Word Count: 2204

A small but empathetic smile was stuck on your face as you watched Anne protesting in Polnareff's arms, cussing the man out in any way she could think of while he was carrying her to the plane.

It was clear the girl had no intention to leave your little group, but when Mr. Joestar walked up to her and placed his hand on her head to get her attention and calm her down, she listened.

"My daughter, Jotaro's mother, is in grave danger at the moment. We're on this journey to save my daughter's life. Forget this running away business and start heading home." Holding an encouraging smile on his face, Mr. Joestar took a step to the side once he saw the little girl had listened, making way for Anne to easily get to the plane.

Taking the first few steps towards the plane, she then turned around and looked at you, making you smile softly as you walked up before crouching before her.

"Can't you convince them to let me stay?" Anne softly spoke, pouting a little as she avoided your gaze, looking at the ground.

"What we're doing here is really dangerous, Anne. It is no place for a kid." You smiled apologetically at her while her her shoulders slumped. "But-" You started and placed your hand on her shoulder as she looked up at you. "I'll make sure to keep the girl power flowing, m'kay?"

At your words, Anne lit up before rushing forward and hugging you tight around your neck. "See you, Y/N." With that, she turned around and jumped up the steps to the plane. "Life is just a bunch of goodbyes anyways!"

Walking back to keep plenty of space between yourself and the plane, you waved at the little girl as she jumped inside and ran to her seat. Seeing she was out of sight, you slowly dropped your smile, a melancholic look on your face. "I disagree..." You watched as the plane hatch closed, the engine firing up.

Slowly the machine started rolling down the pavement, speeding up more and more as it drove by a familiar figure approaching.

"Jotaro, took you long enough. You missed Anne!" Polnareff scolded the raven as he walked up, hands in pockets as he shrugged at the Frenchman's words.

Squinting at the apathetic non-answer, Polnareff was about to retaliate when he was interrupted by Mr. Joestar. "It is what it is. We've lost plenty of time enough as it is. We need to get moving." Taking the lead, he started walking to the new car, quickly followed by Kakyoin and Polnareff, your reaction time a little slower while Jotaro just got in step with you.

"The new coat looks good."

Glancing down at you, Jotaro grunted. "Thanks."

Walking off the small airport in silence, you all made your way towards where you parked the car, though Jotaro was sending subtle glances down at you, carefully watching your expression.

"What are you mulling about?" The boy huffed, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at you, his arm brushing yours as you walked to the car.

Looking up at the delinquent, you held a small smile. "Life is a bunch of hello's."

- - - -

Absentmindedly playing with your little rock, your head was leaned onto Mr. Joestar's shoulder as your eyes boredly focused on how the rock softly clinked against your ring from how you repeatedly ticked the two together.

A large hand suddenly enveloped yours, making you look up to the owner to see Jotaro looking down at you.

Taking the stone from your hand, he didn't look annoyed or mad by the ticking, though he did pocket the little rock, making you realise you were probably driving everyone up the wall.

"Sorry." You muttered as you took a deep breath through your nose as you then straightened up, sitting upright.

"Don't be." Jotaro grunted softly as he looked out the side of the car, squinting a bit thanks to the fog and wind, this car holding no walls to protect any of you from the elements.

"The fog seems to be getting thicker up ahead." Mr. Joestar hummed as he pitched in to the conversation Kakyoin and Polnareff were having up front, looking down at his stopwatch. "It's not even 3 o'clock yet but I guess we have no choice. Let's stop in that town for the night."

Curiously looking past the man on your right, you looked down the cliff the car was driving on, seeing tops and peaks of buildings sticking out from the fog, showing a whole town you weren't even aware you were driving above.

"I hope they have a nice hotel."

"A nice hotel, huh?" Kakyoin raised his eyebrow at Polnareff, who grinned a bit.

"Yeah! One with a good toilet too. I'm still not used to-"

Tuning the man out halfway through his sentence, you were instead focused on Jotaro as he jolted and turned in his seat, looking behind the car somewhere.

"Jotaro?" You asked softly, touching his arm, and he quickly turned to sit straight forward again, looking down at you from the corner of his eye before looking away.

"It was nothing." He hummed before lowering his hat a bit.

Given you weren't getting anything else out of him, you just nodded and looked forward as Polnareff slowly steered the car down the path, slowly driving down the cliff to the town.

- - - -

Driving into town, you were looking around curiously.

The fog made it hard to see almost anything but the town seemed relatively large as you drove through the streets, some people standing on the sidewalks as you drove by, hardly visible in the thick mist.

Stopping the car, Kakyoin then got out. "Let's ask about a hotel in that restaurant over there." Pointing to the place in question, Kakyoin expectantly looked back and the others nodded, getting out of the car.

And while you had been eager to get out and stretch your legs before, now that you were actually in the town, you felt caged in. The buildings and houses were large and imposing, shadows in the thick fog that loomed over you and made you feel small. The car being open meant it didn't offer much comfort or protection, but somehow it felt a lot better than having to stand out in the open in the streets.

"Y/N. Get your ass out of the car."

Snapping out of your thoughts, you looked left to see Jotaro squinting at you while the others were already off to the side.

"I think I'd rather stay in here. Guard the car while you ask for directions. After all, we already had lunch earlier so we don't need to eat, right? Just get directions and go! I'll stay in the car, makes things quicker and easier." You smiled a very uneasy smile at the delinquent, making him narrow his eyes suspiciously.

