Chapter Text
“Ow… Agh…”
“I bumped into you! Sorry about that!” The man scratched the back of his head, apologetic, “You should be careful, you were looking the other way!”
“It’s fine, we all make mistakes…” The older man caressed his shin, far older than his appearance would foretell. Still, the very second he looked up from his leg, “Hold on, are you Japanese?”
“Uhn… Yeah, why?” The man raised a brow, confused.
“Then I take it back!” Rocketing the sole of his wounded leg into the shin of his unwitting assaulter, the old man heard with a fair amount of glee as the man yelped in pain, collapsing to the ground and holding his leg in place.
Adjusting his coat, raising his head and with his lips slightly creased from a mixture of smug annoyance and catharsis, but still failing to patch the wound in his heart that caused the very trip to the airport in the first place.
“Gahh…” The old man scratched his eye, “It’s only been ten years since my beloved, only daughter came to this horrid land for college… Why did she have to go off and study on the other side of the world? Even worse, staying! We have good universities back home… And to think she’d get herself a child, so far away! He doesn’t even know his peepaw’s face!”
Melancholy shifting to annoyance again, Joseph Joestar raised his fist into the air, shaking it like senility had reached him, and roared at the top of his lungs;
“I’LL NEVER FORGIVE THE JAPANESE!”
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“Here you go Jotaro baby… Please try to eat something…” Holly pleaded, she didn’t have it in her to demand anything more, worry had overtaken her and contradictorily made it harder for her to make the tough choices she should.
“I don’t want it!” Jotaro tantrumed, still deep within his blanket. His body was on fire, sweating bullets and drinking enough water to raise her bill threefold… She couldn’t afford the medical care Jotaro needed, but at the same time, no doctor has been able to help her at all!
All of them told her that Jotaro had the symptoms of a particularly harsh cold, and nothing more, but further detection left them all stumped. For all intents and purposes, Jotaro should be healthy, it’s as if the scourges of a disease were sprouting with no origin.
He was naturally getting cranky, Jotaro used to be so well-behaved, but this illness had him acting poorly to the best of his immobile capacity, such as repeatedly shouting for his mother if he was bored, or if he needed even what wasn’t a necessity… His previously cold relationship with his father had gone into a borderline hatred.
“I’m back!”
Holly turned to face the door, their apartment wasn’t very large, so the unfortunate reality was that Jotaro had to be stationed in the everything room, sharing space only with the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Not that they hadn’t designated him to sleep in their bed, but he vehemently refused, claiming he wanted to be able to watch TV.
Sadao’s stress was visible. His expenses were through the roof and were doubly concerning for a jazz musician of low relevance as he was. His career hadn’t launched quite yet, likely wouldn’t if things remained as such; He couldn’t practice, didn’t have a studio or many connections still willing to work with his inconsistent schedule.
Fixing his glasses while trying not to drop the bags on his hands, Sadao stumbled over to the table, his eyes blinking wide as he remembered something Holly herself had forgotten, as he was given enough breathing room to realize it.
“Isn’t your father coming today?” Sadao blurted, without a break, unpacking the bags, and staggering Holly, who yipped as she realized that she’d be late any moment now!
“Oh… Oh grace… Oh…” Holly stepped from side to side like an aimless chicken, going between Jotaro and the door, the boy an instant of distraction away from shoving the tray of chicken soup away from his body and into the floor.
“Go ahead, I’ll watch Jojo while you’re gone” Sadao offered, immediately turning to sort the food on their limited shelf space that nevertheless outfitted with space their even less spacious reservoir of consumables.
“Are you sure? Jotaro is a little grumpy…” Holly underestimated just how much vitriol her son was capable of dispensing, especially in relation to his father for seemingly no reason other than he was the parent that didn’t actively baby him.
