alleyway, only to be stop when she noticed the man hadn't stood up as she had dragged the poor man across the rough floor.

"H-huh? Aren't you going to stand?"

Puck, face-pawed himself as he forgot to tell her daughter the significant aspect of the human's physical body. Oh, stupid Puck… now he just made things more awkward, haven't he?

"Oh… sorry, it seemed to have slipped out of my mind…" Spoke the man, obviously displeased by the fact of his crippled state. "You see ma'am… I'm a cripple."

Yup… Judging by his daughter's expression, he made things way more awkward than before…

(Johnny Joestar POV)

It hurt to be reminded that he was a cripple once again, but this kind lady with strange ears apparently sacrificed her precious time to help him once again while the thief may have gotten out of town already. Truly, she was a kind individual although she tried to hide it with half-baked excuses. Those attempts simply made her look like a cute child, which Johnny apparently found amusing and a bit funny.

When she got a firm understanding of Johnny's state of lack of cash, a place to sleep, and a method to move around, she immediately jumped to help him once again. Once again, he was greatly indebted to the silver-haired woman, and it seems like he had to pay back another debt once again. Asking the… spirit, they levitated his crippled body into the streets to find a merchant who sold wheelchairs. However, as they were passing the stables, Johnny took the chance to ask for a horse instead, explaining that his main job is a jockey.

It hurt Johnny's own conscience to ask for something that much, but it would be so much easier to ride a horse than to drag himself along in a wheelchair.

Surprisingly, she accepted his wishes and had the spirit drag his body towards the stables.

Now, the problem starts here. The majority of living creatures in the stables that were for sale were overgrown lizards that Johnny had never ridden before. Apparently, these creatures were better than horses in every aspect, from their muscle power, to their speed, to their persistence, and pretty much anything that one should expect from a horse. However, Johnny wasn't confident that he would be able to ride a… well, a dinosaur looking creature without triggering his PTSD.

Just by looking at these… Earth Dragons gave him flashbacks to the Steel Ball Run and Dio, and such memories of that particular jockey weren't that pleasant to think about. Truly… these dinosaurs looked so much like Dio's 『Scary Monsters』 that it was borderline disturbing… At any moment, Johnny was prepared for the blond jockey to pop up from the haystack and attack him viciously with his superior dino-reflexes and shit, but thankfully, such calamity never happened.

So, he bought a horse and he was thankful that he chose this one. Unlike Slow Dancer, whose fur had the color of ivory, this horse was pure black. But just like Slow Dancer, this horse had experience. It had instincts unlike other horses and it knew how to control its stamina. But, she was just as stubborn as Slow Dancer as the stablemaster commented that she was untameable. She had dragged Johnny's crippled form across the ground earning him scratch marks, she had trampled him giving him bruises, and she even slammed him into the fence causing him to spill blood. However… Johnny was more stubborn than anything in the world. If he set his mind to it, it was going to be done unless he died in the process.

With his head bleeding once again along with several other places, Johnny finally earned the horse's approval and an earful of nagging from the silver-haired girl who lectured him about his recklessness, while the cat-spirit thingy seemed to approve of him. He didn't mind her lecturing as she had done it out of the goodness of her heart and care for his well being. In fact, he was grateful to meet such an individual in this bizarre world. Without her… well, he would still be crawling on the ground, until the next group of thugs targeted him. Then, he would've likely have slept on the ground until the officials of this town find and arrest him for loitering.

"Seriously…! You had a piece of wood stuck in your legs before I treated it! Even the stablemaster never saw anybody so reckless before! Why would you choose such an aggressive horse?!"

"This is the correct horse to choose…" Gasped Johnny as his feeble form was dragged by the horse, who leaned down to lick his face. "This horse is a substitute for my legs… and I would have an old experienced horse who knows when to stop rather than young ones who easily get agitated and recklessly charge."

"Great choice!" Clapped Puck. "Well, let me hoist you up."

"No… I've got this. Please let me do this…" Whispered Johnny as he raised his hand, signaling the horse to lick him once again. How long has it been since he got upon a horse like this?

"Spin."

The world spun before Johnny's eyes, and before he knew it, he had sat right on the horse's back with a satisfying plop. Oh what a feeling! What a joyful feeling to finally be back on a horse! It's tense muscles pulsating, it's heavy breath, the hooves kicking the ground… Johnny Joestar was back in his element, and within his element he became something… beyond human.

Suddenly, all the remaining horses began to bow their heads.

"H-huh? What's happening? Do-do all horses act like this?"

"No… this has never happened before… are they… are they all bowing to him?" Gasped the stablemaster as he stared wide-eyed at the cripple who he laughed at when he chose to ride the black horse.

But… this wasn't the poor cripple that anybody would take pity on. He was no longer just a cripple, or just a normal human! On top of that horse, he had become something else entirely! Something… so beautiful, like a sculpture straight out of a famous artist or something!

"... take her." Whispered the stablemaster. "I-I have no idea what is happening and who you people are… but… if there is one thing that's certain, it's that that cripple over there is a true Rider. He was born and forged for riding horses, and never in my life have I seen such a perfect match between a horse and a human!"

Then, he walked over to the gate of the fence and opened it.

"Take the horse for free. I don't care for it or the equipment along with it… It's just… it's been a while since I've seen such a rider, especially those who ride a horse. Take that horse with you and roam the world, young man. I bid you good luck."

With understandment between the two, Johnny simply gave a nod and urged his new companion to trot out into the streets with the silver-haired girl following behind, still in amazement of the events that happened before her.

Suddenly, she blinked, realizing that she had strayed off her main goal. Clearing her throat to get Johnny's attention, she began to speak.

"W-well, since you've got your horse and all, I'll be on my way then! And like I said before, don't wander off into dangerous areas again, sir!"

"That might be, but please, let me help." Spoke Johnny. "Once again, I'm indebted to your kindness."

"Don't mistake my actions for kindness." Retorted the girl as she put her hands on her hips. "You gave me vital information, so I'm already thanked."

"Then allow me to help you this time, just like you helped me." Spoke Johnny. Although he didn't fully understand why this strange girl acted this way, he knew for certain that this girl was kind and even with her strange attitude she turned out to be quite likeable.

"What?" Exclaimed the girl perplexed by Johnny's actions. "Listen, I helped you to help myself. It's just as simple as that. Besides, you won't be rewarded even if you help me."

"Then consider that I'm helping you to help myself." Spoke Johnny, sitting straight. "My reason would be quite obvious. If I don't help you right now, it would definitely leave a bad taste in my mouth, you know? And with a bad taste lingering, it's going to nag me all night long, and I don't want that. Well, does that sound selfish enough?"

The girl was hesitating, but suddenly, the cat jumped up to the girl's shoulder.

"I think you should take his offer. Like I said, no hostile feelings whatsoever. Besides, he and his horse can become a good meat shield when we need one!"

"Or, I can have Black Parade carry you so we can evade danger." Spoke Johnny, giving a different method that suited him better.

"Black Parade?" Parroted the girl, tilting her head before she understood who Johnny was talking about. "Oh, the horse?"

"Yes… like any other good horse, she needs a name don't you think?" Spoke Johnny as he softly patted the horse's mane earning a snort from her.

"Speaking of names, we don't even know each other's names." Spoke the silver-haired girl as she eyed Johnny. "Do you mind if we share them?"

"I suppose there is no harm in telling you my name." Spoke Johnny as he smiled slightly. "My real name is Jonathan Joestar, but I prefer by going with the name 'Johnny'. I'm 29 years old, and I'm a professional Jockey."

"Jockey? Huh, all of Lugnica's Jockeys ride on Ground Dragons. Haven't seen or heard of a jockey who rides a horse." Mused Puck as he turned around in a circle in the air.

"Well, I'm from a very different place I suppose." Spoke Johnny as he looked sadly down at the floor, with a small sad smile on his face.

Sensing that talking more about it would be invading Johnny's privacy, the two took note not to mention it unless it was needed.

"Well then, like I have introduced myself earlier, I'm the great spirit, Puck!" Spoke the cat, cutely as he bounced up into the air and landed on Johnny's arm. Then, he began to rub his head into his hand.

"Huh… those are extremely good muscles you have there!" Commented Puck, touching his arms. "Hmm… you'll be a great meat shield indeed!"

Johnny could only sweatdrop at that comment as he snorted.

"Well then, what's your name?" Asked Johnny as he waited for an answer.

"... Emilia." Spoke the silver-haired girl. "My name is Emilia."

With that, they continued to walk and trot the streets of this strange world, until…

"Wait a minute… isn't this the alleyway where we found you?" Asked Emilia bewildered.

"Yes… although it hasn't been an hour since we've left this place, hopefully there will still be some evidence of a trail left by the little thief."

Maneuvering Black Parade, Johnny easily made through the alley and started to look more closely at the ground and the places where he saw the little girl run off to.

…

…

…

"There." Spoke Johnny, pointing to a bit of dirt on the ground. "I found our trail."

"Huh?" Spoke Emilia squinting her eyes. "How… how is that the thief's trail?"

"I know it because I saw the soles of her shoes when she rushed past me while I was still bleeding on the ground. And that shape right there fits the soles of her shoe perfectly" Answered Johnny as he urged Black Parade to move a bit forward. Then… he pulled out a green, round, steel ball from his pocket. It once belonged to a man who was supposed to inherit the position of a royal executor in Italy, but now it was in Johnny's possession. Johnny kept it as a token to remember his dearest friend, and to use it as a weapon just in case there were enemies and calamities before him. Throughout the years, his ability in the Spin had improved steadily. Alas, he was nowhere on the level of Gyro Zeppeli, but even so… he was pretty close.

Resting the steel ball onto the horse's backside, Johnny used the horse's muscles to jump. And they did jump right onto the windowsill on the right side, then another kick! Now they were two stories up. And one more kick! Now… Johnny and Black Parade were on the roof of one of the houses in the alleyways.

In here, Johnny spotted another trail left by the thief.

"Come on!" Yelled Johnny as he called out to Emilia who was spellbound by the sudden display of Johnny's skills. "Let's go find that thief of yours!"

In the end, Johnny had to let Emilia sit on the back of his saddle as he urged Black Parade to gallop upon rooftops and skid down some, knocking off a few dozen tiles in the process. After what had happened to Gyro and Lucy, Johnny was pretty skeptical about having a woman sitting in his saddle… but he wasn't Gyro. He was Johnny Joestar and he believed in what Johnny Joestar believed in, not what Gyro had believed in.

"Sl-slow down! We might topple over the roof at this rate!" Squealed Emilia as she clutched hard onto Johnny's torso, causing him to lose his oxygen in his lungs.

"Whoo-hoo~!" Yelled Puck as he sat in front of Johnny, his small form allowing him to. "Go, go, Johnny! Faster, faster, faster!"

And Johnny obliged with a grin on his face. Who knew teasing a little girl like this would be so much fun? Although he felt bad for bullying…

"W-wait… slow down! There's a huge gap between us! Johnny! Johnny! Johnny! Black Parade can't jump that far!" Wailed Emilia. She was correct indeed. There was a huge gap between as the block ended, and even if Black Parade jumped high and long, she would only reach two thirds of it before plummeting down to the ground and injuring herself.

Johnny simply replied by bringing out his steel ball and started to spin in.

"Hoh, it's that green ball again!" Exclaimed Puck. "You somehow used that to have the horse jump! But even with that I don't think we could make it!"

"I'm not planning on that." Spoke Johnny as he threw the ball towards a tree that was conveniently sticking out in the middle of the gap. As the steel ball hit the trunk of the tree, the tree twisted and bent into a spiral and Johnny immediately maneuvered Black Parade to jump onto the tree. Then, as the steel ball flew back into his hand, the tree snapped back into its original position and that momentum gave Black Parade the extra push to get across the gap.

"Kyaa!" Yelled Emilia clutching even tighter. "Wh-what was that?! The tree… the tree bent and sprung back up!"

"I've never seen such strange magic before!" Yelped Puck as his eyes shined with wonder and joy as he looked up at Johnny. "What in the world is your element?!"

Tugging on the lead of the halter, Johnny stopped Black Parade to survey the area.

"Magic? That wasn't magic." Spoke Johnny. Due to the things he had seen such as being healed by mysterious light that glowed from Emilia's hands and a cat levitating him in the air, and the things he had heard from the people around him, Johnny had a sense that this world had bizarre powers that went beyond human other than Stands. Apparently, the people of Lugnica called this power magic. Although he didn't fully know what magic was capable of, he knew that using magic only applied to a minority considering what the stout thug said before he ran away with his friends.

Even so, with all the trouble that came to him in the past, Johnny wasn't going to let his guard down.

"Huh…? Th-that wasn't magic?" Stuttered Emilia as she stared at the steel ball, which was still spinning. "B-but… how do you spin that ball without magic?"

"... I learned it from a place that's not here or from where I was from." Replied Johnny, answering the curious girl and the spirit. "It's a technique that still remains a mystery to humans. I learned it from my best friend."

"A technique? Does that mean… I can learn—"

"We're here." Answered Johnny, interrupting Emilia's question as Black Parade skipped off the roof. This… was the slums, a very different place from where Johnny had been. Already he could smell the stench of the place, but compared to what he had seen further beyond from the rooftops, this was the least bad place of the slums. Although he spotted a few people staring at him and Emilia with a predatory look, it didn't seem that they would hastily approach them.

Then, he spotted the last footprint of the girl in front of the door. A door to a quite large house.

"The thief went in there…" Spoke Johnny slowly as Black Parade trotted over to the porch. Huh… this house in the slums had the decency to have a porch.

…

…

…

"Emilia… get back." Spoke Johnny as he pulled out his steel ball once again.

"Huh…? Johnny, is there something wrong?"

"Beyond this door, there is calamity… I don't hear or smell anything at the moment, but I sense great calamity beyond this door. I usually don't have such good instincts, but Black Parade is already agitated the moment I get closer to that door."

Emilia gulped as Puck glanced at the horse then at the door.

"The next step is up to you Emilia." Spoke Johnny. "I've brought you this far and I'm willing to go on further until you get your insignia, but my main objective is to help you. If you wish to retreat and forget about what was stolen from you, I'll comply with your wishes. But… if you wish to meet the thief and take back your insignia, you'll have to brace yourself for the calamity."

