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“Now, now Jojo. I’m sure you know how the story goes.”
“No.” Joseph furiously shook his head. He got out of the blankets without warning and clambered onto his grandmother’s lap on the bed and whined. “I want to hear you say it, Granny Erina. It’s not the same! How else am I going to fall asleep?”
Grandma Erina chuckled.
Oh my darling Jojo.
Try as she may, Grandma Erina can hardly say no to her precious grandson. He is just too adorable. She pretended to get up, and Joseph clung to her arm hopelessly in sheer determination. A rapid series of ‘NO’ and ‘BUT GRANNY’ were heard and Granny Erina tried very hard to suppress her laughter.
She gave Joseph an exaggerated sigh and patted a spot next to her on the bed. The last time she had recounted the history of the Joestars’ lineage, she had the unfortunate experience of her legs going numb under Joseph’s weight so this time she is a little more cautious lest it happens again.
“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you the story Jojo. But then you have to go to sleep.”
Joseph beamed. “I promise Granny. Cross my heart.”
Grandma Erina smiled. She leaned in to ruffle Joseph’s hair and pulled him into a hug. “You really do love this story Jojo, don’t you?”
****
Once upon a time, long ago back into the Middle Ages, there was an outbreak of vampires deep into the heart of London. Our ancestor, Jonathan Joestar, did not like what has become of his beloved city. He saw that day after day, the people suffered under the hands of the vampires- his fellow humans, dying horribly left and right, and with time the vampires quickly gained power in England.
They fed on humans, stalked them, made toys out of them.
Grandma Erina roughly grabbed Joseph and tickled him at his sides. Her grandson squealed, and she bundled her fingers together to lightly peck at his body as if she herself was a vampire trying to make a meal out of him (nom, nom, nom!). After Joseph settled down, Grandma Erina continued again as she gestured for Joseph to tuck himself back into bed.
And it was on one foggy evening, when Jonathan was fighting to save a family on the streets of London that he had a faithful encounter that would change the history of the Joestars as you and I know it.
Joseph vibrated with excitement with a growing smile. This was his favourite part of the family legend.
An angel saw him that day.
No one knows the angel’s name, but based on the texts that had survived in the archives from all those years ago, from the descriptions of burning fire, the wheels, and its strong sense of justice, the elders in the Joestar clan had since believed that our dear Jonathan had made contact with an Ophanim angel.
“YESSSSS!” Joseph exclaimed, “SPEEDWAGON!!!”
Grandma Erina’s eyes crinkled warmly at her grandson. Ah, yes. Speedwagon. It was an old nickname that her late husband had given the angel from the stories back when he explained the risks of pursuing a relationship with him just before they had become official. She smiles at the memory.
After seeing our ancestor fight the vampires, the angel- Speedwagon, had said to him that he had admired Jonathan’s pure heart and strong resolve to protect humanity at the risk of him losing his own life.
And so the angel had blessed Jonathan with holy powers to assist him in his noble quest to save humanity from the vampires. It was after that encounter that when Jonathan had returned to the Old Manor that he saw that his back had been marked with a purple star, the very spot in which the angel had touched him.
“Just like mine and grandpa’s!” Joseph chirped.
“Exactly just like yours and grandpa’s.” Grandma Erina agreed.
And ever since the Joestars had been blessed by the angel, over generations the Joestars had the honour of slaying the vampires and protecting humankind. Our clan is gifted with many talents unknown to man, and it is said that those who are born in the clan with the special mark possess great power unlike all others.
At this Grandma Erina kissed her grandson on the forehead, and patted his cheek twice. “I have to go and prepare for tomorrow’s supper.” She said steadily. “I’m sure that is enough for you to fall asleep now, hm?”
“Yup. Thank you for staying Granny.” Joseph said softly from the bed.
“Always for you my love.”
Grandma Erina blew the candle light placed on the table nearby them and closed the door behind her. As she walked further from her grandson’s room, she found that couldn’t hold it back anymore.
Out of all the people in the clan to be born with the mark, why did it have to be her darling Jojo?
She knows of their legacy, and her late husband has warned her of this once more on the night before their wedding, but in the past few decades there was no denying the inevitable.
The Joestars…
As feared as the clan was in many vampire circles and amongst the supernatural alike, it is a closely guarded secret now that there were fewer members in the clan being born in the past few decades who were born with the angel’s mark.
Fewer people with the blessing to fight against the vampires, and according to their sources there were more vampires popping up who are more powerful than ever.
Yes, their clan was strong, skillful and commanding in the world of the supernatural. Grandma Erina knows this. But she worries for her grandson. In such a cruel world, year by year she keeps on thinking to herself the same question over and over.
If Joseph is going to fight to protect humanity, who is going to protect my darling grandson?
She doesn’t want her grandson to die. The day they take her darling boy away, her life is as good as dead.
Grandma Erina softly cries herself to sleep that night. She thinks of her dear Jonathan, who had disappeared without a trace a week after their wedding. She thinks of Joseph, and of the harsh life that awaits him.
She curses her inability to help her grandson, and she feels helpless. She silently curses the angel too, for dooming her loved ones to such cruel fates.
In the morning she wakes up, washes her face and goes about her day.
She sits and peels the potatoes for supper as she watches her grandson talk to no one in particular outside in the gardens.
Grandma Erina is afraid of the future and what it would bring to her family.
She sincerely hopes everything will be alright. But you can only hope for so long and for so far, so she counts her blessings with what she has now, and for everything that comes both far and between in the morrow.