The Living Purgatory [ VARIOUS JJBA x reader]

12- things going bump in the night... or day.

(you all chose: go find avdol! this has a low success rate)

the plane ride came and went, and before you knew it, you had landed in cairo, egypt, with your tag along manny. after you woke up again, all refreshed and fully charged, you and manny decided to go find avdol first, since it might me easier to get the hard stuff done first.

 this task would prove to be more difficult than anticipated as avdol was eaten in his entirety, and even seen passing on.

its been two hours since you had investigated the area avdol was spotted floating into heaven, or whatever that place was, and yet there was no sign of him.

on top of this, his assumed remnant, his bracelets, couldnt be found anywhere near dios mansion or even the relative area, leaving you to wonder if maybe, just maybe, there wasnt a remnant to be found in the first place.

"how much longer do we have to walk?" manny groaned, head falling back from boredom. "its been such a long time since we've last eaten!"

"we had breakfast three hours ago, youre fine." you laughed in response, coming dangerously close to punting the poor kid into orbit. what demon possessed you into bringing a child along with you, especially one as needy as manny?

"lets just look around one last time before i grab you a snack, deal?" you finally sighed, standing up from where you crouched

manny narrowed his eyes at you, rightfully skeptical. "you promise?"

"yes, now keep an eye out for anything that looks like lost jewelry, maybe even a necklace. we need those to find avdol, y'know."

manny nodded, ever so agitated by your hyper focus on finding something, anything, to link to the fortune-teller and possibly revive him. sure, there was already a high chance that his remnant wasnt even in cairo, let alone existence, but its the effort that counts.

you, with what great caution you had, carefully lifted manny over some stray shards of glass on the floor a few feet ahead, mindful to not step in them yourself as you trudged down empty hall after empty hall.

being inside a possibly haunted manor didn't frighten you in the slightest, despite popular belief. instead, you were actually wishing for the sweet relief of death due to this heat, the sweatpants you wore and the oversized zip-up laying on your chest not doing you any favors. 

unfortunately, in the desert, layering up was safer then wearing shorts and a tank top, which would normally lead to heatstroke or something. you werent sure, you never payed attention to any warnings like you should. after all, you cant die, so what's the point!

manny tapped his foot impatiently while you picked and tinkered with a locked door in the abandoned domain, tearing away at the knob with greedy hands as if some great treasure lied beyond it.

manny decided to just sit on his bottom and wait for you, maybe pick through your belongings in your satchel to entertain himself. of course, there wasnt much of anything that was interesting besides a spare eyepatch and maybe your file of deceased targets, until he had found something peculiar.

hidden beneath spare clothes, bandages, and random jars was a little locket. upon opening the tiny necklaces contraption, a small picture was revealed of a young girl, presumably you, standing in between three men in the same baggy clothing as yourself. you were smiling brightly, a neat, frilly white dress hugging your small body comfortably, its color matching your right eye.

who were those people? were those people good, or bad? were they family members? neighbors?

breaking through his fogged mind of questions, a familiar, rough hand came over and snatches the locket from mannys clutches, however harshly. after looking up to find you staring down at him with an agitated expression, manny noticed you were clutching a set of bandages, recalling that you once read to him of a dog that lost his leg and had to have bandages tied to his body.

despite your findings, you didnt seem too pleased. "dont go through my stuff again, squirt."

"who are those people in the picture?" he foolishly asked, watching as you packed everything up quickly and descended the stairs with unmatched haste. 

"those were my parents, manny." 

"parents? why are there three of them?"

"one was a close family friend, the other two were just glued by the hip. dont know why, but they seemed to be so in love and involved with each other that i could be missing half the time and they wouldnt notice." you plainly answered. you just met this kid, no need to give him your lifes story.

"were any of those guys your dad? were they necromancers too?"

"no. they were graveyard workers."

manny hastily followed behind you, even tripping at the sharp corner you turned at unexpectedly and racing to catch up with you. "graveyard workers? did you work there too?"

with all these damn annoying questions, it was only natural that your eye would twitch in agitation, your mouth curling into a frown when he repeated his question again.

as you opened your mouth to speak, probably to tell him to shut up, a sudden clatter came from the main room in the mansion, echoing through the empty halls and silencing the two of you quickly.

it was silently decided that you'd investigate, manny following you as you ran in the direction of the noise, taking confusing turns along hall after hall until...

"damn it, fork in the road."

readers choice! choose wisely, this will affect whether or not you find avdol! (from this point on, you will not be receiving elaboration on options unless you complete a certain challenge in a special place. this will be particularly hard to come across.)

-go left. 

-go right.

-have manny decide. (escape route)

- tip: any large amount of fear someone has of you will cause them to permanently leave the party, or cause them to permanently cut communication with you. any large amount of distrust will lead to betrayal or abandonment. any large amount of dislike will cause sourness, and if increased anymore will make them leave the party, and possibly steal a few things from you. choose your choice wisely.-