TRAVELING WITHOUT THE JOESTARS WAS SO NICE. There were no Stand attacks, no sudden inconveniences. I had to say, flying was much better without being forced to hold an evil baby while sitting squashed between two burly men. Even better: the plane landed in a perfectly safe and normal fashion.
I started searching for Dio as soon as I left the airport. Perhaps he'd found some abandoned place to squat in like before. Then again, he seemed to have more devoted followers this time, so maybe one of them would have given him a nice place to stay. Either way, it was a safe bet that Dio was in a spacious, private location. Possibly a building with drawn curtains or boarded up windows like a typical vampire.
After 2 days of searching, I became frustrated. Where the hell was he? I'd asked around, but of course no one had seen Dio. If I had Joseph's resources, I was certain I could have found him by now . . . I sighed. I could just wait for the Joestars, but they'd probably barely manage to make it in time thanks to the constant Stand attacks. I didn't even know where they were anymore and I had no way of contacting them.
But the world suddenly decided to throw me a bone in the form of a familiar man. Not who I was looking for, but surely he would be helpful. I grinned. This should be easy. I took a couple deep breaths to get myself into character, then quickened my breaths until I felt a little breathless. At that point, I started running.
Hol Horse heard me coming and turned just in time to dodge me. The plan was to run right into him and fall, but I'd underestimated his reflexes. He dodged, and in my surprise, I actually tripped and fell. I played up the pain and Hol Horse remained calm despite his confusion.
"Are you okay?" He asked. "That was quite a tumble."
"Yes, sorry," I said. My voice was soft and wavering. "I wasn't looking. I just . . . I'm such an idiot." My eyes began to water.
"Don't cry," Hol Horse said. "Foolish men are not worth the tears of a pretty girl."
I blinked at him in genuine surprise. The story I was going to tell him was that I was a young girl who'd just had her heart broken for the first time, but it seemed that he'd already guessed that. Was my acting that bad? Or maybe it was so good that he'd instantly been convinced of what happened.
"I can tell that your tears are genuine," Hol Horse sighed. "Please let me help you up," he said, offering me a hand.
I sniffled a bit, pretending to hesitate before taking his hand. "What a gentleman," I said. Hol Horse smiled a bit at the compliment and tried to pull his hand back, but I wouldn't let it go. Instead, I held it between both of my hands and pulled it closer to my chest in a somewhat pleading gesture. He froze. Predictable.
I gave him the biggest puppy eyes I could manage. "I flew here to visit my boyfriend, but . . . there was another girl. I didn't know what else to do, so I ran. But I don't know this city. I'm afraid I'm lost and I don't have anywhere else to go. Do you know someplace I could stay?"
My Stand activated a second after I asked the question. Memories flooded my head. Just as I'd thought; Hol Horse had been in Cairo to see Dio. And it turned out that he'd tried and failed to assassinate the vampire before deciding to follow him after all. What a fickle man. It made sense why he wasn't much of an adversary in battle.
Hol Horse's grip on my hand tightened slightly as the memories ran through his head. I'd practiced showing memories to the Joestar group, but they'd never seen my Stand. Hopefully, Hol Horse would be the same. If I was lucky, I could get information out of him. I could tell he was a little confused why he'd thought of Dio, but he didn't seem to think anything was amiss.
"There's a hotel a few blocks from here," Hol Horse said. He gave me the address and pointed me in the right direction. Coincidentally enough, I was already staying at that hotel because it was in a central location. That was good for my cover story, if anyone decided to check. We parted ways and I headed in the direction of the hotel for appearance's sake before doubling back towards Dio's mansion.
The problem quickly went from finding Dio's mansion to getting inside it. The walls surrounding the terra cotta building were high and the only entrance was a large, solid metal gate that practically screamed 'stay out!'
If I went in, I wasn't sure how far I'd make it. Hol Horse hadn't encountered security measures on his visit― perks of being one of Dio's lackeys― so I had no idea what awaited me inside. I was certain Dio would have guards of some sort. He probably kept the best and most trusted ones near him, which made my job extremely difficult.
I stared at the metal gate. What a shame . . . I was so close, but I was almost certain that opening the gate would be a big mistake. I would definitely have to fight if I entered, but I couldn't afford to endanger my host body. If I died now, there was no telling who I'd become and whether I'd be able to reach Dio before the Joestars.