“I’ll keep watch-!” Sadao rushed over, stopping Jotaro from fully slinging the bowl across the room, Holly sighing in relief as the man acted fast enough to stop further damage. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll get along,”
They wouldn’t, Sadao could tell by Jotaro’s glare that he wouldn’t even remotely consider the possibility of not misbehaving. Holly gave the man a quick peck, before skipping away to grab the keys to her dingy automobile. Not just hers, she and Sadao bought it in conjunction, and neither actually used it for anything other than long distance travel, they had to penny pinch even for gas.
Jotaro shot him a tongue, crossing his arms.
“I’m bored!” The child barked, Sadao blinking, his eyes heavy, but that was the responsibility he chose to endure. Jotaro was never his biggest fan, but… It was exhausting. He couldn’t even imagine just what the kid would do if he actually had the faculties to get up and make a mess without relying on his parents giving him ammunition.
“Why don’t you try reading a book? It’s good for you…” Sadao offered,
“I WANT TV!” Jotaro cried, bashing his arms against the couch cushions, as Sadao closed his eyes, and sighed, reminding himself that, whether he liked it or not, this was a responsibility he took, the child was his, he’d raise Jotaro to be a good man… Whether he was having fun along the way or not.
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“Papa! Over here!” Holly raised her tone, but it was just as squeaky as usual.
“Holly!” Joseph exclaimed, his stern expression lighting up immediately, the man bumping into another as he crossed, ignoring any and all social order just to meet up with his daughter again, the two quickly embracing each other.
“Thank you so much for coming!” Holly’s exhaustion was visible, her eyes carrying deep begs of a woman who, much like her boyfriend, hadn’t slept a full night in weeks.
“My one and only daughter in trouble? Give me 24 hours and I’ll go around the globe!” Joseph beamed, his crushing hugs weren’t outside of his daughter’s expectations.
“And mama?”
“She made a fuss, of course, but I told her it was just work! And I guess it is! Fatherhood’s the job I don’t clock out of!” Joseph cackled, enjoying the silly joke he made up more than a decade ago. “So… What’s this about little Jotaro being too sick?”
“Oh papa… It’s taking the life out of all of us!” Holly cried, “Jotaro has been like this for about a month! He’s so grumpy, he doesn’t want to eat, and-”
“I know all that, don’t worry…” Joseph pacified, “But I want you to confirm it to me, is Jotaro really undiagnosed at all? Did no one actually figure out what the issue is?”
“No! I went to so many doctors! All of them say the same thing!” Holly confessed, tears bubbling up in her eyes. Joseph pulled her back into a hug, turning his head to face someone vaguely behind him. With a nod, the signal was given, and they were on the move again.
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Bursting through the door with almost no regard for noise and especially little care for the neighbors on any axis, Joseph nearly kicked the threshold open as he found Sadao once again trying to coax Jotaro into eating.
“Mr. Joestar!” Sadao greeted shakily, only to receive a quiet, deadly scowl in return.
“JOTARO!” Joseph proclaimed, his expression shifting immediately into a bright, comforting smile. He placed his hand on Sadao’s forehead and pushed the man away as he came closer to his grandson, “How is everything going little man?”
“I’m not little!” Jotaro barked, without much force, “Who are you?”
“I- I’m your grandpa!” Joseph stumbled, not imagining he’d have to answer that question so quickly, “I came to visit you, after momma told me you were pretty ill.”
“Ugh.” Jotaro spat.
“I even brought a doctor from Egypt!” Joseph raised a brow, not surprising, and admittedly interesting Jotaro. “Avdol, come on up.”
Entering the home before Holly, the woman closing the door as she entered after the man, walked a stranger to all but the eldest. He was largely built, with wide shoulders and a strong composition. Dark red robes that flowed down to the floor covered his body, underneath the fabric, yet another robe, albeit, now white, with a dark blue sash on his hip, and another, resembling a scarf.
The man wore what was, under all technicalities, a single earring. It was lengthy enough that it resembled a necklace, heavy and made out of a golden material, numerous symbols adorned their exterior, the recognizable ankh splayed on the centermost ring, which also had an orange tassel attached. A white headband was otherwise the only dress to his head.