"I… I can't back out now…" Whispered Emilia, realizing how sincere Johnny was when he described the danger. "That insignia… it… it may as well be the most important thing to me at this point."

"... yare yare daze…" Murmured Johnny, his favorite Japanese catchphrase emitting out of his mouth as he stretched his arms, clutching the steel ball that began to spin. Then, within his black pupils, dark flames of determination began to muster once again.

"ORA!" With a cry from the American Jockey, the spinning steel ball was thrown hard onto the door.

Chapter Text

As the steel ball made contact with the wooden door, the inflexible wood couldn't hold long as it completely broke into splinters of wood. But it wasn't just the door that was completely shattered. The force of the spin also took chunks out of the edges of the door too, until there was a big hole in the front of the house. Big enough for Black Parade to trot inside.

"..." Silently watching what was happening, Johnny's blazing eyes set on a beautiful woman in black. A beautiful, dangerous woman who was holding a very sharp and strange shortsword that was dripping copious amounts of blood.

'A kukri…' Thought Johnny as his mind flashed back to the Steel Ball Run where many cowboys wielded that blade during their travels.

Meanwhile, behind the woman was a large man with dark skin and he was bleeding pretty heavily. Next to the man was the little girl he had seen, and judging the way they were standing it didn't take long for Johnny to realize that this woman was about to kill a child.

Whatever this woman was, she was the calamity that Black Parade had sensed. She was dangerous.

In an enclosed space like this… fighting on Black Parade would be more disadvantageous, but so was crawling on the floor. Biting his lip, he opened his palm as the steel ball jumped back into his hand. Then… by pressing it against Black Parade, he dismounted from it and shooed the horse out of the house and away from danger.

The tense silence was broken by Johnny.

"Leave." He spoke, his voice leaving no room for arguments. "Leave the child, leave the man, and leave the insignia behind you."

"The insignia…" Trailed the woman in a sultry tone as her drowsy eyes flickered to Emilia and widened slightly when they rested on Puck. Then, her attention was back to Johnny who was holding the rotating steel ball. Then, she laughed hard.

"I'll admit that you have scary eyes, but a cripple? Really?" She taunted as she placed her fingers on her lips as her laughter turned into composed giggles.

"... You have four seconds left to make your decision." Spoke Johnny calmly.

The answer was given in less than a second as the woman's kukri nearly decapitated him. Instead, he flung his body downwards as his right arm threw the green steel ball up at the woman.

The woman dodged it easily as the steel ball struck the ceiling, causing pieces of wood to fall.

"Nice moves you got there, cripple." She spoke, licking her lips. "Unfortunately, you're too below me for me to slice open your bowels with—"

The bitch didn't get to finish her sentence as a hail of ice rained down on her. Unfortunately, none of it hit its target as the woman turned out to be slippery as an eel, as she calmly dodged every projectile.

"You're a great spirit!" Yelled Johnny as he fired two nail bullets at the woman who simply deflected it using her blade. "Can't you just… you know, vaporize this woman or something?!"

"I can't…" Spoke Puck, frustration clear behind his calm mask. "I can't stay in this form for too long… in fact… sorry Johnny, I'm leaving it up to you…"

"Eh?" Spoke Johnny as he managed to see the cat fading into specks of dust.

"Eh?" He parroted his word once again by the sheer absurdity of the situation. He charged straight in, since he had backup from the self proclaimed great spirit. Besides, he already had a taste of the spirit's aura and because of that he was confident that they could overcome the calamity! But… but… the cat just bailed out! The fuck?!

"What…? Oh come on!" Screamed Johnny as the woman slowly turned her attention to him again as her smile grew wider. "Puck! You fucker! You should've told me earlier!"

"Hoh, were you so confident because you only relied on that spirit? Truly, your despairing face is quite… wait…"

The woman frowned as she caught Johnny laughing.

"Have you finally gone senile or do you find this situation of yours to be funny? Well… in my perspective it is quite humorous, but in yours—"

"Oh no… that's not why I'm laughing." Assured Johnny as he leaned backwards, confident in his victory. "I'll admit that Puck's sudden disappearance was unexpected and caught me off guard. But I'm just laughing at my successful initial attack."

"Initial…?" Asked the woman as she tilted her head. To her, she didn't sense anything coming towards her at the moment. If this man was talking about the strange green steel ball, she didn't feel it coming to her at all. In fact, she could still hear it spinning on the ceiling, unable to come down just yet for whatever bizarre reason.

"What a silly bluff." She spoke annoyed to think that this male considered her to fall for such an obvious trap. "Trying to get my attention to the ceiling so you can shoot me with those fingernails?"

Suddenly, something strong impacted the woman's throat, sending her faltering as she froze on the spot. She couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. All she could do was feel the pain coming from her throat…! And when she reached for it, she happened to find a rather large hole in the middle of her neck.

"『Tusk ACT II』" Spoke Johnny as he raised his fingers.

To explain what had happened, Johnny had already shot a nail bullet into the steel ball using 『Tusk ACT II』. So when the ball made impact with the ceiling, the hole that was still rotating on the surface of the ball moved up to the ceiling. And when the debris fell from above, the hole moved up to a wooden piece and that wooden piece happened to fall on the woman's back, causing the nail bullet to directly transfer into the woman's backside. Since she didn't think the wooden piece would possibly carry something that could harm her, she simply let the debris fall on her as she evaded Johnny and Puck's attacks. Then, it was only a matter of time before the nail bullet reached the woman's vitals.

Then… just to be sure, Johnny fired five nail bullets into the woman's face and breasts as all of them made contact, sending the woman flying away and crashing into a pile of boxes. The floor was now messy with splattered blood.

"Two nail bullets left… and another few are about to grow within a few seconds…" Murmured Johnny as he looked at his fingernails. Behind him, he heard Emilia shuffling her feet, making her way towards him as the steel ball came back to his hands..

"J-Johnny? Are you alright?" Whispered Emilia. "I-is she…?"

"Hey… Emilia…" Spoke Johnny, his face covered in sweat as he stared at the bloody mess. "Where I came from… the laws of a duel or an act of self defense were mostly pardoned even if a person turns out to be dead. But…"

Johnny lurched over as he began to clutch his face in pure desperation.

"Fuck! I don't know the rules and laws of this place yet! And I had to go and kill somebody! Fuck! Emilia, please don't tell me they hang those who commit murder… please tell me I'm not going to jail for what I've done!"

"Hey!" Came the voice of the thief with a warbling voice, which made Johnny and Emilia turn their heads to stare at the girl who was kneeling in front of the large man. "P-please help him! I'll give you back the insignia and go to jail and spill my guts and everything! Just… just help him!"

Emilia and Johnny glanced at each other, hesitating as they tried to read each other's mind. Then, after an understanding between them Emilia moved to heal the large man. Although Emilia acted upon her kindness to help those in need, Johnny agreed to help based on the sincerity of the thief. She was willing to hand over what she had stolen for the man's life. After all, it seems that the woman herself was after the insignia too.

…

…

…

Speaking of the woman…

…

…

…

Johnny's eyes widened in surprise as he noticed the disappearance of the woman's body. It was simply not there anymore.

'What?' Thought Johnny frantically as a bead of cold sweat trickled down his brow. 'She's dead… she's dead for sure. I shot my nail bullets through her face and they penetrated through her face and out of her skull… I know the force of my nail bullets and from the distance I shot them, they should've penetrated her skull! Does this mean that there is an accomplice of that woman…? No… that wouldn't make sense! The accomplice would kill us, then retrieve the body. Why retrieve the body…?!'

Then, within a fraction of a second he saw the supposingly dead woman standing behind the thief, her kukri raised high with her face completely drenched in her sanguine blood.

Too far to help, Johnny immediately threw the steel ball at the girl. The girl, so focused on the injured man, didn't see the knife or the ball coming at her. Fortunately, Johnny's steel ball was faster as it struck the thief, knocking her sideways, narrowingly missing the blade that was about to penetrate her spine.

"Oi!" Yelled Johnny as he pointed his two remaining bullets at the woman. "Your business is with me you fucking bitch!"

He fired all of his nail bullets and the woman single handedly deflected all of them. Then, raising her arm high, she swept her blade right at Emilia.

"No!" Yelled Johnny, but he soon found out that he didn't need to worry that much.

A semi-transparent barrier suddenly appeared as the blade crashed and bounced off of it. Then, several shards of ice started to form around the silver-haired girl and began to blast towards the woman who dodged them with ease.

But even with this ability called magic, Johnny knew that they weren't going to win. Even with resolve and hunger, he knew that it would take a miracle to defeat this woman and he doubted that 『Tusk ACT IV』 would even hit the woman considering her speed and reflexes. And how did she survive the barrage of nail bullets?!

"Oi, oi, oi… Emilia, how is she still alive?" Asked Johnny once the battle came to a slight pause. "I thought I pierced her head with my projectiles… Do people in this kingdom have thicker skulls or is it magic crap?"

"I-I think I know why…" Spoke the thief, who recovered from Johnny's steel ball as she shakingly positioned herself behind Emilia and near the unconscious man. "I've only heard of her… I think… I think that's Elsa Granhiert… the Bowel Hunter…! Rumors say that she's a vampire!"

"I guess that directly translates to 'we're fucked'." Groaned Johnny as he kept his eyes on the woman. It was a good thing he left black parade outside. With his body and her speed, there was no way he could protect his new companion. And a vampire? Weren't sunlight fatal to those creatures? Then how is she standing there in the first place?

"Oh… I wouldn't use such crude language, but yes, your first assessment is correct." Suddenly, the sultry tone disappeared as a hideous(yet still beautiful) snarl made way to her face as she glared at Johnny who simply gulped at the sheer aura that was being emitted by the vampire. "Especially you, cripple. You're most certainly going to be fucked."

"I have a wife." Deadpanned Johnny as sweat dribbled down his brow. Unfortunately, his attempt at making a joke to somewhat defuse the tension had no effect whatsoever.

"Then I'll just have to deliver your gutless body directly to her before I harvest her bowels." Growled Elsa as she crouched down. But as she did, she didn't notice how Johnny's body stiffened as his eyes narrowed. Elsa Granhiert had royally pissed off Johnny Joestar.

…

…

…

But even with rage, Johnny knew they couldn't beat this monster called Elsa.

"... hey, kid." Spoke Johnny as he readied his fingers as six more nails grew back as he chewed on his emergency chamomile herbs. "Get out of here."

"What?! No! I'm not leaving old-man Rom—"

"I'm not telling you to just get out of here! I'm telling you to get help! There's no way we can beat this bitch on our own, so run and get some help, or we all die!"

Sobbing, the thief picked herself up and began to run out of the broken door. Thankfully, Elsa wasn't interested in one of her prey leaving. As long as it wasn't Johnny Joestar leaving her sights along with the half-elf girl, anybody was allowed to leave. She couldn't wait to hear him choking on his own blood as she strangles him with his own intestines… then, as she promised, she would hunt this man's wife and proceed to do the same thing to her as well… How dare he… how dare he humiliate her like this? If it was a famous knight or some great being that harmed her like this, she wouldn't complain much. But to have a cripple who she had never heard of harm her like this…

…

…

…

It vexed her to no end.

Unfortunately for her, Johnny was no easy prey.

Shooting bullet after bullet, the jockey made sure Elsa kept her distance away from him. Plus, with Emilia helping, Elsa was having a hard time closing in. However, Johnny wasn't confident that this neutral battle will continue forever. Someone was going to lose focus, deplete their stamina, or do something that would bring a decisive victory to either side, and for some reason he didn't believe that they would be victorious.

Johnny or Emilia needed to take the initiative or they were going to die. Thus, Johnny picked up the steel ball in his hand again and began to scheme his next move.

Within a few minutes later, the balance cracked as Emilia's magic attacks began to deteriorate as she took in gasps of air with her face drenched in sweat. Johnny's predictions were correct. Either his chamomile herbs ran out causing his fingernails to grow slower, or Emilia's inexperienced self causing them to falter, or whichever case it was, defeat was inevitable in the long run.

But…

"Get back!" Yelled Johnny as he grabbed the back of Emilia's clothes as he flung her back as she tumbled away from the sharp steel that nearly cleaved her stomach. Then, he fired three more nail bullets at the killer, but this time, she didn't jump back like she used to.

Knowing that the magic caster was exhausted, she took this opportunity to get closer. So, she did. She dashed forward instead of backstepping, and leisurely dodged all of Johnny's nail bullets. Without the half-elf to provide defense or offense, Elsa didn't need to be cautious anymore. Thus, she blurred right in front of the cripple, whose eyes widened, not expecting the sudden burst of speed.

With a flash, Johnny felt the woman's slender fingers clenching his neck, and forcing him up in the air with his feet dragging on the ground.

"You…" Hissed the woman with a sweet sickly smile that looked so punchable. "You've done a lot to me haven't you?"

"... damn… you!" Choked Johnny as he struggled to stay awake.

"Yes… you have indeed." Purred the woman as she stabbed Johnny in the stomach.

THUNK

"... eh?" Spoke Elsa, startled by the foreign sound. She expected the cripple to scream as the noise of squelching guts and shredding muscles gave pleasure to her ears. But… she never imagined hearing a thunking noise. Did… did he have some kind of armor? No… the sensation was not of armor, but of dense muscle. More dense than that giant over there. Then the solution was obvious. Elsa simply put more force into her blade and she smiled once again as she felt the tip of her blade entering the cripple bit by bit.

"Ah… UAHHHHH! YOU… BITCH! IT HURTS!" Screamed Johnny as he felt the blade entering his abs. Even when using the steel ball to strengthen his abs to the maximum, this bitch was pushing through! Thankfully, due to Elsa's title as the Bowel Hunter and her attack patterns, Johnny knew that she was going to aim for his guts.

"Not too smug now are you, cripple?" Sneered the bitch as the tip dug deeper and deeper. "I can't wait… I can't wait to see the look of despair in your feeble eyes as you choke on your blood! Now show me your bowels and your tears, you pathetic worm!"

Suddenly, the pressure on the kukri disappeared and the blade was pushed out of Johnny's chest as it fell to the floor along a lump of flesh and a splash of blood.

"Eh?"

Shakingly, Elsa Granhiert slowly tilted her head downwards and saw what she thought was impossible.