"Miss?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the voice and whirled around. There was a tall man standing behind me. A bit of brown hair was peeking out of the tall green headwrap he was wearing. A V-line of green bars was tattooed on his forehead, between his eyebrows, and down his nose with a separate circle on his chin. His earrings were large and made of gold, shaping the letters 'TD'― his initials? If I'd noticed anything about Dio's henchmen, it was that most of the men seemed to have large, muscular statures. This man was no exception. That was a good sign, right?
"Hello," I greeted him calmly despite the sudden increase in my heart rate. He hadn't made a single sound before speaking and that unnerved me.
"Greetings," he said. "I am a humble butler of the mansion you've been staring at. Terrence D'Arby is the name. My master asked me to bring you inside."
". . . What?" I asked, stupefied.
"My master noticed you standing here and wished to see what you wanted," Terrence elaborated. That didn't help my confusion much.
"So he's okay with letting a stranger into his home?"
"Of course. It's completely safe, I assure you."
That's such a serial killer line. Under normal circumstances, I would have refused and walked away. But these were desperate times and I really did need to get into the mansion.
I frowned. "What's your master's name?"
Terrence cocked his head to the side. "He asked me not to tell you."
I laughed. "Really? How interesting . . . Lead the way," I said. And he did.
I thought he would take me in through wherever he'd come out of, but instead, the metal gate opened for him like the jaw of a monster. The bottom of the gate was spiked, making it extra solid when it was closed. Terrence walked right in, but I hesitated before crossing the threshold. It felt like I was going to be swallowed up, maybe like the gate would slam down like a guillotine, but nothing happened. Terrence lowered the gate after me and I took a quick look around. There was absolutely nothing of note.
"Nice place. No guards?" I asked.
Terrence didn't respond. The place was dark, lit only by the candle that my companion had picked up at the entrance. We walked up two flights of stairs before he stopped to knock on one of the doors.
A voice responded from inside. "Enter." It was a command. My heart jumped at the familiar voice.
The butler opened the door, but stepped aside so I could enter. I swallowed my nerves and stepped into the room. The air in the room was dense and chilling, making it difficult to breathe. But what made it even more difficult was seeing Dio in front of me once more. He was laying in bed, drinking a glass of what I assumed was blood. It was hard to see when the room was so dark, but I could tell he was relaxed, oozing confidence and power. He'd become one with the shadows of the room. His presence seemed to loom over me from every direction. I hated it.
Something in my chest stung harshly. In my mind, I'd been fighting to reach a ghost. I thought Dio had died and I'd . . . not moved on, but I'd accepted his death. Even when Joseph told me Dio had always been alive, I knew the man I fell in love with had died almost a century ago. I couldn't say I hated Dio now, I just didn't know how I felt about him anymore. I thought I would know when I stood in front of him, but I didn't. So much had happened since the last time we'd seen each other. When I looked upon him now, I remembered everything.
For a few heartbeats, neither of us spoke. It seemed like we were both wondering what to say.
Dio was the first to speak. "What is your name?"
I answered without hesitation, but didn't give him a surname. "Freya."
It had been a while since I'd used that name, but it still sounded like my own name rather than a stranger's.
The darkness hid Dio's expression and his posture didn't change, but he echoed my name thoughtfully. Then, he hummed. "I see. How did you find me, Freya?"
"One of your minions is particularly weak to pretty women."
"Hol Horse," Dio huffed. "Right after I decided to let him live . . ."
I chuckled. "Don't be too harsh on him. It's fortunate I ran into him. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be here right now. I had no idea where you were. You really are good at hiding."
"It's necessary for a vampire such as myself," Dio said languidly. When I didn't react to hearing that he was a vampire, he continued. "Your blood smells familiar to me. There are so many people on this earth, but only one person's blood has ever been distinct to me. Right now, your blood has that scent. Why is that?"
I blinked in surprise. "Why do you think?" I questioned in return.
After dying as Freya, I learned that my abilities with hamon were linked to my self rather than my body. I didn't think my blood was the same way, especially when I was the only person Dio seemed to like― of course he would like my blood over everyone else's.
In one smooth motion, Dio sat up from bed and swung his legs over the side of the mattress. In the blink of an eye, he was standing before me.
