Bloody Golden Butterfly [JJBA Fanfiction] (Giorno x Jolyne)

47. Shum

Jolyne barely had time to let out an exhausted sigh before hurriedly taking off her shoes. She was going to need her feet free for this.

The floor of the motorboat felt cool against the soles of her feet, but when she leaped out over the edge and into the water, she found that the canal water was cooler. Quickly finding her footing on the Hamon-charged water, she began running. Her training was paying off once again, for she moved much faster than their motorboat. A single glance confirmed that the rifle was pointed directly at Giorno's office, whose unmistakable blond hair could be glimpsed through the window.

Her companions finally took notice of what she was doing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shizuka trying to get out and join her, but Josuke pulled her back in. The motorboat, maneuvered by Rohan, changed direction and started following her.

Golden sparks mingled with water droplets as she took long strides. She threw her left arm forward, unraveling it into strings before fixing it on one of the window shutters of the house she wanted to reach to further accelerate her run before jumping straight inside.

As soon as she entered through the window, someone spoke up.

"You're cursed and you break everything you touch."

Jolyne froze for a moment, finding familiarity in the voice and those words. For a second, she wondered if Rohan's curse had failed and Romeo actually stayed back in Venice. But no, it couldn't be; she knew how powerful the mangaka was. Scanning the room, it seemed completely empty. That could only mean one thing.

Realizing she would have to deal with a hidden assailant that was not only armed with a sniper but also possessed a Stand ability, she immediately became extra alert.

"You're constantly giving me hope..."

It was a new voice, this time belonging to Anasui. Chills crawled up Jolyne's spine when hearing the voice of a dead man whose funeral she'd held only weeks ago. She immediately shot one of her strings to probe in the direction it came from, near one of the walls.

"I can see hope for myself through you, and I've never felt this way... not in a prison, not in the outside world."

There it was. Attached to the surface of the wall was a small mouth that was the same color as the wall. She had almost missed it because of how well it camouflaged with its backdrop. Despite being found out, the lips continued moving, forming cruel words.

"That's why I'm here."

Jolyne felt a hot flash of pain in her chest as if stabbed by an arrow, remembering how Anasui had died only because he followed her. She punched the mouth, not wanting to hear anymore. However, another voice spoke up, and then another and another. All were familiar to her; some were her loved ones and others were her enemies. Regardless of who it was, the words they spoke grated at her heart. She couldn't get to all the mouths fast enough to make them shut up before another one would start, the volume getting louder and louder.

'STOP IT!'

Unable to stand them anymore, Jolyne immediately covered her ears. That left her defenseless to the first blow. A fist attached to a slender arm punched her hard in the stomach. She immediately doubled over in pain.

Resisting the pain, Jolyne lifted her head and connected gazes with her attacker. She saw a young woman with a short bob of dark hair and two long green braids on either side of her head. Jolyne didn't know where the attacker had come from, but what was important was that she was now in plain sight.

The attacker must not have counted on Jolyne being able to react so quickly despite being caught off guard. Surely, she also must have also not expected Jolyne to unravel her own ears into strings in order to mute all sound and focus on spreading the other strings throughout the room.