Joseph let his head fall back against the upholstery of the chair and breathed out a short, irritated sigh. "How much longer?"
It wasn't the first time he'd asked. For your sake, Caesar thought, I hope not much longer. He barely scraped together the willpower to keep from saying it aloud. Instead, he distracted himself with the observation that Joseph, who still hadn't completely dried off by the time they'd made it to Caesar's apartment some blocks from the plaza where they'd met, was getting fountain water on the upholstery of one of his nice high-backed chairs. He held back a sigh of his own. What a complete imbecile.
He was half convinced Joseph was on the verge of asking yet again how much longer it would be when the sound of a car screeching to stop drifted through the open window. Caesar sprang out of his seat, not bothering to hide his relief.
He could practically feel the suspicion radiating from Joseph as he appeared at the window behind him, eyes directed down to the run-down car idling at the ground floor entrance to the building. A man in black hung one arm out of the driver's side window. He gave a nod of greeting to Caesar up above.
"Um, who is that?"
"That is who's going to help us get in, Joestar." Caesar turned for the door. "Mind your manners."
Joseph was still standing at the window. "Is that a bullet hole in the windshield? Don't tell me we've been waiting three hours for some guy from the Italian mafia, because I'm not about to -"
"JoJo, this is an associate of Caesar's..."
Caesar was all too happy to leave Joseph's petulant voice behind him as he dashed down the steps to the waiting car. The man tipped his hat to Caesar as he slid into the passenger seat. "Good to see you, Mark. I appreciate this."
"Of course, mio amico. I still owe you a favor."
The doors to the backseat opened as Speedwagon and Joseph caught up to him. The latter eyed Mark suspiciously as he took a seat, still looking less than thrilled about this arrangement, but he kept his mouth shut as the car pulled away from the curb. Predictably enough, it didn't last for long.
"How do you know this guy anyway?" Joseph demanded from the backseat, as if Mark weren't sitting right in front of him.
"Old friend," Caesar replied dismissively, turning to Mark. "Hey, you still with that girl from Florence?"
Mark's eyes stayed on the road, but a small smile appeared on his face, the kind Caesar rarely saw on him. "We're getting married in a few weeks."
"Mamma mia! Are you serious? Congratulations!" The car swerved a bit as he threw his arm around Mark. I guess he's finally settling down, then. Caesar could hardly imagine marriage with the kind of lives they both used to lead... "I was his wingman when he first met her, you know!"
"Would you quit strangling the driver?" Joseph snapped from the backseat, sliding into Speedwagon as they swerved.
Caesar pulled back to his own seat with a shrug, but he certainly wasn't about to let Joseph get off completely free. He turned in his seat to face him, a smug smile on his face. "Say, Joseph, I haven't heard you mention anything about a girlfriend back home. Could it possibly be that you don't have one?"
Joseph's scowl was answer enough.
"I'll take that as a no. How could that be? A catch like you?"
Joseph turned to the window with a huff, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. Speedwagon hardly looked like he approved, but the embarrassment was apparently sufficient to shut up Joseph for most of the rest of the ride, which made it fully worth the disapproval.
The car pulled up in front of an old church that Caesar recognized in the dull glow of the streetlights as the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, a fact he was sure Joseph did not pick up on. The huge stone seal to which Mark led them, however, was one even Joseph seemed to recognize.
"The Mouth of Truth," Speedwagon murmured as Mark stepped forward, reaching into the face's mouth. There was a small click, and then the face was rolling aside, revealing the gaping mouth of a tunnel.
"The German soldiers keep a pretty close eye on this place," Mark said over his shoulder as he stepped into the tunnel, Caesar following close behind, trailed by Joseph and Speedwagon. "Stay close."
The cool air carried an old, earthy smell as they descended in semi-darkness, the torches lining the walls at long intervals not providing quite enough light for comfort. Quiet footsteps on the stone echoed softly off the walls. When the space finally opened up into a dim cavern, Mark held up a hand to stop so suddenly that Joseph ran into Caesar from behind.
"Watch it!"
"A little warning would have been appreciated, mafia friend!" Joseph stage-whispered back.
"Quiet," Mark said softly. "Something's not right."
Caesar squinted into the dark, searching for the flicker of movement of soldiers standing guard. The various lamps and floodlights that usually illuminated the cavern all stood dark.
"Hello-o?" Joseph called suddenly from behind him, making Caesar jump.
"Do you listen at all?" Caesar hissed, whirling to face him, but in place of the sound of shouting and soldiers converging on them, there was only Joseph's voice echoing through the huge space.
Speedwagon shook his head. "He's right. This isn't good."
Mark grabbed the nearest torch from the mouth of the tunnel, venturing out into the cavern with wary movements until the torchlight fell across one of the dormant floodlights. He fumbled with it for a minute before the light switched on, its powerful beam alleviating a little of the gloom in the space.
Not far beyond Mark, a tall, broad-shouldered silhouette stood perfectly still.
Caesar's heart lurched.
"That can't be –" Speedwagon started behind him, but Caesar barely heard him.
"Mark! Get back!"
But the silhouette in the long black coat, crouched slightly, like a deer preparing to spring out of the headlights, didn't move. It was the figure beyond him that took a step forward, and then another, and then another. Weak light glinted off gold jewelry and traced the ripple of muscles beneath bronze skin. The woman's sturdy frame towered at least a foot over Mark as she approached him, but her eyes never even glanced toward the figure in her path.
In her path...
"Mark! Get out of there!"
And then she was walking into him – she must have been walking into him, but her pace didn't slow, and Mark didn't move. Not until she was past him, and the half of his body that was left was pitching backwards.
Caesar was running toward him before he could think. He caught Mark before he hit the ground, but something about the way his body – what was left of his body – flopped in his arms made his stomach turn even before he saw the dullness in his remaining eye. The blood that soaked into his shirt and ran down his arms was still warm. Half a locket lay next to Mark on the ground, and a young woman Caesar recognized smiled back at him.
"What is the meaning of this, Wamuu?"
The voice intruded on the memory of Mark's smile as he drove – we're getting married in a few weeks. Caesar looked up to see the third of the pillarmen, a fair-skinned woman with eerily bright eyes, regarding a wound on her upper arm. A solitary lock of violet hair escaped the constraint of a head wrap.
The woman Caesar could only assume was Wamuu knelt on the ground before her, head bowed. "Apologies, lord Kars -"
"No need," the woman cut her off, and the words sounded so calculated they sent a shiver through Caesar – or they would have, if he had been thinking more clearly. If he had been thinking at all. Kars was already turning to go, the other two following. "I walked across your shadow. The fault is mine. We cannot waste time finding -"
"Hey!"
From somewhere behind him, he heard Speedwagon shout, "Caesar, don't!" but his own voice was already echoing through the cavern, the raw anger magnified a hundredfold as it bounced back and forth off the stone walls. Three pairs of eyes fell on him, glinting in the floodlights.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Caesar shouted.
He was distantly aware of Speedwagon and Joseph looking on – the first with horror, the second one with what Caesar thought might have been surprise. He took a step forward, hamon crackling across raised fists.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Joseph move toward him as if to stop him. "You can't seriously be planning to take these guys on?"
"Stay out of this, Joestar." Caesar narrowed his eyes, and in the low light he could see the ghost of a smile pull at Kars's mouth. "This is personal."
A little late on the update, but I'm gonna try to post a new chapter every Sunday. And yes, the pillarmen are female. I didn't change the name cause "pillar people" just doesn't have the same ring.
- Wesley H