"It's really you?" He asked like he already knew the answer and was repeating the question just to make sure.
I swallowed thickly. This was the moment I'd been waiting for since the day I'd died a hundred years ago. "Yes."
I barely had time to prepare before he swept me into a hug. "I can hardly believe it!" Dio exclaimed in joy. "Freya, my love . . ."
My eyelids slipped closed. "I'm here," I said, wrapping my arms around him as best as I could. "I'm here . . ."
Now that the truth was out there, my feelings were further confused.
"I'd like you no matter what you looked like."
"What if I looked so different that you couldn't recognize me?"
"Impossible," Dio scoffed. "I would always recognize you, no matter how different you might appear."
The conversation at the time was hypothetical and vague, so I was certain his words were just words. Even if I wanted them to be a promise, I'd always thought they wouldn't be true. But here we were.
When he pulled away, I could finally make out the details of his body in the dim candle light. His eyes were the same deep gold I'd seen in dreams. His skin was pale and his facial features were sharper than I remembered. Perhaps it was because he was still adjusting to his new body. The scar around his neck looked like it was healing, but the divide between his head and the rest of his body was still very clear. It was lucky he and Jonathan had similar builds. I couldn't tell much of a difference, probably thanks to Dio's vampire powers working to take over Jonathan's body completely. His torso was bare― of course it was. The only thing he was wearing was yellow chaps over black, skintight pants. The green heart-shaped belt buckle and matching knee pads that accented his outfit were also quite the statement.
I couldn't help but stare at his pants. "Are you a cowboy? What on earth are you wearing?"
"High fashion," Dio responded with a completely straight face. "You wouldn't get it. So many things have changed over the years."
For a moment we looked at each other, then we laughed. Everything had led to this moment and suddenly all the words I wanted to say didn't matter anymore. I felt so . . . stupid. I wasn't sure why I laughed when there was so much reason for me to cry― I felt like I should cry. It was so hard to put into words, but at the base level, I wasn't really happy― not yet. I needed answers.
"You're right . . . So many things have changed."
Dio tensed at my words. He could tell I wasn't happy anymore.
"When I found out you were alive, I thought I'd feel happy, but . . . I don't know," I admitted. "When I die, I just take over the body of someone else who wasn't meant to die when they did. I'm basically immortal. I still die, but only my body. After Freya, I became someone else. I tried to find you, but you weren't there. I was shocked when Joseph showed up out of nowhere and told me that you were alive."
Dio inhaled sharply. "I heard there was a woman who had the power to see people's memories," he said. "Was that you?"
"Yes." I couldn't help smiling a little. Dio had never met me in that body, but just from the information I'd given him, he'd realized I'd been the one helping the Joestars.
"Incredible," Dio breathed.
"I meant to tell you before we married, but . . . everything happened and I thought you were dead," I admitted.
"I'm glad I didn't know until now," Dio said. "I would have gone insane being trapped in a coffin for almost a century, wondering who and where you were . . . How did you die that night?"
"I left your room even though you told me not to," I said. "I was hungry. I found out that you were planning to let me have a human friend after I found her wandering the hall. One of your zombies decided he wanted to toy with her and see if she could escape."
Dio clenched his fists silently.
"So I took her back to the dungeons and then a zombie locked me in with her and gave her another chance to escape if she killed me. I tried to convince her that we didn't have to fight, but I killed her. Then I killed the vampire and . . . Andrew." I frowned. "What you did to him was awful. He helped me find you― doing that to him was cruel. Jonathan and whoever he was with found me bleeding out after and I died before they could heal me."
Dio shook his head. "You died because he tried to heal you. Jonathan said his hamon had a negative interaction with my venom inside you. If he'd just brought you to me, you would have lived."
I frowned. "It wasn't anyone's fault I died. It just . . . happened. You can't blame Jonathan for this even if you hate him."
"I just . . ." Dio trailed off. I waited, but he was unable to explain himself.
"You wanted to kill him, didn't you? Deep down, were you glad that there was finally nothing in your way to stop you from committing atrocities."
"Freya," his eyes were serious when they met mine. "I was never happy that you were gone. Without you, I was lost. I never thought of you as an obstacle or burden to my goals. I simply wanted to complete my goals before beginning my life with you."