“Jotaro Kujo, is it?” The man asked, lowering down to a knee to face the boy. Joseph shuddered at the surname. “I’m Muhammad Avdol. I’m a doctor, to a degree.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jotaro barked back, but with no bite.
“I know of illnesses and healing that no common medicine is aware of.” Muhammad explained. Holly looked at Sadao with an ounce of concern, the man simply allowing things to take their course. Not because he also fully trusted the strange man, but because he didn’t want to make his situation with his father in law even worse. “So, I am here to examine you.”
Jotaro nodded, a little concerned.
“First things first, I’ll ask you about the symptoms I’ve been told you are enduring. You just need to nod, or shake your head, to tell me whether you feel them or not.” Muhammad explained, and Jotaro nodded positively.
The interview wasn’t lengthy. The symptoms were all confirmed by the boy and everything seemed to line up, both the account of Holly and Jotaro’s own non-verbal statements.
“That will be useful. Now, I need you to answer me this-” Muhammad didn’t finish his phrase, instead, embers began to coalesce around his shoulder, spawning within them a muscular, tan arm, which moved slowly, calmly, to Jotaro, and with so little force he wouldn’t have been able to damage a fly, poked the child’s nose. “-Did you see what touched your nose just now?”
Sadao now frowned, Holly holding her hand above her mouth in shock, eyes wide.
“I… W-” Sadao uttered, but Joseph’s glare was enough of a warning.
Jotaro nodded.
“It is settled.” Muhammad confirmed, “I had my suspicions from the moment I saw him, but this confirms it. Yes indeed, Mr. Joestar. It seems Jotaro, too, is a Stand User.”
“I’m sorry?” Sadao uttered, Joseph once again raising his eyes to meet the musician’s own, packed with poorly-contained aggression.
“You won’t get it, leave the room.” Joseph demanded,
“Papa! I also want to know what that means!” Holly intervened, not really presenting a convincing argument for why Sadao shouldn’t be excluded from the conversation, but leaving it implied she’d indeed be insolent and just reveal everything she learned to him anyway.
“It’s not just the fact that I want to kick his balls in…” Joseph uttered, “Those who can’t get it, never will. That’s just how it goes.”
“A ‘Stand’ is a manifestation of your life-force.” Muhammad began his explanation without waiting for the old man’s proper approval. “It is wholly invisible to others who cannot bring out their Stands themselves. Judging by your reaction, Ms. Joestar, it means that you have a Stand yourself, while your boyfriend does not.”
“B- But how did I get one?” Holly asked, Sadao just frowning, genuinely imagining he was getting pranked. Jotaro listened carefully to every word that came out of the man’s mouth.
“Allow me to elucidate you… 「Magician’s Red」!”
The distorted cry of a bird of play shot through the room as all but Sadao and Muhammad recoiled. From embers to powerful flames, the body of a humanoid thing, with a conflagrated lower half, perfectly human torso, topped with the bright red head that resembled more a mythological bird than a real species, it stood beside its master, arms crossed, and hovering above the ground.
“This is my Stand. It’s not common practice to simply show it off, I just allowed you to see it so you can understand.”
“It’s like your butthole, don’t go out showing it unless your life depends on it.” Joseph crossed his arms.
“Papa!” Holly scolded, Jotaro chuckling in his seat.
“You may unlock your Stand through a number of conditions… I believe it’s best we discuss this outside.” Muhammad didn’t want to break the plausibly bad news in front of the young boy. “It’s… Quite the boring conversation.”
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A handful had seen this coffin before.
It met the air more than once, and the ocean only twice, but each of its stays lingered.
The depths were already the home of two brothers united by force.
But soon the sun would fall, allowing for the convenient escape of that inhuman.
The head attached to an unmatching body.
The scar to a family unbefitting.
The rotation of the cogs of time would soon cease by the hands of him.
Hunger, oh so deep. Tender flesh was hard to find… So that of unwitting fishermen had to suffice.
The moon rose high. It signaled the rise of an eternal deity.
The rise of a god.
The rise of Dio.