"Get out of the damn car. I'm not leaving you alone inside one again." Reaching in, the raven grabbed your wrist, dragging you out before you could even properly protest – though you noted the extra pair of arms under your armpits, helping you be safely lifted out of the vehicle before being dismissed. "Come on." Sighing grumpily, Jotaro still held onto your hand as he dragged you along, squeezing a little harder while his eyes flitted around, highly aware of his surroundings. He'd had his own uneases about the town, but now that you showed yours, he felt more justified in his wariness and went on high alert.

Reaching the others, Jotaro let you go as if nothing happened.

"Let's ask the guy over there!" Polnareff cheerily said as he pointed behind himself, breaking off from the group and walking over to a man sitting against a pole, starting to talk to him. After a second or two however, the Frenchman's body language turned more frantic and you all walked over to him while Polnareff grabbed the man's shoulder and shook it. "Hey you!"

All of you stepped back in shock however, as the man collapsed backwards, dead.

"W-What?!"

"What's going on?! Why is he laying dead in the road?!" Polnareff exclaimed. "What could have killed him? A heart attack? A stroke?"

"It's possible." Jotaro hummed as he stepped closer, crouching beside the body. "But what we've got here is no ordinary heart failure." Pointing to a smoking gun in the man's hand, things quickly escalated as he – explaining this couldn't be a normal murder – grabbed the man's shirt and pulled it down, trying to find a cause of death.

Widening your eyes, you looked down upon the corpse, absolutely filled with large holes all over his body.

Quickly taking a step back, Jotaro looked around with a sharp glare. "Be careful. If there wasn't a Stand user here before, you can bet there's one here now."

"Let's get out of here, come on!" Shouting that, Joseph sprinted off, jumping up, only to nearly impale himself.

"Old man, what in the hell are you doing? Have you lost it?" Jotaro grimaced, watching his grandfather flail before slumping onto the ground.

"The car was here just a minute ago! I saw you take Y/N out of it!" He shouted back.

"What, the car? We just parked over there." Speaking in a confused tone, Polnareff pointed back to the car, getting everyone's eyes on it, only to see a silhouette making itself seen in the fog.

An eerie clacking noise sounded out through the deadly quiet streets, making you cringe with every thud as it got closer, subtly stepping to hide behind Kakyoin.

Revealed from the mist was an old lady, walking with a large and gnarly cane, the origin of the clacking obvious as she eventually stopped before you all, bowing her head.

All of you bowing back in respectful response, she then raised her head. "I see you are travelers." Her smile was wide as she looked up. "I'm afraid with this fog, it's too dangerous to leave town now. We have many cliffs, you know. I run my own bed and breakfast. If you'd like, why not stay there for the night?" The old lady offered, making you tilt your head in intrigue.

Honestly right now you'd just do anything to get out of the fog. Your clothing was starting to get damp and you wanted nothing more than a hot bath to soothe your muscles and just relax in.

"Finally, a normal person!" Polnareff happily exclaimed, walking over to the lady and shaking her hand. "Well, that's an offer we can't refuse, right?" He looked back at you all, to which you shrugged. You didn't call the shots in that department.

Slowly agreeing, everyone eventually started following the old lady.

"We must assume a Stand user is hiding in this town. This fog puts us at a serious disadvantage." Kakyoin observed, gritting his teeth a bit while Jotaro grunted in confirmation, looking around in unease.

"Something feels off, yeah." You agreed, sticking between the boys as you followed the woman.

"This is my hotel. Come, let me show you to your rooms!" She proclaimed as she walked towards a large building. Polnareff eagerly following as the two started a back and forth. One you missed as you felt something on the back of your neck.

Stopping quickly, you took a deep breath, carefully turning around to see nothing, though you brought your hand up to your nape, recalling the wispy feeling. It sent chills down your spine. Ones that rattled you to the bone. It felt sinister and evil.

Suddenly your wrist was grabbed and you jolted, looking up to see Kakyoin. "Don't fall behind. We're at risk in this town. Especially by ourselves." He quietly spoke, leading you back to the rest of the group, right in time to see Jotaro point at the old woman.

"You called me 'Joestar' didn't you? How'd you know that name?" Glaring at the lady, he questioned her.

"Come now, that young man beside you said 'Mr. Joestar' earlier! When you've been in this business as long as I have, you learn to pick up on those things quickly!" She smiled.

Humming softly, Jotaro kept his gaze on her for a while longer before seeming to drop it.

Without much more fanfare, the old lady started guiding you again, Polnareff and Joseph at the forefront while Jotaro subtly stuck out his hand to you and Kakyoin, getting you to slow down and lag behind the three a bit.

"Don't call me by my name while we're here. I don't trust it." Speaking softer than you've heard him ever talk, Jotaro glanced at you and the redhead, his eyes portraying how serious he was as he bent down a little to talk. "Don't use your own names either if you can. Stay together."

Both you and Kakyoin looked at each other before looking back at Jotaro and nodding in determination.

Something was definitely off.

And as you three caught up to the others andstepped over the threshold into the hotel, a bad feeling arose in your stomach.One you didn't like in the slightest.

- - - -

So, it's almost 1am and I just finished the chapter, so no editing this time, i'm sorry, hope it's still okay!
But hey, I made the update! :D

And!!! Stone Ocean batch 2 tomorrow!! I truly hope it's gonna be super fun to watch and I wish you all happy times with it :3

Thank you all for your continued support. I've now done the first week of college and it went relatively well, even if it was hard. But! Imma keep trying to stay on top of writing and updating every 2 weeks and I hope you'll stay with me and stick around to see this come to an end ^^

31-08-2022