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A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Some nebulae (more than one nebula) come from the gas and dust thrown out by the explosion of a dying star, such as a supernova. Other nebulae are regions where new stars are beginning to form. For this reason, some nebulae are called "star nurseries." source: NASA
Fanart by @TheNoriKak | Thank You loving rat 🐁♥
Death embraced Noriaki too soon after a fight against Dio. The young man succumbed to The World and made his departure from the flesh to the ethereal, leaving his friends and everything he loved behind. But what his friends didn't know was that Kakyoin's soul was still around, adrift in space. Lost, looking for something to hold on to and give hope to a poor soul who didn't ascend to heaven like the others.
It was a strange, disorienting sensation, like I was floating but without wings. Kakyoin couldn't see anything around him, couldn't feel anything, except the feeling that something was different. Awareness of him seemed fuzzy and distant, as if he were dissolving into microscopic particles, every atom of his soul crumbling into even smaller pieces, a fission in every part of him composed of stardust.
Then all of a sudden everything changed, just like what happened in Egypt, he wasn't prepared. Kakyoin felt like he was stretching out, spreading everywhere at the same time, a phenomenon of the universe and not within his reach, but at the same time… his soul felt the effects of the whole process, wanting not to let go of everything, back and switch to the profound darkness…
Kakyoin gazed at something other than the darkness. Tiny little dots sparkled in his vision, around him a cloud of glittering dust shimmered in shades of blue. It was a beautiful sight, and Kakyoin was fascinated by his own transformation, a being made of stardust and once with consciousness, now returning to his most raw state before the universe.
But he didn't have much time to contemplate his metamorphosis, as something even stranger was about to happen. The universe around him began to expand, as if it were being rewritten. Galaxies taking up great distances, colossal supernovae, black holes devouring the cosmos and other celestial bodies being born out of dust at high speed. Kakyoin felt a huge force pulling him from all sides, but he didn't feel pain, it was like he was being dragged by a cosmic wind. The stars oscillated at a frightening speed, stars dying and being born at an absurd acceleration, the speed was not uniform at all, it varied.
Until the feeling of stretching passed along with the acceleration. Kakyoin realized that he was in the same place, however, something was different. It was a strange and unfamiliar place, a dark and empty space, but little by little, several dots began to twinkle, one by one, surrounding him. Kakyoin was not alone. He could feel the presence of other celestial bodies around him, and finally the soft touch of the emerald gave him hope.
And then he saw a light. It was a bright, sparkling light, almost like a star but very far away, coming from a pale blue dot, as Sagan once said. The light looked like some kind of signal, emitted from a long distance. And the signal came from far away… Very, very far away...
Jotaro Kujo looked into the telescope with fascination as he watched the blue nebula in the night sky. He had never seen anything so beautiful and complex before in his entire life, although the ocean every day presented him with the most perfect view of life on the planet, he knew that far from him, there was still life, but… where? His hobby of astronomy was making him think seriously about going to a new college, this time in astrophysics. Anyway, just a PhD in marine biology was enough.
"It's amazing," he muttered to himself, taking his eye off the telescope for a moment. He began to observe the astronomy software on his computer, but that nebula was not cataloged in any of them. That's when things started to get weird. "Did I… discover a nebula?"
His eye once again surveyed the celestial body through the telescope. The blue glow, a long ripple made of gases and debris that clustered together, silhouetted him…
"Good grief, I discovered a nebula." Jotaro stamped his feet, firm in his theory. Stars when they are discovered, are named by the discoverer himself, and without thinking, Jotaro said "Hierophant. Hierophant's Nebula."
From the porch of the house, Irene watched her father, repeating the name of the nebula several times, not letting him get lost in the coordinates of the celestial object. The girl decided to approach her father, curious about what he was observing in the telescope. "What are you looking at, Daddy?" She asked.
Jotaro smiled and placed his hand on Irene's shoulder. "I'm looking at the Hierophant nebula, sweetie."
Irene frowned. "Hierophant? That's a strange name for a nebula, don't you think?"
"It's the name I gave it," explained Jotaro. "It's a tribute to a friend of mine who is no longer with us."