The midsection of her right forearm was completely severed. Although her right hand was still clutching her blade, she couldn't feel anything from her fingers. Then, with a soft thump, the blade penetrated the wooden planks of the floor along with the severed appendage.

"What…?"

"Did you seriously think my fingernails were my only option for projectiles…?" Spoke Johnny as his eyes blazed with determination. "Unfortunately, I don't know the extent of your regeneration. You may regrow your arm within a second and choke me to death, but for now… I'm positive that my nail bullets will be faster than your actions."

The Bowel Hunter's eyes grew wider as her pupils turned into slits as she stared in horror at the spinning toenails, now visible due to the tip of Johnny's boots being ripped off from the sheer force of Johnny's Stand. Then, the impact came and Elsa had barely enough time to brace herself.

Once again, the vampire was lifted into the air by the sheer force of the barrage of toenails that hit her, but since she was so close to Johnny this time, the bullets hit her with more force than before and tore out some of her flesh completely. This time, Elsa couldn't hold back her scream as dozens of nail bullets ripped through her body as she screeched in pain.

"Mada mada daze!" Yelled Johnny in Japanese, another Japanese phrase he used frequently in Japan.

Then, from his back, the steel ball that had been hardening his stomach muscles spun across his body and made its way to his open palm. Now, with the green steel ball spinning, Johnny's hips rotating, and his right arm winded up, Johnny had one more clear shot at the bitch, and he didn't hesitate.

"ORA!"

The spinning ball met Elsa's stupefied face with a sickening crunch, and the vampire lady was blown away once again by the sheer force of the steel ball. With her whole body spinning twice because of the steel ball, Johnny heard her neck breaking from the spin. Perhaps she was really a vampire with stronger durability than a human. Johnny at first expected his steel ball to rip the bitch's head off, but to only see her skin expand and her bones break… She was quite a dangerous opponent he hadn't had for a long time…

"J-Johnny…?" Came the timid voice of Emilia. Then, when she saw Johnny victorious, her concerned face immediately turned to one of joy as she let out a breath she had been holding. "Y-you won! And… you're barely hurt too! I'm glad…"

"Holy! Shit!" Came the younger voice as the thief with golden hair stared at Johnny with awe. "You've actually beaten her! You've actually beaten the Bowel Hunter!"

"Indeed he has." An unfamiliar voice came. "And with a spinning green steel ball too, how queer."

With his adrenaline still pumping, Johnny raised his fingers at the newcomer. Was this one of the thief's comrades? Were they here to retrieve the bald man who was still breathing feebly on the floor? After they did, were they going to kill him and Emilia and take away the insignia to the black market? No way of knowing what the stranger's intentions were, Johnny kept his fingers up, ready to use the bald man as a hostage if needed. But his arm dropped when he noticed the man.

He… he seemed friendly. Although his face that showed great nobility and kindness may be a farce, Johnny decided to lower his guard. His instincts were telling him that this person was somebody who was going to help, instead of harm. With his presence around, Johnny felt safe. He felt comforted. He felt… he felt…

Home.

"J-Johnny!" Came the shocked voice of Emilia as she gaped at Johnny Joestar's torso. "Y-your stomach… your stomach…!"

"Eh?"

That was when he noticed the serious wound. Even with strengthening his muscles to the maximum using the spin and the perfect sphere ball, it wasn't perfect against the vampire's kukri. A waterfall of blood gushed out of his wound, staining his already dirty white clothes with red.

"Shit…" Groaned Johnny as he started to feel lightheaded. "Lost too much blood… didn't… notice…"

With those words, he promptly fell over and landed on his back, choking on air as he tried his best to breathe.

"S-string…" Choked Johnny as he mentioned to Emilia who rushed over to Johnny, tears evident in her eyes as she furiously began to wipe some away. "I-I need some string… gotta… gotta close that wound… patch it up… Gyro's… Gyro's Zombie Horse would… it would work… it would…"

"He's losing consciousness." Came the stern voice of the red-haired man as he took the other side of Johnny, inspecting the wound. However, Johnny could only make out the silhouette of him as his eyes grew heavier by the passing second. He lost too much blood. Although he couldn't 100% confirm the death of the bitch who stabbed him, he had won for sure. But in return, he was now on the brink of death.

'So… relaxing…' Thought Johnny to himself as the world grew dark around him. 'It's like floating in the pool… I had a pool once… I had a pool in my house… my first house. It was a sunny day, so I kept Danny in a cage and dipped into the cool water with Nicholas and father… father…'

The father and son had reconciled successfully and developed a strong relationship through forgiveness and time, but George Joestar's words still haunted Johnny in his nightmares.

But with this warm feeling in his chest, there was no way he was going to have nightmares. With the voices of Emilia, the thief, and the man fading out, Johnny Joestar closed his eyes and let out a breath. And if he opened them again, maybe he'll get to see his wife and child again and realize this bizarre world was nothing but a dream. Just like Alice who dreamt of drowning in her wonderland.

(3rd Person POV)

After Johnny Joestar closed his eyes, Emilia had immediately begun to panic. Without Puck's guidance, she couldn't contain her emotions of worry as anxiety spiked up from her heart. Meanwhile, Reinhard, the red-headed knight, was looking greatly concerned too. This was quite the dilemma. The young girl behind him was pleading to heal the bald dark-skinned man, but he couldn't just leave this man to die. In fact, there was the problem with the Bowel Hunter's whereabouts. Just for a few seconds, Reinhard could feel her presence, weak but still there. Now, he grimaced, knowing that the cold-blooded killer made her escape when he rushed over to help the blond man.

But before Reinhard could decide who to help, a small voice suddenly burst out from underneath the man's wounds.

"Chyumimi ~ in!"

Reinhard blinked. Emilia blinked. The thief didn't blink for she couldn't hear it.

"Chyumimi ~ in!"

"D-did you hear that…?" Stuttered Emilia as she looked around her, unable to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. "Where is that strange sound coming from?"

"Inside his wound." Answered Reinhard, his eyes narrowing a bit as his hands rested on the hilt of his sword. Unaware of this bizarre moment, Reinhard was prepared to swing his sword if needed, and he had already located another sword on the wall if this wasn't the time to use the Dragon Sword Reid. Then, the unexpected happened.

"Chyumimi ~ in! Chyumimi ~ in! Chyumimi ~ in!"

"A spirit?" Gasped Emilia as she stared at the sudden appearance of a pink… being adorned with yellow stars on its small body. Not once in hers or in Reinhard's life did they see such a strange looking… spirit?

"Is… that a spirit?" Spoke Reinhard, his grip on his hilt loosening as he stared at the pink creature with interest as it kept on making those cute sounds. "It looks strange… foreign… Is it even a spirit at all?"

"Chyumimi ~ in! Chyumimi ~ in! Chyumimi ~ in!"

"Hey! What are you looking at! Either come and save old-man Rom or— whoa… what are those pretty lights?"

Although Felt couldn't hear or see Johnny Joestar's 『Tusk』, for she had no connections with spirits whatsoever, it wasn't hard for even for to witness the sudden surge of lesser spirits suddenly gathering around Johnny Joestar.

"How did these lesser spirits…? Did this pink creature call out to them?" Spoke Emilia as her eyes widened in wonder at the lesser spirits that crowded around Johnny's wound.

"That appears so." Agreed Reinhard, finally realizing what the pink creature had done. When Reinhard had gone to exterminate beasts and dangerous predators, he had once heard the cry a wounded beast had let out. A cry for help for its herd. A cry for help as it was backed into a corner and nearly facing death itself. This pink creature, spirit or not, had done the same thing. As this strange man was slowly bleeding to death, it crawled itself out of the man's wounds and started to beg for help. That was why there was so much desperation and sadness from its voice, and that was probably why the lesser spirits complied.

When the small lights of the lesser spirits dispersed, the pink creature was nowhere to be seen, and the deep wound that once existed in Johnny's stomach had disappeared, only replaced with pinkish skin and hard muscles.

"... gotta say that was amazing… But can you guys seriously help old-man Rom now! Please! I'll go to jail and pay for my crimes! J-just help him! Please!"

Breaking the two out of their stupor, Emilia immediately went over to the large man and started to treat him. With all the lesser spirits gone, it was easier for her to utilize her mana, and thankfully, the wounds on this man weren't that deep. The most probable case was that he was knocked out by blunt trauma, but either way it wasn't life threatening if she could heal him.

But now… she turned her attention to Johnny as the young man barely stirred in his lying position.

There were so many mysteries surrounding him. His green steel balls, how it spun so fast that it made the trunk of the tree bend in such a bizarre way, how it jumped back into his hands. And his nails too! Those blue nails of his that spun faster than anything that turned into weapons that were akin to a bladed weapon as they were shot directly out of his fingers. Then, the appearance of the weird pink creature from Johnny's wound. Did he happen to carry that creature inside his body this whole entire time? Was it a spirit, or was it more like a pet?

But whatever the truth may be, the man named Johnny Joestar had saved her, helped her in so many ways that she couldn't even know how to repay him. With Black Parade, he had tracked down her insignia. Even knowing that danger was up ahead, he entered a dangerous place for her. Emilia was grateful, and resolved herself to help Johnny any way that she can.

But first… she had to deal with the insignia problem, then she could bring Johnny to Roswaal's mansion to give him proper treatment, just in case.

(Johnny Joestar POV)

Johnny Joestar felt so cold. It was freezing to the point that it felt like he was being cooked from the inside, which boiled his blood in his veins, as every part of his body screamed in agony. But that wasn't the worst feeling. The worst feeling was his position. Unable to move, unable to scream, but only able to twitch and spasm only ever so slightly as cold bewitched hands crawled all over his body.

This was a rape. There was no denying it. As each fingertips carrassed the jockey's body, Johnny urged himself to scream in denial, but alas, his body didn't move, just like his legs.

"Stop…" Rasped Johnny as he barely made a sound. "Stop… please…"

Then, those wicked hands surged through Johnny's chest, once again grabbing his heart like a hungry lioness, and started to jerk it around, literally tugging on Johnny's heartstrings. From the sudden abuse, Johnny couldn't help but shriek out in pain and fear as blood seemed to sweep out of every orifice in his body.

"Stop… it… Stop it… Stop it… Stop it. Stop it. Stop it…! STOP IT!"

With an agonizing, beastily yell, the male Jockey sat straight up in a large bedroom. Sweating furiously, he clutched where his heart was and felt the internal organ thumping hard against his chest. Then, his hands wandered south to his wound that he sustained yesterday. Surprisingly, there wasn't even a scratch. Did someone happen to have Hot Pant's 『Cream Starter』 or had some similar ability? Well… this world had magic after all. Maybe that was why he couldn't find a scar in his abdomen.

It was then, Johnny Joestar began to analyze his surroundings. Strange crystals that seemed to work like lightbulbs hung around the place, providing enough light. Meanwhile, he was sitting up in a grand bed, large enough to fit five more people. Not even Johnny Joestar, a rather well accomplished genius jockey, ever slept in between such a luxurious bed with such a soft mattress and expensive looking sheets.

Then he noticed his attire. Instead of his white outfit, he was wearing a grey robe, like a hospital attire he had once worn for weeks when he got shot at the movie theater.

"Shit… those shitty memories…" Growled Johnny as he clenched his fists to get rid of the day he fell from his grace. "So it wasn't a dream, eh? It wasn't a dream… haha… it wasn't… it wasn't a dream…"

It took a few minutes for Johnny to gather his thoughts and calm down. Out from the window in what seemed like the guest room, the curtains fluttered, allowing a fresh gust of wind and sunshine to come into the room. Thankfully, these aspects of nature aided Johnny to calm his mind as his breathing began to become more collected. Wiping away the tears that covered his face, Johnny let his tired body fall onto the bed, allowing the warm, comfy bed to swallow him up.

This place seemed to be the residence of Emilia, the girl he had helped yesterday. With a kind heart like hers, it was most certain that she carried his frail body to this place and helped him recover from such a wound. Although he had no idea how many days had passed since his encounter with Elsa Granhiert, he wasn't in a hurry to find out. Sighing to himself, he decided to take this luxurious time to rest a bit more. Turning up in a world he had never heard of after his presumed death and departure from everything he had cared and loved left him physically and mentally fatigued. He deemed that sleep and rest was important for somebody like him. Thus, he closed his eyes and relaxed on the soft fluffy pillows.

…

…

…

"Oh… oh shit… oh no… Oh shit!" Yelped Johnny as he shot up from his bed again as his body sent him jolts of tingling sensations. With PTSD kicked in again, Johnny frantically moved his body around. In the process, he slipped and fell head first to the well polished wooden floor, causing him to bleed from his head, but that wasn't important to Johnny right now. Right now, his dignity as a human being was under extreme danger, and he had no intentions of letting what had happened to him happen again. That… humiliating incident that would haunt him forever. A traumatizing experience that rivaled when he heard those heart-aching words from his father.

Crawling towards the door, with his face extremely pale, Johnny managed to force the door open using the spin with the tips of fingers as the handle swung the door open. Now, faced with what seemed like an endless corridor Johnny gasped as his eyes widened in horror.

'Should… should I call for help…?' Thought Johnny, frantically to himself as he looked around him. 'No… I'll call only when I need them… I can't allow my pride to drop lower than it already is!'

His eyes burning black with determination, he crawled to the first door beside the guest room and opened it.

What appeared in front of the male jockey was a library. So grand and spectacular, Johnny had momentarily forgotten his state of crisis as he stared at the room with his jaw hanging out. How could such a room exist…? When thinking of the guest room, there was no way this room could possibly fit… Was this a Stand… or magic…? It should be magic, for neither Emilia nor Puck knew about Stands.

Suddenly, the signal of calamity shot throughout Johnny as he clenched his teeth, as his eyes shot wide open.

"A person crawling on the floor, with his state nearly being disrobed, and bleeding from his head. You are a devious burglar or a massive pervert, I suppose?"

A small child that looked like she had just graduated from preschool happened to be sitting on a wooden step stool. Judging by her clothes, Johnny could easily guess that this was a noblewoman or at the very least, a daughter of a very rich person. And… what strange butterfly-like pupils she had. Johnny never had seen such strange pupils in his life, but somehow, it matched her looks.

But this wasn't the time to observe. It was the time to act to avoid the incoming disaster.

"Child…" Choked Johnny as he ignored the dribbling blood from his head or how nearly he was disrobed from crawling. "P-please… can you tell me… where the bathroom is?"