I sighed. That's what I had been getting to. "It started so simple. Just infiltrate the Joestar family and steal their fortune. Then it became isolating your competition. Then it became eliminating him instead. You succeeded, but you're still not happy and now look where we are. You're fighting with his descendants too. For what? Where does your goal end?"
Dio was frustrated, I could see it as his brows began to draw closer. "When you were there, I just wanted to give you the best things this world could offer. I had to fight for those things."
"I don't care what the world has to offer! I've seen so much. I've had everything and nothing. I've lived so many lives― I know. But I don't know when you will stop fighting. You were― are― the only one who can truly understand me. Both of us can live forever, so when you promised me that, I really believed it. But now I don't even know if I want forever with you. I've become afraid that the things we felt were different. Did you like me just because I could accept the darkness inside you? You never lied, but you needed prompting to tell the whole truth. Looking back, I started to wonder if you valued your own dreams more than a life with me."
Dio raised a hand to the back of his neck― to the scar where his head met Jonathan's body. "I thought I valued them the same, but after you died, there was nothing that I cared about. I don't regret prioritizing my goals, but . . . I should have kept you closer. And to be honest, I had no plans to terrorize the Joestars any longer. They came after me first."
"You're lying," I said. "The Joestars only found out you were alive because you were trying to recruit people. You . . . you have changed."
"I . . ." Dio finally stopped. His expression became almost pained. "I . . . Ever since you died, I've felt like I'm losing myself," he admitted. "I wanted vengeance on Jonathan, but after that was done, I was content to die in the fire with him. I thought I'd join you, you see? But I woke up in a coffin and I was trapped there for so long I really felt like I was going mad. When I was finally free, I was so hungry. So I ate. I had no Joestar inheritance, no friends, limited knowledge of the world and my surroundings. And I was all alone. Maybe I have changed. But there's so much I can't remember."
I frowned. I had noticed him changing when he became a vampire. Forgetting that I needed to eat, treating people like mere food. I thought it was just because he had a valid reason to believe he was different from everyone else, but now I wondered if it was vampirism exacting a toll on his psyche.
"I can help," I said. "If you want those memories, I can unlock them. There are also things I want to know for myself. I'll try not to look too deeply, but understand it can't be avoided in some cases."
Dio hesitated. "The human mind can only hold so many memories."
"I'll be alright. Neither of us are human, so we'll both be alright." Or so I hoped.
"Can I also see through your eyes?"
I nodded. It was only fair, after all. He reached out his left hand, palm facing me, and I pressed the palm of my own hand against it.
In a single instant, everything from the past hundred years of my memory poured into him. From the moment I became Freya Burrell to Dio taking my hand seconds ago― I let it all go. Other people might find their minds damaged by taking in more memories and emotions than their brain was made to handle, but Dio could heal. He was the only one who could truly know my story. And I was the only one Dio would trust with his.
But when I searched his memories, I frowned. He hadn't lied about the gap in his memory. Jonathan had been cradling Dio's dismembered head, shielding him from the flames. Dio felt as sad about it as he was capable of feeling. His rival was gone, his lover was gone, and now there was nothing. He truly was content to burn away. When I unveiled the rest of his memory, I was overwhelmed by a distinctly animalistic will to live.
I pulled myself out and hurried to check the next memory. It was similar. The box he'd been hiding in had been opened and he was so hungry, he devoured everyone there and waited for the ship's distress signal to reach someone. As I sifted through his memories, I realized maybe he really was losing himself. Most of the gaps in his memory were either uncharacteristically dark moments or his most human emotions. I pulled all of them into the light and let them play in order for Dio to see.
"I like you. I really mean that," I said. It wasn't a lie and it hadn't been for years. I didn't know exactly when it started, but I knew what I'd been feeling the moment Andrew Hyde had dared to talk to Freya.
". . . Really?" She asked. She didn't seem convinced.
"Really." He said. "I want you."
"Prove it," she commanded. It was a challenge I couldn't refuse . . . . . .
"We didn't kill her, Dio. You did." One of the men behind Jonathan said. "It was your venom that leeched away at her energy. Vampire venom is both healing and sedating. And it reacts negatively to hamon, just like your own cells. We couldn't heal her because of how much you'd already done to her."