"Noriaki, hmm?" The girl questioned. She approached the object and put her eye on it, having for herself the vision of the celestial body millions of light years away.
"What do you think happens to our souls when we die, Irene?" Jotaro questioned.
"I don't know." Said the young woman, without even taking her eye off the telescope, mesmerized by the blue luminosity of the nebula. "They reincarnate, perhaps?"
"I think so." Jotaro guessed uncertainty. "I see in that nebula my great friend."
"Somehow this might be pareidolia, Daddy." guessed Irene, once again analyzing the celestial body. She's seen pictures of Noriaki before, so her dad's PTSD was maybe making him see things.
Jotaro wasn't too willing to believe that it was just an illusion of his mind. "It's not pareidolia. When he left, I didn't see his soul rising… I believe his soul is still present somewhere, and this nebula is proof of that."
Irene looked at her father. "You love him, don't you, Daddy?"
Jotaro nodded. She let the silence get the better of him, but then, it took over. "Yes, I love him. Wherever he is, I still feel him. I feel him so close to me, darling... I know that the glow we see in the stars today was emitted thousands of years ago, but with this nebula it's so different, it breaks the laws of physics for me... I can feel it."
Irene smiled, her heart warmed by the declaration of love, but saddened by the tone used by her father. "So he's still alive as long as you feel love for him. And that nebula is a reminder of your soul, Dad. You can feel it."
"You're right, nebulae signify rebirth, a cycle that came to an end with the death of a star in a supernova, but which can give life to other celestial bodies later," said Jotaro, looking at the nebula again through the telescope. "Kakyoin will never be forgotten as long as this nebula is visible to me, just like a nebula, his death caused him to be reborn in the most beautiful form the universe has ever allowed me to see."
Irene held her father's hand and looked at the nebula with him. It was a comforting feeling to know that the soul of someone Jotaro loved was still present somewhere, even if in a different form. They stayed there for a while, enjoying the beauty of the universe and the special connection Jotaro had with Kakyoin. The night's chill made Jotaro shiver, but the daughter took off her orange sweater embroidered with hearts and draped it over her father's shoulders, determined to warm him with her love.
Both stayed there for hours, watching the nebula and reflecting on everything that had happened since the journey to Egypt until the birth of Irene. He wondered if Kakyoin could still hear him, if he could feel his presence the same way Jotaro could feel his. He knew deep down that his question was pointless, a cloud of dust couldn't sense him that easily. Irene turned on a light in the backyard, strong enough to be reflected by the mirrors of that telescope and shine far away… and that giant nebula picked up the signal.
Kakyoin understood what it was when he saw the cloud of blue dust shimmering around him. His soul transformed into something beautiful, colossal before the curious eyes coming from far away from him. Somehow the cloud of dust was sentient, leaving behind the memories of a love that was never left behind. He made some movement in his dust cloud, responding with a bright glow that he somehow hoped would be picked up on that planet.
And father and daughter caught the signal from the nebula in the form of waves. The Hierophant Nebula would be a constant reminder of his friend, his struggles and his courage to face the most painful fights. Jotaro knew that he would never meet another person like Kakyoin again. But now, at least, he knew his presence was still there, glowing in the night sky like an eternal proof of his love.
Jotaro always knew that Kakyoin didn't completely disappear after the final battle against Dio, he didn't even see the soul of his beloved ascending to heaven like Iggy and Avdol. He could feel his beloved's presence somewhere and now, finally, he had found him off the ground.
As he watched the nebula, Jotaro felt a wave of emotion hit him. He remembered all the memories he had shared with Kakyoin, as if everything had come from centuries ago, from a distant lifetime. He remembered the first look until the last kiss, and how much he struggled to overcome the loss of his lover in a new love that, despite not being reciprocated, gave him the greatest gift of his life: Irene.
And now, somehow, Kakyoin was present in a whole new form, a being with intelligence that had come from carbon and dust and returned to stardust. Jotaro, on Earth, wished that at the end of his life, his soul would turn into a nebula just so his love for Kakyoin would last longer. He knew that science still wasn't able to fully explain the riddles of the universe, especially when it came to things like the afterlife. But for him, the discovery of the Hierophant nebula was proof that love and the human soul are real and enduring.