Yes. Johnny Joestar was on the verge of shitting his pants, and for somebody who already did that in his past life, he did not want to go through the same experience again. It was downright humiliating, disgusting, mind-breaking, and traumatizing. And there was no need to mention the absolute destruction of his reputation and human dignity.

However, this young maiden was far from being cooperative as she wrinkled her nose in disgust as she eyed Johnny as if he were a cockroach.

"P-please…" He squeaked submissively as he was on the verge of committing his disaster. "C-child, can you please tell me where the bathroom is? Please?! I'm begging you!"

"Hmph. Raising your voice is a form of begging, I suppose? Very well. Betty will tell you where the bathroom is. I can't stand you making a disgusting mess in this mansion, I suppose."

Johnny bit his lower lip hard, as the words from the girl named 'Betty' successfully destroyed a portion of his pride.

'Please… little girl… d-don't stare at me with that demeaning look…'

Swallowing his tears of shame once again, Johnny looked up, only to realize that this young girl had grown very close to him.

"But before I do, Betty needs to check if you are dangerous, I suppose. Don't you dare move, in fact."

Suddenly, Johnny felt danger. Immense danger coming from the small girl as he felt all the temperature being stolen away by this child. His years of experience against enemies were now screaming at him to take action, yet his fatherly instincts were equally screaming at him to never hold his lethal weapons at a child who was just a bit taller than him in his crouching position. Then, his mind clicked as he raised his fingers directly at the curly haired girl's face. The girl simply gave Johnny an amused look as she stopped approaching him.

"Y-you're a spirit…" Gasped Johnny as his arm shook as he recoiled from the murderous aura being emitted by the small girl. "You're a spirit. Just like… Puck."

"Ho, so you're not just any dumb human, I suppose." Spoke the girl with a cynical smile. "Now put your arm down before Betty blows you up, in fact." With those words, she was already within Johnny's personal space, and her fingertips had already touched his chest.

Within one microsecond, Johnny found himself screaming as his body was being literally torn apart. Blood spurted out from his wounds, and he could already feel several internal organs being bruised or bursted from the sudden attack by the little girl.

Without having the luxury to summon his thoughts to his mind, Johnny's mind lost consciousness again as he lost his control over his bowels.

Poor Beatrice. She would forever carry the image of Johnny being physically torn apart while shitting in her bedroom. Although she wanted to blame the blond cripple, a part that resided deep in her told her that she brought that agonizing experience upon herself.

(Beatrice POV)

After Beatrice quickly alerted Roswaal about what had happened in the Forbidden library, Lugnica's strongest wizard, along with Ram and Rem, rushed over to the 2nd floor where the human was on the verge of dying.

Fortunately for Emilia, Puck was currently accompanying her in the gardens, oblivious to the fact that Johnny had shat in his pants. Heavens knows what would've happened if she managed to catch him in such a state… her respect and admiration for Johnny Joestar would've plunged down like a loose anchor in the pacific ocean.

Thankfully, the two skillful maids had taken care of the poop and the blood from Beatrice's room, and had taken the guest to the guest room once again with Roswaal accompanying them. Beatrice tried to follow them to heal him, but for some reason Roswaal asked her to stay behind, telling her that he would take care of the man himself with a strange cynical smile that Beatrice greatly disliked.

But… if it meant staying away from the bleeding man who had pooped in his robes, Beatrice was going to take that chance right away.

With the guest left in the hands of Roswaal, Ram, and Rem, Beatrice kept her stoic face as she sat far away from where she had attempted to take the blond man's mana, fearing the smell lingered in the carpet. That was until Emilia and Puck came dashing into her room without knocking. Emilia had a panic stricken face while Puck held an unreadable expression on his cute furry little face.

If this was any other day, Beatrice would've launched herself at Bubby and cuddled with his soft her while squealing all the way. Alas, Beatrice could tell that this was no time nor place to act like that. Not when she was sensing hostility from the great spirit himself. It was the obvious conclusion to her actions, she supposed. Although she had no intentions of harming Emilia's helper, her actions had led the half-elf to be in distress, and having Emilia in distress consequently made Puck a bit mad.

Beatrice gulped.

'B-Betty hopes Bubby doesn't hate Betty or would leave Betty for harming the human…' Thought Beatrice as she internally shuddered from the memories of her four centuries of isolation. Puck's arrival had been her salvation, and even thinking of the possibility of Puck leaving her again brought despair in the spirit's heart as it ached.

"Beatrice." Spoke Puck, his voice telling Beatrice that he was serious. "Tell us what happened."

"... Betty can explain, I suppose…" Spoke Beatrice as she bit her lower lip. "When that human woke up, he immediately came into Betty's room, in fact. Then, as by procedure, Betty used mana drain on the human, in fact."

"I understand your need to do that, Beatrice." Said Emilia with a trembling tone. "But… although mana drain may make humans pass out, it doesn't rip them apart to shreds! Beatrice! What exactly happened?!"

"... his soul… I suppose…" Whispered Beatrice, her mind falling into a trance as she remembered what exactly happened. Before the human fell facedown with blood spurting all over him, Beatrice caught the sights of a small pink creature that was crawling feebly on the ground. Suddenly curious of this new being, Beatrice had tried to get a better look at it until she pulled back as she realized what the creature was. Although she was having second guesses, she decided to tell the two what she thought of.

"The human had somehow merged his soul with his mana, in fact." Spoke Beatrice, telling Puck and Emilia what she had concluded.

Obviously the two didn't take Beatrice's word easily.

"Wh-what? How is that even…?"

"Beatrice, are you sure?"

"Betty is sure!" Shouted Beatrice, surprising herself and the others at lashing out so suddenly. Then, turning meek, Beatrice bit her lower lip again. "B-Betty is sorry, I suppose… But to continue… the result of the merging between the two seemed to take hold a physical manifestation of a spirit-like being, I suppose."

"... wait… Are you talking about a bizarre pink colored spirit that has black stars covering their body?" Asked Emilia, her mind flashing back to when the small thing called for all of the lesser spirits to heal Johnny.

"Yes, the physical manifestation looked like a bizarre pink creature, I suppose. How do you know that, in fact?"

"According to Emilia, she saw that pink creature crawl out of Johnny's wounds yesterday and called in the lesser spirits to help Johnny recover… However… I don't believe the same thing happened today." Spoke Puck, crossing his arms as he floated in the air with a calculating look as he tried to think.

"Perhaps it's because… by draining the human's mana, I had unintentionally attacked his very soul, I suppose…" Spoke Beatrice in a small voice. "It seems that attacking or altering the soul in any way, affects the physical body too, I suppose… And by draining his mana, I had drained the pink creature along with it, causing the human to get hurt, I suppose…"

The trio stayed silent, as they digested the information. Never in their lives have they heard of a case of one's soul and their mana merging together to create an entire different entity. However, with Johnny's existence and Beatrice's testimony, it was clear that such a thing existed.

"Even with his bizarre abilities, I kinda like the guy." Puck spoke out, voicing his opinion as he twirled in the air as he landed on Emilia's shoulder. "At least he has no intentions of harming Emilia and to even go lengths to protect and fight against someone stronger than himself for her is an instant like for me!"

"I agree with Puck on this… I don't think Johnny is an enemy here. He might be bizarre in many ways, but none of them are in a bad way." Spoke Emilia as she stared at her toes. "Although I would be asking questions of the pink creature he has with him, and his spinning steel balls, if he doesn't wish to tell us, I'm sure he has a good reason not to."

"As long as he doesn't annoy Betty, Betty would be fine, I suppose." Huffed Beatrice as she crossed her arms. Then she pouted as Puck gave her a stern look. "F-fine! Betty will apologize when he wakes up, I suppose! B-but…"

Emilia and Puck blinked as Beatrice's cheeks became a bit rosy.

"B-before you go… can I have Bubby for today, I suppose? Please?!"

Puck only answered with a light smile as he jumped from Emilia's shoulder to Beatrice's awaiting hands, as the small spirit squealed with delight.

Just another day in Roswaal's mansion, I suppose.

(Johnny Joestar POV)

When Johnny Joestar opened his eyes, he was glad that he no longer dreamt of rape. Instead, he had a dreamless slumber that blessed him the time to rest his tortured mind.

Blinking and rubbing out the sand from his eyes, Johnny slowly stood up as he winced. Slowly flexing his muscles, he realized that what had happened with the girl that called herself 'Betty' wasn't a nightmare, but a real life experience.

…

…

…

Well… Johnny hoped what had happened with her was an accident. Before passing out, he had taken a glimpse of the little spirit's horrified face as she rushed towards him. Nobody with the intention of harming him would make such a genuine face like that. Besides, if her goal was to truly kill him, he wouldn't have woken up like this.

"It seems like our esteemed guest has woken up, sister."

"Be careful, Rem. He might smell even now."

'... wait. Smell?'

Suddenly, Johnny's eyes burst wide open as he shot straight up in the bed, but falling sideways, due to the lack of balance because of his crippled legs.

"Oh dear. Sister, I believe our guest is remembering his shameful acts."

"True, true, Rem. Perhaps this good-for-nothing pants-defecate is feeling ashamed."

"Ah, but sister, he wasn't even wearing pants at that time."

Slowly raising his gaze, Johnny finally noticed the duo who had been talking to each other, while belittling him all the way.

Judging by their outfits, Johnny could easily deduce that the two were maids. And even if he wasn't able to listen to their conversation of how one addressed the other as 'sister', their identical looks proved that the two were twins, and by their striking contrast of hair color, Johnny believed that he wouldn't have trouble distinguishing the two apart from each other.

However… that wasn't the main problem at the moment.

The main problem was the two pairs of eyes that bore into Johnny. Those eyes that viewed him as a disgusting male. Those eyes that viewed him as something that was lesser than a cockroach. Johnny had seen those eyes so many times when he became a cripple… but… to be seen with such eyes again, by beautiful young girls…

"S-stop it…" Stammered Johnny as he tried to reach the two twins, who huddled against each other, their hands clasping the others in a tight embrace. It almost seemed as if they were avoiding Johnny, not out of fear for their chastity, but avoiding like how others would avoid a pile of horse shit.

"Stop… please…!" Slowly, tears began to gather in Johnny's eyes as his arms reached for the two twins who huddled further away from his outstretched fingers.

"Stop it… Stop it…! I know you can hear me damn it! Stop staring at me with those eyes!!! UAAHHHHHH!"

Inside the Court Mage's mansion, the cries of agony of the male jockey echoed throughout the halls as the two maids whispered loudly enough for the cripple to hear all the demeaning things about him.

Truly, Johnny was in the state of 'negative'. Cripple once again, and shitting his pants once again in front of a bunch of pretty girls no less, it would take a lot of therapy and lap pillows from Puck to soothe his fractured mind.

Sobbing and screaming, Johnny Joestar's life in the mansion started.

…

…

…

What a beautiful duwang.

Chapter Text

"I-is that true…?" Spoke Johnny, his voice brittle like an autumn leaf.

"Yup, yup." Answered Puck, lightly ruffling the jockey's blond locks as he spoke in a soothing way. "Only Beatrice, Rem, Ram, and Roswaal know what had happened on that day. Emilia, and even myself have no idea what happened."

"N-no, not that part…" Murmured Johnny as he snuggled deeper in the fluffy furball.

"Ah, yes. Roswaal, the owner of this mansion and benefactor of Emilia has given a strict scolding and punishments for Rem and Ram for bullying you. They even apologized, you know?"

"Apologies mean shit if they're not sincere." Growled Johnny as he his eyes blazed before dying down as he snuggled back into Puck's lap pillow.

Puck only felt pity for the jockey right now. Although he seemed mature enough, it didn't seem like this was something he would get over with anytime soon. Whatever the two maids did to him, it seemed to destroy him as they humiliated the poor man. Did they trigger his trauma? Possibly. But whatever was the trigger for Johnny's current sorry state, the two twins were to blame. With Emilia fretting over the male jockey, Puck made it very clear that he was disappointed in Roswaal. Although the Court Mage did his job for once and lectured the maids in his room, Puck somehow found it unsettling to see Roswaal following Puck's demands with somewhat sincerity.

As for Johnny, he was in a swirl of depressing emotions. Like he had mentioned, whatever excuse Ram and Rem threw at him meant shit to him. Even when they dropped their bullying facade and now treated him with the modicum of respect, their apologies weren't sincere at all. Although he was a gullible fool that once trusted Valentine's truce, he wasn't an idiot to not notice their lack of guilt and apologetic faces.

Thus, whenever he saw either of the two, he would narrow his eyes or give them a dirty glare, but wouldn't say anything more than what had already been said. No need to scream and accuse them more of what they've done if they wouldn't even flinch to his hissy fits. It'll only diminish his salvaged pride and dignity.

Suddenly, a light fluffy paw smacked Johnny.

"Hey." Spoke Puck, glaring slightly at Johnny who looked up to the overgrown cat with bewilderment. "Don't use profanities in front of my daughter."

"Ah, right. Sorry." Spoke Johnny quickly as he shot Emilia an apologetic grin as the silver-haired girl huffed.

As Johnny's mind wandered about the topic that regarded Emilia, his memories with her resurfaced to his mind as he began to think of what kind of a person Emilia was. Although she had a strange way with words, Johnny knew kindness when he saw it. She had a bit of an altruistic side of hers, and helped others without wishing for payment for her good deeds. But… there was something that felt out of place when it came to Emilia and right now, he finally knew why he felt that odd feeling.

Emilia was like a naive child, oblivious to several common senses that any adult in her age should be aware about or capable of thinking deeply regarding some subjects. That was why he quickly apologized to Emilia for saying a bad word in front of her father figure. As a father himself he understood where Puck's warning was coming from and he too was a bit ashamed of himself for using such language.

Outside in the gardens, Puck and Johnny were both observing Emilia talking with the spirits around her. It was a fantastic sight to behold, as colorful dim lights gathered around Emilia like a flock of fluffy animals that whizzed through the air.

"So… a contract must be made between the user and the spirit in order for the user to use the spirit…? What are the usual terms when making such contracts?" Asked Johnny as he had a short lecture of spirits from the great spirit himself.

"Yup! That's correct!" Nodded Puck as Johnny sat up from Puck's lap pillow.

