Stardust Crusaders: Around The World

Death 13, Part 1

The sound of a baby crying out loud in the dark void Noriko was sleeping in made the red-haired teen stir.

"Be quiet..." She mumbled, knitting her brows together as she stirred.

But the crying didn't stop, it kept going. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the bright green sky and found herself in a cart of a ferris wheel. Rubbing her eyes while sitting up, she looked to the side. She saw tea-cup rides, carousels and all sorts of other rides you would find in amusement parks.

"A-Am I in an amusement park?" She asked herself. "I've never been here before..." She looked down at the clothes she was wearing, she was in her pajamas.

"What the hell am I doing lounging in a ferris wheel with my pajamas on?!" She then turned her attention at the park. "Something's not right..."

"I'm positive we were just traveling through the Saudi Arabian desert by camels..." She recalled the memory. "But... Where is everyone? Am I alone?"

The sound of a dog letting out a tiny bark grabbed her attention. She turned to the side, finding a brown dog with green eyes sitting next to her. The girl smiled and patted the cute animal. The dog wagged its tail, loving the affection.

Noriko glanced up, "This is strange...I don't see any children in the amusement park, yet I still hear a baby crying." She pointed out and began to look around. "I wonder where the baby is..."

Suddenly a hoard of balloons floated high in the air but one balloon in particular floated to Noriko. At the end of the balloon's string was a card attached to it. Once it was close enough, Noriko reached over and grabbed the card.

Turning the card over, she widened her eyes in shock when she realized she was holding a tarot card.

"T-This is... Death Thirteen!"

The picture of the tarot had a puppet comedy mask holding a reaper scythe wearing black robe all over him. Then in the picture, a weird gooey substance was coming out of the card.

"I-It's moving!"

The arms and the scythe came out of the picture in an instant and Noriko screamed in horror as she let go of the tarot card on time but it stabbed straight into the dog's head, killing it instantly. Blood gushed everywhere as she stood there, petrified from what she just witnessed.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"Noriko! Noriko!" Polnareff shouted over and over, calling her name.

Noriko's screaming instantly stopped and found herself sitting up from her bed while Polnareff had his hand on her back, trying to calm her down from a moment earlier. She was sweating, shaking and had a terrifying look on her face.

"Hey, do me a favor will ya'? Quit freaking out and shaking the bed like you're in The Exorcist ." Polnareff said with his hands now on his hands. "Honestly you were scaring the crap out of me with that."

"W-Where am I?" Noriko asked. She looks around the room in apprehension. Although she was awake and safe, she still felt disturbed.

"Where do you think?" Polnareff then clapped his hands once and approached the window. "Come on, Noriko. Time to get up already." He opens the window, letting the sunshine in.

Noriko raised her arm to block the sunlight from hurting her eyes.

"We're gonna leave after we eat." Polnareff stated. "Looks like it'll be another hot one today."

Noriko put her arm down and sighed, "I had an awful dream..." She wipes the sweat off her face. "It was really bad."

"Ooh! What'd you dream about?" Polnareff eagerly asked as he walked over to the edge of Noriko's bed. "Tell me!"