How dare that man, that stranger speak to me. How dare he judge me when all he wants is my death. He looked at me with the disdain of someone seeing a roach. Suddenly, I was a helpless child in the slums again, looking up at adults who hated me without even knowing. I would kill him first, I decided.
"She's not here anymore," I said bitterly. "Nothing can save you."
Jonathan spoke. "It's not too late to stop. She would have wanted you to stop."
I knew that. I knew but . . . I hated him so much right now.
"She left you a message," Jonathan continued. "She said 'wait for me. I'll be back. I love you.'"
Those words didn't mean anything to me. How could I wait for her if I knew she would never return. How could she love me if I'd killed her? No, I hadn't killed her. It was the hamon reacting badly with my venom. He had killed her. So I looked at Jonathan Joestar and declared with all the fury in my heart that he was going to die tonight . . . . . .
I tore Jonathan's head from his body and in mere seconds, it was done. Jonathan's body was mine. I stood from the ground shakily. He was rejecting me. "It's not right."
Ha! He was just a worm beneath me. He'd always been beneath me. I crushed his skull under my heel. I was going to live for her. I could feel a pull towards her, like the string of fate moving my body to safety. Moving my body to where it needed to be.
Wait for me. I'll be back. I love you . . . . . .
She was in my dream again. That ghost named Freya. The ghost who'd been someone I loved. She haunted me like I was the reason she couldn't live in peace.
"Wait for me. I'll be back. I love you."
Yes, I was waiting. I relaxed as much as I could while cramped into a box. I didn't need to breathe, but the air tasted stale and salty. I hated being trapped. I was practically going insane remembering her when she was gone, but it was all I could do when I was stuck like this. I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself, but my lungs didn't need air and I didn't remember how to breathe . . . . . .
When I rolled over in my bed, I gasped. "Freya?"
The woman blinked at me in confusion. Not Freya, just someone who looked like how I remembered her. She wasn't there when I'd closed my eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but my hand wrapped around her throat and drained her blood. She struggled and clawed at my skin, but I didn't feel a thing. In fact, I was soothed by the fact that while she looked like Freya, she most certainly wasn't. Some part of me was angry at my own actions, crying for its other half, but I didn't care. If it wasn't her, I would never be whole. If it wasn't her, I didn't care . . .
Eventually both our past memories overlapped with the present and I saw myself through Dio's eyes. I felt hope, love, regret. The power of my Stand slipped away and when I blinked, I was standing in front of Dio again. I could see a humanoid figure standing behind Dio. She encircled his body with skeletal wings and covered his eyes with her palms. As her image faded, Dio's watery eyes came into focus. He linked our fingers together before I could pull my hand away.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know . . . Your memories were so beautiful. I . . . I feel whole again."
I stared at our entwined fingers, hesitating before squeezing his hand lightly. "I'm glad," I said.
"I didn't realize at the time how much it all meant to you," Dio said. "When I see things from your perspective, I understand why you were so adamant that I not kill Jonathan. I think I was running towards the thing you were running away from. Immortality, humanity― having either of those doesn't matter as long as I have you. I think now, I can keep my promise."
"You couldn't keep your last promise when it mattered most."
Dio frowned. "But I can do it now. That thing inside me that I forgot about . . . It was always me. I always thought there were two sides, vampire and human. But now I know it's both me. I won't reject it any longer. Those episodes where I black out shouldn't happen anymore. I feel it. So this time, I will do things differently. I will leave everything to you.
"Everything?" I blinked.
"Yes. My life is in your hands. If anyone in this world has the right to kill me, it's you. Be my judge," he said. He bent to grab my hand and pressed my palm to his chest, right over his heart. I tried to pull away, but his hand covered mine and held it firmly against him. "Please," he said.
I frowned. "You said your life had no meaning without me, but now that I'm here, you're trying to throw it away."
"I'm not throwing it away," Dio said. "I died the moment I put the stone mask on. But with you, I feel alive. You are my life, so I will obey your whims."
I swallowed. Something really had changed in Dio. I . . . I was happy.
Working out a plan was easy, the hard part was making sure all the pieces functioned well by themselves. Dio was surprisingly open to letting the Joestars live if they didn't pick a fight with him, but the hardest part would be ensuring they didn't fight. By the end of the day, we'd developed what seemed like a solid plan.