"So that means… you and Emilia formed some kind of contract too? And… it doesn't have to be exclusive it seems."

"Depends on the contract information." Explained Puck as he reverted back to his tiny form as he twirled in the air with style and cuteness. "Sometimes, a spirit may require the user to form a pact with them and only them. Sometimes, a person's mana can be so low that it can only support a single spirit with sufficient mana to form a formal pact. Speaking of which… what's that pink spirit that's with you?"

Johnny unintentionally tensed up. Then with the sudden adrenaline kicking in, he began to think.

0.002 Second: 'Pi-pink spirit…? He couldn't be talking about 『Tusk』, right?'

0.024 Seconds: 'Shit… he IS talking about『Tusk』...! Should I just act as if I don't know what he's talking about?'

0.178 Seconds: 'Nope, bad idea. Really bad idea. Abort, abort, abort! Puck's eyes are leaving no room for arguments… he knows… and besides he can read minds, right? Shit!'

0.350 Seconds: 'I wanna get laid with Rina…'

0.623 Seconds: 'H-he's not going to kill me or anything for having a Stand, right? Man… I can't get a read of that cat's thoughts!'

0.777 Seconds: 'I saved Emilia after all… for all I know, he owes me a big deal… I doubt he'll hurt me…'

0.927 Seconds: 'Argg… Whatever! It's not a big deal anymore! They have magic here! MAGIC! Stands wouldn't be the most bizarre and unbelievable concept in this world!'

"It's called a Stand." Spoke Johnny with a one second pause as Puck kept his neutral face. "I… don't exactly know what it is, but according to most Stand users, they say it's a representation of our own soul and our fighting spirit."

"Hoh… that's why you asked if I was a Stand when we first met!"

"Correct." Affirmed Johnny as he nodded. "And I thought Emilia was the Stand user… until well, you introduced yourself."

"But how did you get your Stand?" Spoke Puck, as he tilted his head in a cute manner. "Did you form some kind of contract, or experiment with your Gate?"

"Well… the story of how I got my Stand is pretty bizarre." Spoke Johnny as he scratched his cheek, not noticing the foreign term 'Gate' that was nonchalantly used by Puck. "To be exact and simple, I obtained my Stand through the corpse of a Sage."

"... excuse me?"

The sudden shift of tone in the cute cat sent shivers of fear down Johnny's body as he froze on spot as his pupils turned into pinpricks. D-did he step on a landmine?

"You're saying a corpse of Flugel had granted you a Stand?" Slowly, the temperature around them started to decrease as Puck began to rank Johnny as a highly dangerous individual to Emilia, which meant that he needed to be erased whether he helped Emilia or not.

"Are you confessing you have found and affronted the body of Flugel the sage?"

"... excuse me, what? Who's Flugel?"

Suddenly, the tension disappeared as Puck stared up at Johnny with wide eyes.

"Wow… you really don't know who Flugel is…" Muttered Puck as he looked at the male jockey with an amazed look. Thanks to his abilities of empathy, Puck could easily know that Johnny wasn't lying at all. "You actually don't know who I'm talking about… But… if that's the case, which Sage are we talking about?"

"... you know… Jesu—nevermind… You wouldn't probably know him. He was a widely known figure from where I came from and I doubt anybody in this region would even know him… and to be more specific, I was in the territory where the corpse was buried, which created a Devil's Palm."

"Sounds pretty ominous to me." Chirped Puck as his mood swung back to being a cute cat. "And pretty bizarre too… to imagine a corpse granting you a spirit made from your soul and mana…"

This time, it was Johnny who began to grow curious about Puck's statement.

"My mana? What are you saying…? Are you saying that you know what my Stand consists of?"

"Wait, you don't?"

"Wait, you do?"

The two fathers stared at each other, their eyes unblinking and their expressions unreadable. Then, the tense atmosphere suddenly dissolved into nothing as the two began to laugh at the absurdity of their situation.

"This sucks…" Pouted Puck as he stopped laughing. "The more questions I ask we get more questions in return!"

"Same here…" Spoke Johnny as he let out a sigh from laughing out loud. He… he needed that laugh. A laugh to exhaust his positive energy so that he could feel fresh once again. "Man… I really don't know anything about this world, do I?"

"Puck~! Johnny~!" Finished with whatever business the girl had with the spirits, Johnny saw the silver-haired girl jogging up to them, waving her hand in an enthusiastic manner. Quite the contrast from her strange, cold attitude that did little to hide her good nature she showed yesterday. "What were you laughing about?"

"Eh… nothing important." Spoke Johnny as he stood up using his arms as Puck levitated his body onto the wheelchair that the mansion's owner had brought for him.

When he first woke up, he had expected this place to be owned by Emilia or at least somebody related to her. But when the pink-haired maid told him that this mansion belonged to a magician named Roswaal L. Mathers who had a high standing in this kingdom. That meant that Emilia's only certain ally was Puck himself. Excluding the mysterious spirit who took the shape of a little girl with twirling bunches, the two maids worked for and were only loyal to themselves and to this Roswaal. But… did that mean Emilia was a simple guest in this fine establishment? It didn't seem so… she was more than just 'a guest'. Johnny was sure of that. Then… what was she exactly doing here? Perhaps she is an apprentice of this magician?

"Miss Emilia, sir Puck, esteemed guest, master Roswaal has arrived and breakfast will be served shortly."

It was that blasted pink-haired maid once again, and Johnny struggled to keep up a neutral face around her or her sister. Truth to be told, the pink one, Ram, seemed to tick off Johnny more than the blue one, Rem. Were all maids in this country as rude as her? Although she never said anything out of line or rude, her body language explained enough along with her acts of bullying Johnny when he woke up the second time in the mansion.

Subtly gritting his teeth as the pink maid took the handles of the wheelchair, Johnny allowed the maid to push him through the mansion towards the large dinner table. As they got close, Johnny noticed Beatrice who was trying her best to look natural while avoiding making any eye-contact with Johnny. She had apologized for almost killing him after the little incident of the bullying, and with Puck backing her up, Johnny was convinced that what she had done to him was a pure accident. However, it didn't mean that Johnny was letting that go anytime soon. Whether it was an accident or not, the spirit had almost killed him and Johnny had no plans on letting that slide so easily.

"Ah! Soooo this is the esteeeemed guest I have beeeen hearing a lot!"

At the sudden unfamiliar voice, Johnny looked up to see a… a jester?

"Master Roswaal."

"Master Roswaal."

Oh… so this was the famous Roswaal. Although he was expecting a somewhat elderly person, Johnny could instinctively know just how dangerous this person was. Those eyes of his… they contrasted his pleasant carefree expression as they were analyzing Johnny as he slowly began to pick up his spoon for the soup. Even worse, those eyes reminded him of Valentine. Eyes that were too good at acting that one couldn't discern truth from lies. Eyes that hold the determination to do great, terrible deeds.

He would have to keep an eye out for Roswaal.

But besides that… what a great meal it was! Thick, warm soup that could outclass any fancy restaurant, hot baked bread that went along swimmingly with the delicious soup, and fresh plants with exotic fruits… and to think this was just the appetizer! Johnny couldn't wait to see what the main dish would be! Would it be fish from the sea seasoned and grilled into perfection? Would it be homemade egg-noodle pasta with tomato sauce? Would it be cooked meat that was pink, moist, and tender in the middle? Oh, he couldn't wait!

"My compliments to the chef." Spoke Johnny after clearing his soup. Although he was singing praises internally, he kept the calm facade. However, everybody, even Emilia, could see that he was quite happy with the meal.

"Rem is grateful for the compliment." Spoke Ram as she bowed her head.

"Rem is grateful for the compliment." Spoke Rem as she bowed her head.

…

…

…

"Wait… so this meal was prepared only by Rem?" Questioned Johnny, his eyebrows raised.

"Yes, esteemed guest." Spoke Rem as her poker face very lightly cracked. "Unfortunately, sister is not good at cooking so she takes care of cleaning, laundry, and other domestic work."

Ah… good… It was nice to hear that he had less reason to like the pink-haired maid if she didn't contribute to this wonderful meal. Sure, the blue-haired maid deserved some shit from him too, but as he said before, she didn't piss him off as much as the pink one. Call him petty if you will, but in Johnny's defense Gyro was way more petty than he was. Even if Gyro happened to grow up and lose all that hot blood as a young person, Johnny doubted that the Italian would ever lose his petty attitude. But that was what made Gyro, Gyro.

"So… I guess those things aren't your forte?" Spoke Johnny, trying to keep a placid relationship between the maid.

"No, Rem excels at all of the domestic chores, including cleaning and doing laundry. Even better than Sister."

"Then what's the point of that pink-haired girl?!" Exclaimed Johnny as he face-faulted. Then, he sat up, adjusting his body a bit as he blinked in confusion. "Wait a minute… I haven't seen anybody else in this mansion. Judging by my naked eye, this place is extremely large so it must have more servants to take care of it."

"Weeeell." Drawled the owner of the large mansion as he leaned forward and winked at Johnny. "We used to have a third maid who worked, but she's oooon vacation."

"... wait a minute… You're telling me that this whole entire mansion is being maintained only by the two of them?" Exclaimed Johnny as his eyes widened. It seems that he had underestimated the two maids and if they truly were the only ones who took care of this giant place, he had to give them credit for their abilities despite his dislike for the two.

"Shouldn't you hire more servants? Those two will burn out if they're the only ones who are going to keep this place tidy, you know? Or… is it that you're unable to hire more?"

"Hoooow strange." Drawled Roswaal as he placed his chin on top of the back of his crossed fingers. "You reaaaally seem to be oblivious to the situation of Lugnica, are you?"

"Well… you can say that." Spoke Johnny, suddenly growing a bit worried by the possibility of being carted off to jail for technically being an illegal immigrant. "Can you tell me what's going on then? This kingdom seemed stable enough for me."

"Stable? Johnny!" Yelled Emilia, unwittingly raising her voice. "I found you bleeding and beaten up in an alleyway! Also, we fought off an assassin! That shows things aren't stable at all!"

"What happened to us doesn't have to do anything with the situation of this kingdom, no matter how unfair it was." Countered Johnny as he scratched his head. It did seem Emilia was a bit naive to some parts of this dark world. "It's just what society is, Emilia."

"He is right in some ways, Lady Emilia. And as for the current state of Lugnica... weeeell, I suppose telling you wouldn't be much of a problem, since it's common knowledge to most peeeeople." Butted in Roswaal as he leaned back, breaking the short silence. "The Lugnica kingdom is veeeery unstable… because currently there is no King."

"No King?" Parroted Johnny as he frowned. "So… are you implying that those who are qualified to sit on the throne are squabbling with each other to take the throne? Is there a war going on between brothers and sisters, or something similar?"

"Oh noooo. A good assumption, but unfortunately that is not the case." Chortled Roswaal. "You see, after his majesty passed away, a mysterious disease started to spread inside the castle walls, and for some reason it only affected those who shared the blood of his majesty."

"A genetic disease…" Mused Johnny. "Or… was the disease intentional?"

"... noooobody knoooows~!" Exclaimed the court mage as he threw his hands up in an exxagerated manner. "But what a scaaaary way to look at it~ Some did think of that, but nobody found any proof of the disease being intentional, so we all assumed it was just a sad happenstance. Currently, the Council of Elders are keeeeping everything in controoool. But… in any case, this kingdom still needs a King."

"But how?" Questioned Johnny, getting more and more curious about the affairs of this foreign kingdom. "According to your story, everybody with royal blood is now deceased."

"And thaaat is why the Coucil has been trying to find soooomebody who will be accepted by eeeeverybody." Drawled Roswaal. "In faaaact, there's are currently a few people who are chosen to become Royal Candidates for the Royal Selection~"

Johnny didn't even need to question what those terms were, for the words spoke for themselves. Although Johnny had knowledge of other systems, such as democracy, which was the system the United States used, he knew that enforcing a new foreign system was out of the question unless somebody was brave and stupid enough to start a coup.

…

…

…

Hold up… wait a minute.

Based on the conversation between Emilia and Roswaal, Roswaal, the head of this very mansion he owned, had addressed Emilia as 'Lady Emilia'. Although Roswaal sits and dines at the head of the table, he always seemed to treat Emilia as his superior… and judging by how Roswaal was smiling as if he was enjoying Johnny's oblivious expression…

"Wait… Emilia… are you a Royal Candidate?!" Yelled Johnny in total surprise as he turned his head towards her. In many cases, it didn't make any sense for her to be one of the important Royal Candidates that would burden the entire kingdom on their shoulders. Who would allow such an important person to roam the streets, looking for her insignia? But even so, Johnny's gut was telling him that Emilia was one of the current Royal Candidates.

"Heh… tee-hee…" Winced Emilia as she shot an apologetic grin. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you about it!"

"Oh my days…" Groaned Johnny as he buried his face in his hands. "You're a Royal Candidate! One of the few people that is qualified to be a King! A King! Just why were you out in the middle of the streets like that?! You should be careful of yourself!"

"Hey! Don't forget me!" Yelled Puck as he jumped out of Beatrice's embrace as he held his head high with his arms crossed as he gave a teasing grin at Johnny while shooting him a wink. "I was there, you know? I would've protected Lia from all dangers!"

"Said the so-called father who ditched us when we needed him the most." Shot Johnny, sending the cat-spirit to slump down his head with a black cloud over his head as he feebly floated back to Beatrice's outstretched arms with a very dark aura.

"Well… I… you see, I really needed that insignia… so…"

"... wait… you did mention that to me." Spoke Johnny, his face twisting into horror and disbelief. "Don't tell me that insignia… Don't tell me that insignia was necessary to you as a Royal Candidate!"

"... it was…" Squeaked Emilia meekly as her face was now red as a tomato as she refused to meet Johnny's eyes of pure disbelief. "I-I am one of the Royal Candidates for the 42nd in line for the throne…"

"So you were all by yourself, carrying an extremely vital item while wandering in the streets where people could easily brush past you and so conveniently steal that extremely vital item?!"

"No, no, esteemed guest. Sister was with her."

"No, no, esteemed guest. Ram was with her."

"... that's… that's even worse!" Exclaimed Johnny as he now focused his face of disbelief on Roswaal who was still smiling as if nothing was going on.

"They're your maids, aren't they? Ram is your maid, isn't she?! That means Emilia wasn't the only one at fault here! Roswaal, you nearly blew up your own benefactor's chance of achieving the throne!"

