Best Laid Plans

1888: A Brief Farewell

Zeppeli wrote the letter in a script Dio didn’t recognise—languages had never been his forte. He waved it around to dry the ink, then folded it, placing it in an envelope he produced from in his coat’s pockets. He sealed the letter with some dripped wax from the table’s candle, wrote an address on the front and sat it on the table to dry. Speedwagon frowned, moving it slightly so he and Dio could read the map Zeppeli had also produced.

“So,” Speedwagon said slowly. “When Mr Joestar wakes up, Dio’s goin’ to leave to go to Wind Knight’s Lot?” 

“Yes, Speedwagon,” Dio said, tracing the route he’d take with his finger. With his new speed, it should only take three nights—over half the time it would take a regular person.

“And I’m goin’ to stay here with Baron Zeppeli and help him train Mr Joestar?”

Dio sighed.

“Yes, Speedwagon. You can’t exactly come with me, you were here when JoJo went into hospital—it’d be suspicious if you weren’t here.”

Speedwagon frowned.

“I know, it’s just…I know Baron Zeppeli can take care of Mr Joestar, but what if Erina catches up to you?”

“I’ll be fine,” Dio reassured. “If anything happens, I’ll just run very fast in the opposite direction.”

Speedwagon laughed.

“We both know that’s a lie. You’re no coward Dio.”

Dio smiled wryly. 

“Sometimes I wish I was.”

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Erina still couldn’t shake the bad feeling from the night before, even as she tended to Jonathan’s wounds. 

She wrung out the cloth she was holding, walking from the basin to Jonathan’s bedside, laying the cool cloth on his mostly healed burns.

She had to hand it to him—the man healed ridiculously fast. She’d seen burns like this before, in India, and it had taken months for the wounds to heal. Jonathan’s had practically disappeared in just a few days. She shook her head and moved back to the basin, rewetting the cloth and wringing it out. The sound of the droplets hitting the water in the basin was ridiculously loud to her heightened hearing. It was taking quite some getting used to, but the ability had its uses.

She paused at the basin, hearing a slight shift in Jonathan’s heartbeat. It sped up a little, and Erina rushed to the bedside. Was it getting worse? Or was he waking up?

Her question was soon answered.

“E-Erina?” Jonathan’s eyes flickered open. His voice was dry and croaky and she handed him a glass of water she’d kept in the room.

“Hello, JoJo.”

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Jonathan and Erina strolled down near the river, Erina covered from head to toe, a parasol protecting her face from the sun. They talked companionably, Jonathan avoiding the topic any time Erina tried to bring up what had happened to Joestar Mansion.

They’d been walking for almost an hour when a strange man—who had been leaning against a tree—approached them, demonstrating ‘Hamon’— which gave him the power to kill vampires.

Erina hung back, wary of approaching the man. This must have been the sound she heard the other night—this man hunting for…Dio, she presumed. He hadn’t reacted to her presence at all and was currently standing on the river, giving Jonathan some spiel about ‘ripple power’.

She tuned it all out, fuming at herself for not investigating the noise. If she’d caught him by surprise the night before, this threat would have been neutralised. She had to be more careful, gather her strength. If they found out that Dio wasn’t the only vampire around…needless to say, it would not end well.

Erina glanced at Jonathan, he was still talking to the man—completely forgetting Erina’s presence in his quest for vengeance against his father’s killer. No, it would not end well if Jonathan found out it was she who had murdered his father.

Quickly, she left the river, making her way—at a regular speed—back to town. She’d leave once it was completely dark and make her way to London. She’d gather people there, gather her power. If she was lucky, Dio would be hiding out there as well.

She hoped.

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Dio bid farewell to Speedwagon and lept out the window. Zeppeli was keeping JoJo busy down at the river, giving Dio the opportunity to leave town without being spotted. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding the area of town near the hospital. It would only take him a few days to reach Wind Knight’s Lot, but the quicker he got there the better. He didn’t want Erina focusing on JoJo too much—if she really didn’t want word of what had actually happened reaching JoJo, Dio was the person she needed dead.

He was bait. And that was fine.

Dio had never been much of a hero anyway.