With our combined knowledge, we determined that Stands awakened in the Joestar bloodline due to Dio's connection to the Joestar bloodline via Jonathan's body. Theoretically, breaking that link could save Holly Joestar, which would hopefully stop the Joestars from killing Dio.
To break the link, I would be trying to trick Dio's brain into thinking he had died by forcing him to relive various deaths I'd experienced. Of course it would be painful for both of us, but hopefully it would reset everything. If that didn't work, we had another, less favorable plan.
By the time we decided to sleep, it was late. I'd come before sunset, but we'd talked for hours. Both of us had so much to say.
In the morning, I felt like I could eat a horse. Dio said there was food in the mansion because most of his servants this time were human, but I really didn't want to eat whatever the weirdos in the house ate.
Dio had to call one of his servants Vanilla Ice to lead me outside. He gave the blue haired man several instructions. I watched his expression when Dio told him to introduce me to the guardian of the mansion. He seemed surprised and unhappy with Dio's orders, but he didn't raise his voice, simply bowing politely and holding the door open for me.
As we started down the hallway, I couldn't help but ask, "You don't like me, do you?"
The blue haired man hesitated. "If my lord trusts you, I will refrain from judgment."
"That's a no," I sighed. "I had a feeling. It's alright, I'm used to being hated by Dio's . . ." servants. "Companions."
"I do not hate you," Vanilla Ice said. "I am simply unsure whether your presence here is fortuitous or disastrous. I do not wish to offend you, but if a girl like you can find Lord Dio, his adversaries must be able to as well."
I laughed. "No offense taken; you're right. You think like Dio. I guess that's why he trusts you so much."
"You believe he trusts me?" Vanilla Ice sounded a little hopeful.
"Out of all the people he's sent to fight the Joestars, he didn't send you," I said. "You get to stay in the mansion and keep watch over him when it looks like not many people are allowed to be in this mansion. He must trust you."
Vanilla Ice seemed pleased by the compliment. As we arrived at the garden, Vanilla Ice looked around. "Pet Shop," he called before turning to me. "Pet Shop is the guardian of this mansion. If unwanted insects snoop around, he disposes of them. He will let you in and out when needed."
On cue, the sound of a bird's wings beating the air caught my attention. Oh, you're joking . . .
I thought 'Pet Shop' was a weird name, but the guardian of the mansion was even stranger: a falcon. I hadn't seen any sign of a falcon last night when D'Arby led me in. I was glad because looking at him now sent an icy chill up my spine. I was glad I didn't sneak in.
"Pet Shop, this is Freya, " Vanilla Ice introduced me. "She is Lord Dio's woman, an important guest at this mansion. She is not to be harmed. Let her in when she calls."
I didn't particularly like being called 'Dio's woman,' but the title began to feel comforting when the bird's sharp eyes turned to me. Wait a second, why was I afraid of some bird? I glared back at Pet Shop and the bird held my gaze for a while before apparently reaching some decision. He inclined his head in acknowledgment and flew away.
Vanilla Ice seemed satisfied. "Call for him when you need into the mansion again." A strange circular void opened in the air and Vanilla Ice slipped through and disappeared along with the fissure.
Well bye then. So his Stand teleported him places? Interesting. With a mansion so big, teleportation would be useful.
I shrugged it off and headed to get breakfast. Well, it was more like lunch now. I spent a while out, reluctant to return to the mansion thanks to that bird.
When I came back, I noticed 3 dogs on the street. One was a small dog minding its business. The larger two dogs were heading towards the slightly-raised metal gate. Oh no.
Pet Shop looked very murderous for a bird. When I realized that he had a way to open the gate when he felt like it, I wondered if he would let things in to kill them for fun― I guess my question was answered now.
I spotted Pet Shop's shadow on the ground on the other side of the gate. The dogs started trying to scramble under the metal door and I ran forward and grabbed both of them, taking them out from under the door one by one.
They growled and snapped at me, but I held firmly to their collars. A shadow passed over me and I looked to the top of the iron gate. Dio's bird was perched upon one of the spikes. His eyes glinted at me.
"They're just dogs," I said. "What are they going to do? Leave them alone."
The bird seemed to scoff at me. For a while, we stared each other down. Then, his head suddenly whipped to the side. I followed its gaze to see a man standing next to a sleek black car. He was holding a camera and a piece of paper in his hands. Pet Shop took off towards the man, clearly recognizing that he was up to no good.