"That is truuuue~!"

"That's nothing to be proud of! Get rid of that smile off your face, damn it!"

Furiously, Johnny began to help himself with more food, as he kept his narrowed eyes at Roswaal who was simply smiling back at him. Johnny was now more sure of it as he feasted on the delicious fruits as he started to focus his attention mainly on the owner of this mansion. The more he observed, the more he began to see how Roswaal was scarily similar to Funny Valentine. Something was definitely up, and Roswaal seemed to be in the middle of it.

But… what were Roswaal's motives? Without knowing them, Johnny had no way of predicting the man's actions.

…

…

…

Sighing, Johnny gave up on thinking what Roswaal's motives could be. With so little information, there was no way he could know.

…

…

…

Wait… what's stopping him from getting to know more of this mysterious man?

"In other words…" Spoke Johnny, thinking over how he should talk this through. "You're in my debt."

These words of his sharply brought the two maids' attention upon him, as Emilia began to worry from the rising tension in the room. However… Roswaal still had that ever-so pleasant expression on his face.

"Indeeeed." Drawled Roswaal as he leaned forward, matching Johnny's gaze. "It would be more appropriate to ask me for a reward for your good deeds."

Johnny nodded, showing no ounce of shame of using this perfect opportunity.

"Weeeell, I'm unfortunately in the position where I cannot refuse you." Confessed Roswaal as he abruptly stood up and started to walk towards the large window that was located right behind him. "So… Johnny Joestar, what is it you desire?"

"... three favors." Spoke Johnny as he fished his pockets, bringing out the…

"Oh! It's the green steel ball!" Exclaimed Emilia as she stood up from her seat to take a closer look. Along with her, the two maids barely moved, but Johnny noticed their expressions of genuine curiosity of his choice of weapon.

"I need more of these steel balls." Commented Johnny as he tossed his single steel ball at Roswaal who catched it in the air with ease, as he stared straight at the green object in his hands, as if he was expecting it to spin on its own. "You're powerful, influential, and will most certainly have a lot of connections, such as a competent blacksmith. I need more of those steel balls. At least five more."

"Oh hoooo~!" Exclaimed Roswaal as he held it high in the air, as some strange lights started to dance around Johnny's steel ball. "Is this truly just made out of steel? Nothing else?"

"Just steel." Confirmed Johnny. "Well… it won't be much of a problem, would it?"

"Oooof course not! Although I would have to hoooold onto this for a few days~!" Exclaimed Roswaal as he twirled in a fashionable manner. "It is a very humble desire, mister Jooooestar."

"Hold your horses, I'm not done yet." Spoke Johnny holding out his hand. "I said 'three favors' didn't I? The second thing I'm asking for you is to teach me about Lugnica. As you have noticed, I don't really know much about what's going on in this kingdom, nor do I know basic culture and manners in this land, and on top of that I can't even read Lugnica's language. I would like one of your servants to tutor me of this kingdom's basic history and information that everybody in Lugnica knows about."

"And the third?"

"Let me stay here for free until I learn everything. You don't need to provide me food for I can go out and hunt a rabbit or two, but—"

"No neeeed to fret." Spoke Roswaal, calmly holding out his hand. "I am noooot stingy when it comes to paying my debts. You are free to stay in this mansion as our esteemed guest."

Johnny blinked in surprise.

"Wait. So you're going to grant my favors? No bargaining?"

"Noooot at all!"

"Huh… nice." Muttered Johnny as he silently pumped his fist under the table.

After Johnny and Roswaal made a pact with each other, Johnny found himself being pushed on a wheelchair by the pink-haired Ram as she began to instruct the basic structure of the mansion.

"Wait… what about Beatrice's library? You haven't told me where it's located."

"The Forbidden Library isn't located in a specific location, esteemed guest." Spoke Ram, curtly. "The location changes every time. Sometimes, the Forbidden Library might exist on this door, sometimes on the door that leads to the bathroom, sometimes on the door that leads to the laundry room, and so on."

"So… it's random and I managed to find the correct door on the very first try." Mumbled Johnny. "And please stop calling me 'esteemed guest'. It sounds so old-fashioned. Just, Mister Joestar or Johnny would do. Formality never worked well with me."

"Very well then, Jojo." Spoke Ram as she naturally butchered Johnny's name.

Johnny could only facepalm. Given the girl's cruel nature, he doubted she was going to drop his new nickname any time soon. At least it wasn't demeaning and to be honest it had a nice ring to it. With a slight huff, Johnny accepted his new nickname.

After he had made note of the structure of the mansion, he finally found himself slowly approaching the stables. Smiling lightly to himself, Johnny let out a shrill whistle, gaining the horse's attention. Black Parade neighed with a hint of joy as Ram allowed the horse to leave the stable and towards her rider. Then, using the brush that he had obtained from the twins, he started to brush Black Parade.

"Jojo, leave such trivial jobs to Ram." Spoke Ram, as she moved towards Johnny who was taking great care of his horse.

"Nonsense." Huffed Johnny as he kept on brushing Black Parade. "Brushing one's own horse is a chief action of a jockey. Do you know why?"

"Ram doesn't know. Ram has only taken care of ground dragons."

"First reason we do this for hours is to relax the horse's muscles." Explained Johnny, getting into the mood as he started to talk about his element. "Especially on long journeys, you must calculate your actions so your horse doesn't over exhaust themselves. Although it might look as if it wouldn't do much, brushing them can take away a lot of physical stress from their bodies."

"Second reason is for hygiene." Continued Johnny. "Getting rid of fleas, insects, dirt, and so on, we maintain our horse's hygiene by brushing them. After all, a sick horse is no better than my current state. And… as for the last reason…"

"..."

"... Well, it strengthens the bond between the horse and its mammal. Although it's not a scientifically proven fact, it's more of my belief. After all, it's soothing for the horse and myself."

"You seem to have great knowledge of riding horses, Jojo." Spoke Ram staring intently at Johnny, not that he cared, as he kept on stroking the horse's beautiful black fur. "Quite strange considering nobody uses horses, but only ground dragons. Where did you learn to ride a horse?"

"Obviously someone not from here." Spoke Johnny, slightly enjoying the way the pink maid slightly bristled. "And well… if you ask for specifics, I'm afraid I'll have to decline. Private stuff you know?"

"... understood… Jojo."

Although Johnny still thought of her as a cunt, the current mood between them seemed to be a bit more elevated than before. As the atmosphere of the stables became placid, Johnny smiled to himself as he indulged in his knowledge of horseback riding to Ram, just to spend some comforting time with the rude pink-haired maid.

"So… you're my teacher, huh?"

"Is that a problem, I suppose?!"

To be honest, Johnny didn't expect the pigtailed girl to teach him, or should he call her a spirit? After he had taken care of Black Parade, and took her out for a short gallop around Roswaal's mansion, he was greeted by Rem, Ram, and Emilia. Before the two maids could speak to Johnny, Emilia stomped forward with puffy cheeks as she started a three minute lecture of how dangerous the woods were, and explained that if he wandered too far, he might bypass the barriers that kept beasts and unwelcome guests.

Surprisingly, it was Rem who saved Johnny from Emilia's nagging, interrupting Emilia and telling Johnny that Beatrice was waiting for him for his first lesson. Johnny initially thought Rem to have the same sadistic streak as Ram, but it seemed that she at least had a heart, even when she joined with her sister in bullying him. As for Beatrice volunteering to teach him… it was quite surprising. His first description of the female spirit was arrogant and narcissistic considering her speech patterns and how she held her head high, but probably there were other aspects beneath her face of pride that he failed to catch. Well, time would tell what sort of pers—uh, spirit she was.

"No, not a problem." Spoke Johnny quickly, remembering how fast this little girl nearly came close to killing him. He didn't want to piss her off or give her a reason to kill him. "Just… a bit surprised that you volunteered to teach me."

"Hmph, think nothing of it!" Harrumphed Beatrice as she crossed her arms, in a quite cute manner that Johnny partially thought to be adorable. "I just found you to be pitiful a-and pathetic that I decided to help you!"

"... Puck told you to teach me, didn't he?"

"Eep!"

Seems like he was right on the money. Even when Johnny knew Beatrice had a kind side to her as she showed sincere concern for his health after she nearly killed him by ripping him apart into shreds, she was most certainly not the type of… spirit to hand out her free time out of the whim. She was a prideful being who, albeit had some interest in him, refused to mingle with lowly humans like himself.

Thus, it must've been somebody who told her to tutor him, as a form of apology, which she didn't give to him when he woke up. And the only person that could ask her to do that… was nobody. Although Emilia was one of the royal candidates, Johnny knew that such a position wouldn't mean shit to the blonde spirit with curls. Obviously, neither Ram nor Rem fit the criteria too. Not even Roswaal seemed to have any sort of authority over her, and if he didn't have the authority, what could his two lowly maids do? Thus… all that was left was Puck: a non-human entity that Beatrice was exceptionally fond of.

Sighing to himself, he moved his wheelchair to station himself in front of the desk as he stared at the foreign book with symbols he couldn't understand. Sighing once again, he straightened his back and glanced at Beatrice, who was puffing her cheeks.

"Well… aren't you going to teach me…?"

"Betty is thinking this was a mistake, I suppose! B-but Betty made a promise with bubby so Betty would help you, I suppose! However, I won't help you if you can't follow up, in fact. Do you understand, human?"

"Go easy on me… please…" Groaned Johnny as Beatrice flicked her finger as the book opened itself. Great… more weird symbols and more headaches from his dull head.

Why, oh why didn't he study hard during his school days? If he hadn't thrown out his textbooks and participated in class instead of fooling around with girls and alcohol, he might've had the brains to follow up with Beatrice with minimum trouble. However… his lack of efforts in his studies have come back to punish him in this strange world.

How unfortunate.

(A certain double-drill-haired spirit's POV)

When Puck asked Betty to tutor the boy, Betty outrightly refused, crossing her arms and turning her head away as she puffed her cheeks. But she still held onto Puck's soft cheeks.

"Oh, come on, Betty~!" Spoke Puck as he floated up to Betty's cheek as he began to rub his soft body into Betty's puffed up left cheek. "Just give him a chance."

"B-B-Betty will not be swayed by Bubby's soft fur, I suppose!" Yelled Betty as she plucked Puck from the air as she brought him back to her chest, fondling the great spirit.

"Well… I can't order you around, so choose what you want to do Beatrice." Spoke Puck after a short period of silence. Then, he departed from her.

Seriously, what was Bubby thinking of?! Her teaching the likes of him?

…

…

…

He'll be gone within time anyways… he'll be another disappointment anyways… he wasn't and wouldn't be the one anyways… why should she bother anyways…?

However, the image of the screaming man couldn't leave her mind. The way his body cracked, the way his flesh fell apart as some turned into dust along with the pink spirit that screamed along with its contractor(?).

It was just another mortal who will be gone… so why was he so conspicuous…? Was this… a form of guilt? The guilt of nearly killing somebody that had never done anything to her?

Maybe… was this curiosity? Was Betty curious about this human? This mortal?

Truth to be told, Beatrice had a certain amount of curiosity in whoever came across Echidna's Forbidden Library(except for Roswaal for obvious reasons). And every time she would look up to see their faces, she would hope that her gospel would respond and finally show her the 'That Person' she had been obediently waiting for. It didn't matter if they had malicious intentions or had a dislike for her. All Beatrice ever wanted was her mother to respond, to remember her existence, to show her the next steps of her actions.

However, mother never responded to Beatrice's wishes. The gospel remained silent, and so did Beatrice.

…

…

…

Then this human came into Beatrice's room with something she had never witnessed before. A pink spirit that was something Beatrice had never seen before. It looked disfigured and weak, and proved to be very fragile when Beatrice had attempted to drain the mortal's body dry out of mana. But what mattered was that for 400 years, she had never seen or heard of such a spirit in her life.

'N-no! Stop it, I suppose!' Yelled Beatrice in her heart as she started to feel herself indulge in her feelings that were too familiar to her. 'Stop feeling it… stop feeling it… he's not that 'That Person'... he's not going to be that 'That Person'...! S-so… stop hoping… I suppose…!'

However, her heart had already opened and was starting to hope. She started to believe that Johnny Joestar's uniqueness, his bizarreness, and his strange pink spirit were the signs. The signs, which indicated that he was the 'That Person' that she had been waiting for over 400 years. She began to hope that Johnny Joestar was the savior she had dreamt of for all those years and that was why she was going to take things into her hands and study the enigma of Johnny Joestar and that strange little pink spirit he had with him.

And then… and then maybe, just maybe, Betty's mother would finally respond to Betty. Maybe Betty's mother would still remember Betty. Maybe Betty's mother would still love Betty.

Even after 400 years, she was just a child, waiting desperately for her mother to come and whisper in her ear.

Chapter Text

Johnny's life in the mansion went along quite swimmingly. During half of the day, he enjoyed riding Black Parade around Roswaal's mansion and bonding with Emilia and Puck. During the other half, he was tutored by Beatrice who surprisingly wasn't that bad at teaching although she greatly lacked the enthusiasm.

As for Johnny's interaction with the two twin maids… it was still a bit awkward.

"Is it just me or does Rem give me weird stares from time to time?" Questioned Johnny to Puck as they both watched Emilia being in the middle of a cloud of spirits.

"How am I supposed to know that?" Questioned Puck, cutely swimming in the air. "You're not my daughter. I don't really think it's necessary for me to watch over you."

"Fair… but did you really need to be so direct?" Sulked Johnny as he pouted for a bit. "But seriously… I don't know what, but Rem's being very… bizarre lately."

Leaning back, Johnny began to think of Rem's reactions whenever they faced each other. Although Johnny didn't catch it at first, he finally noticed Rem's body language and tiny expressions that seeped through her prim and proper maid facade. Johnny apparently caught her narrowing her eyes for a short second while she was measuring Johnny's body to tailor him new clothes that Roswaal had given to Johnny for free.

Besides the fact that Roswaal was somehow a charitable person and the fact that he most certainly had dark ulterior intentions behind his powdered face, Johnny finally began to see Rem in a new light from that day forward. Strangely, Ram didn't harbor any negative feelings for him except for a bit of bullying that came from her sadistic nature, but Rem was outrightly mad at Johnny for something he had done. And the worst thing was that Johnny couldn't possibly come up with a logical answer for Rem's emotions against him.

Sure, he crapped the bed sheets, but Johnny knew that that wasn't enough for him to buy the blue-haired maid's hostility. She was not that petty. There was something Johnny was failing to see in this picture. Sitting on the soft soil, he began to deeply think about it for the first time. What could it be? What could it possibly be?

…

…

…

Hopefully, the answer lied in Beatrice's teachings. Considering this was an entirely different world, Johnny suspected that everybody had different customs and manners. Maybe he had done something to greatly offend Rem, but what in the world could it be? Since Rem and Ram were twins, it was logical to think that both were raised together and learned the same culture together. So that meant that Johnny had done something when he and Rem were together without Ram's presence.

…

…

…

Hopefully the answer would pop up during Beatrice's classes.

"Johnny! Johnny, I'm done bonding with the spirits! Now teach me, teach me, teach me!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Yelped Johnny as the silver-haired half-elf broke him out of his stupor. "Don't scare me like that and have some patience! I will teach you, alright?"

Yes. Johnny Joestar had agreed to teach Emilia the Spin. At first Johnny hesitated to teach Emilia, but she pleaded enough for him to give in. It totally wasn't because Puck was giving him a death stare, forcing him to teach Emilia the Spin. Nope. Not at all.

But even with an overprotective fuzzball, Johnny liked Emilia. Although the fact that she wasn't a human still amazed Johnny, he considered Emilia to be a good person who had a heart of gold. To Johnny, he believed that Emilia was worthy enough to learn the Spin. It's just that… her naivety was quite astounding. Were all half-elves all this naive or did they have completely different lifestyles? And what exactly was the relationship between Puck and Emilia anyways? Surely Puck couldn't be the biological father of Emilia, and if that was so where were Emilia's biological parents?

…

…

…

But Johnny was perceptive and wise enough not to ask around. No matter how you looked at it, it was bound to be a sensitive question that would bring an awkward atmosphere and a strained relationship, which Johnny didn't want.

So anyways, here he was, attempting to teach a half-elf how to Spin, with her fuzzball father floating next to her.

"You thought of something bad about me, didn't you?" Spoke Puck with a pair of narrowed eyes that Johnny instinctively looked away.

"M-me? Never, Puck! You trust me, don't you?"

"... I'll keep my eyes on you, you—"

"Puck, please!" Interrupted Emilia, shocking Puck as his mouth gaped open. "I want to learn right now! You two can argue later!"

"That's right! Stay out of this old man!" Spoke Johnny enjoying Puck's face of betrayal to the fullest as he pulled out a cork from his pocket.

"But anyways… Emilia, why do you want to learn this technique so bad? You seem to be a capable magician, aren't you? Isn't that enough?"

"W-well… to be honest, I was shocked when you told me that what you did to those steel balls wasn't magic, but technique. And after seeing you fight against Elsa, I kind of… I kind of wanted to learn what you did because what you did was amazing. You actually defeated somebody very strong all by yourself, and without magic, but only technique! So, I… I guess I wanted to learn."

Johnny quietly looked at Emilia who was blushing and stuttering her words and he quickly caught onto the emotion Emilia was feeling.

Admiration.

Smiling to himself, Johnny placed the cork onto the ground and took Emilia's hands into his. Then, he brought out one of Roswaal's green steel balls and placed it lightly on Emilia's arm.

"Now… before we start, I would like to use the Spin on you. Although you have seen me use it multiple times, actually being under the influence of a Spin would give you more of a learning experience that is crucial for the first lesson."

"O-okay…"

"Tell me if you're ready, Emilia. I don't want to give you a scare."

"I'm ready, Johnny! You can use the Spin on me!"

So, he did. Abruptly, Emilia's skin started to twist in the most bizarre fashion and the movement of the skin called the instincts of her muscles. With a small yelp, Emilia found her throwing her body towards Johnny's horse and grabbing its reins with a vice grip, causing Black Parade to snort, but thankfully the black horse didn't start to gallop out of surprise.

Meanwhile, Puck simply watched the strange sight in front of him. He did nearly intervene when he witnessed Emilia's arms starting to twist in what seemed like a painful manner. But sensing that there was no malevolent intent or worry coming from Johnny or signs of pain coming from his daughter, Puck decided to stand back and watch.

For a few seconds, Emilia couldn't control her muscles as she struggled to let go of the reins. However, her own body wouldn't listen to her as her fingers couldn't even budge. It was quite the bizarre feeling. Emilia could still feel the sensation of her fingers and that alone should prove that she was still in control of her appendages, but with all the strength she had, she couldn't.

"One thing you must know is that my steel ball didn't force you to move like that. I simply stimulated your muscles in a way that triggered your instincts."

"T-that was…" Emilia gulped, as she stared at her hands. "That was amazing! S-so how do I do it? How does it work?!"

Johnny simply smiled at Emilia's eagerness to learn. Although she didn't have the desperation he had when he tried to get Gyro to teach him, her eagerness seemed to be a good motivation. Even better than his own motivation to walk again in Johnny's opinion.

"Emilia, you already know how." Answered Johnny with a coy smile, the same smile that Gyro gave to him when he was dragged around by Slow Dancer. He could still remember that day when hope became a real thing. The day where he began to learn to walk, not only physically, but as a human being too.

"You already found the answer you were looking for. If you have the will to spin, go for it."

With that, Johnny picked up the cork and tossed it to Emilia. Alas, poor Emilia wasn't able to spin the cork for the next few hours of trying.

Lying down on the soft luxurious bed, Johnny couldn't seem to close his eyes as they were focused on the ceiling above him that was barely seen with the soft moonlight that was seeping through the drapes. He tried sleeping on his left and right side. He tried sleeping upside down with his lame feet facing the headboard. He tried, but sleep wouldn't come.

So, he decided to explore the mansion all by himself.

Grunting, he got up and not-quite-graciously fell off the bed with a soft thump as the carpet absorbed most of the impact. As he tried to reach towards his wooden wheelchair, Johnny blinked in surprise as the wheelchair rolled over to him.

Then, Johnny saw 『Tusk』 behind the wheelchair.

"Chyumimi ~ in!"

Johnny was a bit flabbergasted at the sight of his Stand acting in such a way. But… considering it was a physical manifestation of his own will, he assumed that the Stand responded to his wishes. After all, 『Tusk ACT I』 had a bit of a personality of its own. Carving the words 'Movere Crus' and making those cute chirping sounds. Smiling gently Johnny reached out to pet his own Stand before the pink spirit gave a small chirp and vanished.

"... I was going to say thank you, but I guess you know anyway." Grumbled Johnny as he spun his body up in the air as he perfectly landed on his wheelchair with a small plop.

Within minutes, he was out into the hallway, and decided to stop in front of one the windowsills as he gazed out into the serene night where silence mixed with the noises of the nocturnal animals and bugs echoed around.

Johnny didn't know how much time had passed. It was as if the jockey was in a trance, staring into the middle distance of peace and quiet, with his body relaxed. However, that trance was broken when somebody called out to him.

"J-Johnny? What are you doing out here?"

It was Emilia in her nightgown and thank God she was wearing a robe over her nightgown, or Johnny would've shot himself in the head, whether Jesus told him to or not.

"Couldn't sleep… you?"

"I-it's none of your business!" Yelped Emilia, suddenly becoming defensive with a red race. Ah. She went to the bathroom, didn't she? Woman business it seemed…

"Alright… alright… sorry for prying." Chuckled Johnny as he leaned back onto his wheelchair to gaze once again.

After a short awkward silence Emilia was the first one to open her mouth.

"Sooo… what are you thinking right now?"

"What makes you think that I'm thinking right now?"

"Well… you're making a face like that. Johnny… are you alright?"

"I guess…" Spoke Johnny, shrugging his shoulders. "Just… just thinking about my wife and my son."

"Oh! I didn't know you had a wife and a son!" Exclaimed Emilia as she smiled at the sudden revelation. "What are they like? Your wife I mean. She must be an amazing woman to marry you, right?"

"She sure is. Her name was Higashikata Rina. Here, I have her picture." Chuckled Johnny as he fished into his pockets to bring out his locket. As he opened the locket, he could see himself on the left side, and his lovely wife on the right. Both smiling at the camera in black and white.

"Whoa… she looks beautiful." Spoke Emilia as she squinted into the small locket as she smiled brightly once again. "And what a pretty painting! I don't think I've seen a painting that detailed and accurate!"

"It's a photo— nevermind." Spoke Johnny, quickly fixing his statement after remembering the level of this world's technology. And to cover up the awkward silence he invoked; he went back to talk more about his wife.

"She was from a different country than I was, you know? She came from this little island called Japan, far from where I was from, and obviously what people eat on that island was quite completely different from what I used to eat."

Johnny sighed as he thought of Rina's cooking as he smiled at his fond memory.

"There was this soup she made. This warm, salty soup that I grew to love called miso. At first, I thought it was some dirt mixed with water and it even tasted funny, but the more I ate it, the more it tasted better, just as she said."

"She was also easy to get scared of and fretted over the smallest things. Even when she could muster up courage when needed, she would always get worried or scared over the tiniest things. Like when I rode my horse in a competition, or when my son George wasn't properly eating well. Man, sometimes it was hard to convince her that everything is alright. During the time George was still a baby were the hardest times to convince her though… It was kind of hard, but to me it just proved she was the best mother and wife I could ask for…"

"And then…"

Johnny… hesitated. No. It wasn't hesitation. Hesitation happens when one suddenly loses their train of thought as their speech comes to an abrupt halt. In Johnny's case… the words that were supposed to formulate out of his mouth were suddenly stuck in his throat, unable to come out.

He tried it again.

"A-and then… uh… excuse me… and then…"

He stopped again, but this time he could feel a lump forming in his throat, forcing his words to be extinguished.

"She was…"

He couldn't continue. H-he couldn't continue. Thinking was bad enough but to… but to say it? It hurt too much for Johnny to do that. It hurt.

'Rina…' Thought Johnny as he felt his eyes starting to flutter. All the memories of his wife and his children came back to him in a flash as Johnny began to reminisce about what he had left behind after his apparent 'death'. He left her. He left her and made her a widow. His own wife. His own loving wife. And little George. George would have to grow up without a father. All by himself with only his mother.

"Rina was…"

The memories of meeting Rina for the first time entered his mind. It was cold and windy as the sharp wind dug into Johnny's cheeks as he sadly looked down upon the coffin that had Gyro's body. He was on the boat and Higashikata Norisuke, the horse rider who came 2nd place, apparently came to greet him properly. Behind the wrinkly old man was his loving daughter, Higashikata Rina, who Johnny would come to love.

The memories didn't stop there as little snippets of pictures flew past. But even when the pictures of him and Rina seemed like a blur, he could recall every small detail in those pictures. His first date with Rina in a Japanese restaurant where he struggled to use chopsticks and had Rina giggling. The time when Rina cried so hard when Higashikata Norisuke passed away that Johnny later had a wet patch on his left shoulder. The time when Rina smiled ever so beautifully at Johnny who was riding Slow Dancer. The time when their son was born and Rina's white, sweat covered face glowed with happiness and love as they both held their crying child. Rina looked so frail back then that Johnny didn't know for sure if he was more concerned for George or his wife.

Then came the last memories. The last snippet of the picture of his wife's bare feet trampling the yellow ginkgo leaves on the street. She looked so pretty back then in her yukata, but her scared face made Johnny's guilt and sorrow intensify in his heart. She was trying to put up a farce and act brave in all of the confusion and chaos that was happening around her, but tears had already ruined her pretty face.

"... Johnny…" Came the small voice that broke Johnny out of his stupor. "Johnny, are you—"

"I'm alright!" Spoke Johnny a bit too loudly and too quickly. "I-I'm al…"

But he wasn't and it was clear even to the naive Emilia that Johnny was grieving. Tears had already begun to stream down his face before he knew it and the smile on his face was getting harder and harder to remain. And thus, Johnny Joestar began to cry sorrowfully under the moon as the memories of his wife and child flooded through his mind.

Some might criticize the jockey for losing hope so easily. Criticizing that if he truly loved his family, he should try his best to find a way to return home to Japan. But somehow, through miracles, curses, and whatever bizarre reason, Johnny instinctively knew that there was no way for him to return to his original world. Maybe it was the effect from the Corpse parts he used, or maybe it was the so-called magic that existed in this world, but whichever the case was, Johnny was torn apart from the love of his life along with his pride and joy.

"I miss them… Rina… George… I miss them."

A few moments later Johnny heard a sniffling sound coming from Emilia. When he turned his head, lo and behold the beautiful half-elf was tearing up.

"W-why are you crying?" Sniffled Johnny in his wheelchair, cleaning up his tears with his hands. "I'm the one who's supposed to cry!"

"I-it's because of you!" Sobbed Emilia, who was now crying herself. "It's so sad… how can't I cry after that I know wh-what happened… to your family…"

Johnny scrunched up his face into a sad expression once again and started to cry with Emilia. Although Emilia got the story wrong, as she interpreted Johnny's words that Johnny's wife and son had died, Johnny was quite grateful to have her with him as he could let some of his pent emotions out in the open. Truthfully, it was a bit of a comical sight as both two faces were ruined with tears and snot. It became more hilarious when each later revealed a pair of puffy red eyes that were the result from crying.

After a few minutes, the two collected themselves and Johnny gave Emilia his apologies for bringing down the mood. Emilia responded by saying that it was alright as she brought some tissues to clean their faces.

"D-do you feel better now, Johnny?" Asked Emilia as she sniffled for the last time.

"Yeah… it felt good, letting it out." Answered Johnny as he tossed the tissues inside the bin. "Thanks for staying with me Emilia."

"N-no worries, Johnny… O-oh, by the way, h-here!"

Johnny raised a single eyebrow as Emilia brought out the cork that Johnny gave to her. Then he gave her a small smile after seeing the look of pride and the sense of accomplishment.

"I see… You managed to spin the cork, didn't you?"

"Yes!" Exclaimed Emilia, very pleased with herself. "Look, Johnny! Here! If I just… just spin this cork…!"

"..."

"W-wait for a bit… It takes some time…!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Uh… Emilia, the cork isn't even moving."

"... I-I swear it worked before! The cork spun in my bedroom, all by itself!"