I yanked the struggling dogs away from the mansion just as there was a scream and a loud crash. I risked a look and noticed a giant block of ice where the guy and his car were. I was pretty sure the man was crushed.
Pet Shop flew overhead and briefly scanned the surrounding streets for anyone who might have seen what happened. When he was satisfied that there were no witnesses, he landed in front of me and looked pointedly at the Boston terrier, then at the two dogs I was holding by the collars.
"Absolutely not." I stared at him defiantly. "You might be a special bird, but these three are just normal dogs. They can't do anything."
Pet Shop continued to stare me down. Just when I was beginning to wonder if I was about to experience a very cold death, a Porsche turned around the corner. It slowed, but didn't stop when it saw the falcon in the road. Finally, Pet Shop broke eye contact with me and dove under the car, narrowly avoiding becoming a pancake. He soared up and arced perfectly over the gate, disappearing completely from sight. I assumed this meant he was letting us go.
The guy driving the Porsche screeched to a stop beside me. "Did you see that?!" He exclaimed in shock. "That bird didn't even try to dodge, it just flew straight under my car! H-how? The carriage is so low to the ground."
I forced a smile. "Hah. Who knows. It's a good thing you didn't hit it."
The guy drove off, slower this time, and I looked at my three canine companions. I assumed they were free to go, but I still didn't trust that bird enough to try something later . . .
"What am I supposed to do with you?" I sighed as I looked at the three dogs I'd saved. The big ones had calmed down considerably now that they seemed to realize I saved their lives. I held their collars more loosely and started walking. "Let's find your owner."
I'd just started away from the mansion when I realized the terrier wasn't following me. I turned back and frowned at him. He really did look familiar . . . He seemed to understand that I was waiting for him, so he followed me down the block.
A voice called out and stopped me. "There you are!" I turned to see a young boy running towards me with an excited look on his face. The two big dogs by my side ran over to greet him, jumping and licking the boy.
I smiled. "These your dogs?" I asked.
"Yes!" The boy exclaimed. "Their names are Tiny and Butch. Thank you so much for finding them. I was really worried when they got out."
I smiled. "I'm glad I found them."
"Me too. Is that dog also lost?" The boy asked as he looked at the terrier beside me.
"No. He's my dog," I said.
"He's so cute! What's his name?" The boy asked as he approached.
I blanked for a moment. "Um, it's Iggy." I said the name of the first dog I could think of. "He's not great with people, so don't pet him."
"Ah, ok." The boy seemed a little disappointed, but kept his hands to himself.
"You should head home. Keep an eye on Tiny and Butch." I would hate for an evil falcon to crush them with a block of ice. Not that anyone would expect that.
After waving goodbye to the boy, I squatted by my final four-legged companion. "You are Iggy, right?" I asked.
I'd just said it randomly before, but bringing up Iggy made me recall how the dog looked. He was a small black terrier like the one in front of me. To be honest, they looked different, but this dog could still be him. I'd stopped believing in simple coincidence after so many run-ins with other Stand users.
Sure enough, the dog tensed warily in response to my query.
I smirked. "I knew it. Then the Joestars are here too. You should go back to them."
Iggy didn't budge. His lips pulled back to show his teeth, but he didn't growl at me. He seemed uncertain how to react. I put my hand on his head to show him my memories. Sand wrapped around my wrist to protect Iggy, but it fell shortly after. The dog cocked his head to the side as he looked up at me again.
"See, we've met before." Even if it was right before I died.
I rubbed my wrist. Iggy had only grabbed me for a short time, but I was pretty sure it would leave a bruise from the force of the sand. "Go back to the Joestars. And stay away from that mansion, okay? That bird is bad news."
Iggy seemed to listen this time, heading down the street in the opposite direction of me and the mansion. I didn't see any reason why Iggy would care enough to lead the Joestars back to the mansion, so we would probably be safe tonight. But if the Joestars were in Cairo too, it was only a matter of time before they found Dio's mansion. We would have to start on the plan as soon as possible. I hurried back to Dio.
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A/N: Yes, this story is NOT abandoned. But to think I was going to finish this last year 😔 It will definitely be finished soon (frfr)