"Alright then, do it in front of me again."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"It's alright, Emilia. Don't start crying aga—"

"I'm not crying!"

"... calm down now. Anyways, at least Puck saw you do it, right?"

"..."

"R-right?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"W-well, good night then."

With those final words, Johnny hastily pulled his wheelchair away from Emilia whose cheeks were bulging as fresh tears started to form in her eyes with her other facial features twitching aggressively. Johnny knew how that felt, and he didn't wish to stay in such an awkward atmosphere for another second. So, like a coward and a smart tactician Joestar, he ran away.

(A Certain Oni Maid's POV)

She was there the moment Johnny gazed out of the window. Truth to be told, she was contemplating whether to do the deed tonight or tomorrow night, but either way it had to be done one way or another. Even if he were a skilled fighter who managed to defeat Elsa Granhiert, he wouldn't stand a chance when asleep. If he were to lock the doors, she simply had the key to the guest room anyways.

Then, when the filthy cultist came out in his wheelchair, Rem had to stand back. Seeing him like this made her determination to kill this so-called cripple grow stronger and thus she decided to kill that dirty witch cultist once and for all. However, she couldn't do that as simply as she wished. If she launched an attack now, there was a high possibility that he would survive, which would endanger everyone in this mansion considering the great spirit was asleep. So she waited patiently for the male to go back to sleep until someone unexpected came across.

Lady Emilia.

Rem barely had feelings for Lady Emilia. She simply acknowledged her as Roswaal's important guest, and treated her as such, but that was the end of their relationship. However… as the conversation of the two started to pick up… Rem began to see the crippled man in a new light…

"Impossible…" She whispered as she trudged in the hallway, her pupils trembling as she felt her stamina depleting. "He smells like a witch. He is a witch cultist. He is!"

Staggering from the sudden sharp pain in her head, the blue-haired maid placed her delicate hands on top of her head, struggling to gather her thoughts.

"But he cried… for family. For his wife. For his son. He cried."

'He's a Witch Cultist! The filth of this world! Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! Avenge your sister! Make them pay for crippling your sister! Kill, kill, kill, KILL!'

"But he cried…" Whispered Rem as she started to shudder as she placed her hands on her head as a slight migraine started to arise. "But he loves them so much…"

'No! A trick! A ruse! He knew you were there the entire time and decided to trick you into thinking that he's a decent human!'

"But you can't fake that… nobody can fake that much love…"

'No! No! No! No! NO!'

"But… but… but… but…"

She was going to do it tonight. She had the will and was determined to carry out the task and maybe let her sister know of what had happened. But… but…

'Sister… what should Rem do…? R-Rem doesn't know… Rem doesn't know…'

With her mind broken for the day, the poor Oni struggled to sleep properly in her bed as the argument regarding the male continued to rage on in her head.

(A Certain Paralyzed Jockey's POV)

"What's with the stink eye?" Questioned Johnny as he still remained to be the only humanoid male in the mansion with Roswaal still away from his business trip. "Seriously Ram, I'm starting to think you have some issues."

"Ram has nothing to say for our esteemed guest." Spoke Ram with sarcasm dripping like an ice-cream on a sunny day.

"Bullsh—" Johnny had to stop himself right there as Puck sent him daggers as his soup actually began to grow cold. Wait… were those ice cubes? Geezes… he really needed to keep his language in check.

"I mean, just say what you have to say. Seeing you like this is making me very uncomfortable… You want me to file a complaint to your master?!"

The best way to deal with Ram, due to Johnny's experience, was to attack, counterattack, or do anything that was related to offense when it was time to dish out insults to each other. And with Roswaal out of the way, things were getting heated up real fast.

"Hmph. Ram was simply worried about Rem's sudden depressive behavior today. Surely our esteemed guest wouldn't have done anything to ruin my beautiful sister's mood, right Jojo?"

Johnny wished to flip the bird so bad, but with Puck being an overprotective Daddy so refused to let his daughter's ears become dirty when so clean and innocent, Johnny had no choice but to mouth the words 'fuck you' to Ram.

Seriously, what in the world did he do to Rem? It was Rem that started to outrightly dislike him in the first place for whatever reason she had! And if she was in a sour mood because of him, that was totally on her, not him. Johnny did not deserve this treatment, but then again, he couldn't outrightly act as an overgrown brat. He'd already been through that stage before, and it never helped him in the end.

But besides Ram being a terrible servant, Johnny had to deal with his relationship with Rem as fast as possible. He still had a lot to learn from Beatrice, and considering his pacing with his teacher, he needed at least a few more weeks before he could get all the basics covered. And although he didn't like the maids, he still preferred the blue-haired maid over the pink-haired bitch. If he could just know why…

…

…

…

Sighing to himself, Johnny pushed his ice-cold soup away from him as Ram graciously took away the dish.

It was thanks to Emilia that Johnny found pleasure and joy living in this mansion. As his apprentice and friend, it was quite adorable to see her trying to spin the cork under the table, only to fail countless times.

After breakfast, Johnny took his lessons with Beatrice, who failed to be cooperative to Johnny, withholding information about Rem. Then came lunch and after that Johnny helped himself to some warm tea and conversed with Emilia about this and that, trying to give more tips for Emilia on how exactly the Spin worked. Alas, no visible progress was made and Emilia had to go back to her studies of politics and other studies as Johnny took this time to ride Black Parade.

This was when he encountered both Rem and Ram apparently leaving the mansion.

"We're nearly out of supplies. Rem and Ram need to go and get more from the village."

"The village?" Parroted Johnny confused. Then… thinking about it, it made sense that there was a village. After all, Roswaal was a noble, which meant that he had his own patch of land along with the people under his control and protection, which was ultimately the village Ram was mentioning about.

"Mind if I tag along? I've never heard of or been near the village before."

For a short period, a few glances were given between the two twins, but thankfully they seemed to have come to a conclusion in a short time.

"Yes, Jojo. You are welcome to accompany the two of us." Spoke Ram, in a holier-than-thou voice as if she was some noble accepting a peasant's company.

"Yes, yes. I'm very grateful." Replied Johnny in his mocking voice as he started to follow the two, having Black Parade to trot in a slow manner to match the two twin's footsteps.

It was a lively neighborhood where Johnny found everyone to be fond of.

At first, the village people were wary of Johnny and how they could not. Although he was a crippled man, they didn't quite know that. Instead, what they saw was a person sitting graciously on a horse that nobody these days even thought of riding. In addition, he was wearing expensive clothes, so they all thought of him to be a person in a noble status who happened to visit Roswaal L. Mathers for noble reasons.

But with Johnny showing a few tricks with his Spin to the villagers and explaining who he really was, everybody started to open up to Johnny, asking for more tricks. He even treated a few people with the Spin, curing some back pains or shoulder aches of several people, making his reputation amongst the villagers skyrocket. Also, when they found out Johnny was a cripple when they asked why he wasn't dismounting from his horse they all were shocked and started to make assumptions about Johnny.

"That poor, poor man… He must've served the kingdom until he got injured by the enemies…"

"Have you looked at his muscles? He has to be a soldier before his accident… and to own a horse instead of an Earth Dragon… he must be very poor too… such a pity for such a good-looking man."

"Those bastards! I'm sure they've ambushed mister Joestar!"

Well… Johnny wasn't going to stop the false rumors. All of them didn't sound that bad, and even if he tried to stop them, he felt like it would backfire badly.

"Mister Joestar!" Came the little voice of Petra as the small vibrant girl called the jockey's attention. Curious to see what it was about, Johnny urged Black Parade to trot towards the sounds of children until he came to a stop where he saw a small puppy in a girl's arms.

"Oh, it's a cute dog. Who's the lucky owner?" Asked Johnny, apparently too tall to reach down a scratch the dog's ears.

"Hehe… It's mine!" Giggled a blue-haired girl as she was the one holding the small pup in her arms. However… as Johnny moved in a bit closer, the little pup growled and quickly nipped at Johnny's legs.

"Mister Joestar! Are you alright!" Yelled the children in worry as they gathered around to see the wound. Truthfully the wound wasn't that bad as it only left some tooth marks and caused barely any blood. Besides, he couldn't feel anything waist down.

"It's alright. But you need to train your dog." Spoke Johnny sternly as the young girl lowered her head in shame and guilt. "When it grows up to be an adult, it's bite can injure somebody and even yourself."

"I-I'm sorry mister Joestar…" Whimpered the poor girl, sniffling. "I-I'll promise to tame him not to bite the next time you visit!"

"You do that." Spoke Johnny, smiling and catching the two twins preparing to leave the village with barrels of supplies and food. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to head back!"

"Come back soon mister Joestar! And please do the spinny thing again with those green balls!" Called out Luka as the other children began to wave Johnny, who made his way to the maids.

It was already dark when Johnny and the maids set foot, and when they reached the mansion, the sun was just about to set. Unfortunately, Johnny couldn't get much information out of Rem as he wanted so he could understand why she was in a bad mood. Even Johnny, who barely knew of Rem compared to Ram, could see how emotionally drained the blue-haired maid was as they walked in silence towards the mansion.

Something was up with Rem, and sadly Johnny couldn't help but acknowledge that he might be a prime suspect for Rem's fatigued state. After all, this event seemed to happen as soon as he showed up to the mansion and Rem had shown some hostility to Johnny. Now, the hostility was gone, but Johnny couldn't figure out what emotion it was replaced with.

Absentmindedly, he made his way to Beatrice after being carried to the top floor by Ram and Rem as soon as they organized the food and supplies, they gathered from the village. Usually, entering Beatrice's room was a game of chance, while many guests failed to even catch a glimpse of the spirit who took form as a small girl. But in Johnny's case, he always managed to make it to the Door Crossing on his first turn whenever he willed himself to go to the Forbidden Library. Of course, there were several incidents of unexpectedly ending up in the large library and being chased out by Beatrice, but either than that Johnny had a stupid amount of luck to keep on doing this when the location changed by the passing second.

"Yo, Beatrice!" Announced Johnny as he guessed right once again, as he wheeled his wheelchair inside the library. "Came back to return the book."

"Hmph. Do you not know how to knock, in fact?!" Came the tittering retort by the cute spirit who was reading whatever she was reading.

"Well… to be fair, considering the Door Crossing, will you be able to hear the knocking before the door opens?" Questioned Johnny and to his pleasure he seemed to have come up with a good argument. Beatrice's puffed up cheeks proved that.

"Hmph! I don't even want to see—"

"... uhh? Beatrice? Are you alright?" Asked Johnny, suddenly puzzled to see the shocked face of Beatrice although it quickly disappeared as the small girl walked towards him with a complex expression instead.

Then, as Beatrice outstretched her hand towards Johnny… something dark and murky squirted out from his body and hovered in the air like gas. Johnny, blinked once and stared at where the black wispy and downright diabolical haze was coming from and noticed…

"The… bite…" Muttered Johnny as the icky material was crushed into bits by Beatrice's hands.

"Was… was that rabies?" Asked Johnny. If they were, he needed to go back to the village and convince the dog to put the dog out in the wilderness before it caused harm to the little girl and her family.

"No… that was a curse." Spoke Beatrice, turning back to resume back to her book. "And a nasty one too, I suppose. That curse would've torn down your body bit by bit so that it would be unnoticable by you or anybody else, in fact. You're lucky to have met me before going to bed, I suppose…"

"... W-wait… then what's with that black stuff coming from my leg?!"

"That's where the curse user touched you, I suppose. Be lucky to be alive, human and praise Bett— where are you going!"

Johnny simply flew out of the library, spinning the wooden wheels of his wheelchair as he burst out of the Forbidden Library and into the hallway.

The children. The children were in danger. This wasn't just preventing an outbreak of rabies, which was bad enough. This was preventing a slaughterhouse from happening. Johnny already experienced losing his child once and that alone nearly broke him and Rina to pieces. And to imagine other parents going through the same process of losing a child…

…

…

…

If you lose your parents, they call you an orphan.

If you lose a husband, they call you a widow.

But there isn't a title for those who lost a child. They become so miserable and bitter; they turn into something that isn't akin to a human being. They become something that has nothing else to lose at that point. And Johnny swore on his child's name that he would not let the tragedy befall on the children and their parents when he knew he could save them.

Flying on his wheelchair, Johnny didn't even bother to call the maids to help him down the stairs. Thankfully, using the Spin, Johnny managed to maneuver his wheelchair from turning over, and throwing him out of his seat. However, it did cause a loud noise, earning the two maids' attention. Just as Johnny's whistle brought Black Parade to his side, he was confronted by the two maids who stood in his path.

"Why the sudden rush, Jojo?" Questioned Ram, her eyes narrowed.

"Trouble." Gasped Johnny, finally taking a moment to breathe. "I just found out that there's a curse user in the village, and I need to get there as soon as possible before things go out of hand!"

Hearing the desperate sincerity in his voice, the two twins stopped and glanced at each other, clearly troubled by the news… or was it because of Johnny's actions?

"... Very well, Jojo." Spoke Ram after a short period of time. "But Ram could not allow our esteemed guest to go out alone. Thus, Ram shall accompany y—"

"N-no, sister." Came in the voice of Rem as she stepped up. "Rem can do it. Rem will go with the guest."

Both Johnny and Ram gave Rem a worried look at this. They both knew Rem had a mental breakdown and it had affected her entire mood and energy throughout the day. Even if she happened to recover for whatever reason, Johnny was worried she might become a burden while Ram was worried that Rem might get hurt.

But her eyes…

"Fine. Rem will go along with you as Ram shall stay and be with Lady Emilia." Spoke Ram as Rem hopped on top of the horse, directly behind Johnny.

Without waiting for much more, Johnny snapped the reins, and Black Parade started to gallop off to the distance towards the village.

"J-Johnny?! Johnny!" Came the late cry of Emilia as curiosity led her to the front door of the mansion, only to see Johnny leaving in a haste with Rem on his back.

Alas, the poor half-elf would have to postpone the news of her success of spinning the cork. But after listening to Ram's brief explanation, she closed her eyes and prayed for Johnny Joestar's safe return.

'May the blessings of the spirits be upon you… Johnny.'

The night grows darker, but so does Johnny's pupils as they burst into a fiery black flame. Dark Determination resonated with his Golden Heart, as the hero who would forever go down in Lugnica's history set on his second chapter in this bizarre new world.