Battle Damage | A CaeJose Story

JoJo

San Moritz was, by anyone's standards, a beautiful city. Joseph knew because Caesar and Lisa Lisa - even Messina - had said as much while he stared blankly out the window at the snow-dusted forests and immense rocky slopes rising to either side of the town as the Fiat wound its way to the hotel. Unfortunately, even sitting at the little table on the balcony, spires and rooftops of the town spread out below them and the chilly brush of the wind against his skin, Joseph couldn't seem to muster much appreciation. He was finding it enough of a challenge just to sit still.

He shifted restlessly, imagining he could feel the ring around his heart pressing against delicate arteries. 5 days. That was all he had left.

"JoJo!"

Lisa Lisa's voice startled him out of his thoughts. She, Caesar, and Messina were standing at the railing some distance away, the former with a vaguely irritated expression. "Come look at this."

Had he really just been sitting there, moping? Joseph shook himself and joined them at the railing, accepting the pair of binoculars Caesar offered him. His gaze wandered along a snowy path up the hill until it came to rest on the run-down skeleton of an old hotel, its floors sagging like the building had breathed out a long sigh.

"See it?"

Joseph nodded.

"It's the address Esidisi put on the package," Lisa Lisa's disembodied voice said from beside him. "And the perfect hideout for Kars."

"Completely boarded up," Joseph mused, scanning the shuttered windows. "Of course."

"She's probably sitting up there right now, waiting for Wamuu," Caesar muttered.

It was a good strategic position - high over the town, with a vantage point that would make it impossible to approach unseen. Joseph had to admit he could picture Kars ensconced somewhere inside, blood-red eyes glowing in the darkness.

"So." Joseph set the binoculars down as Lisa Lisa spoke. "What's the plan?"

Caesar cut in immediately, something unexpectedly sharp in his voice. "We move now, while it's daylight." Joseph glanced over at him, startled, but he didn't seem to notice. With the pale sunlight streaming down on the balcony, his eyes were like green glass, bright and vehement. "If we wait, we give up the element of surprise and let Kars use the darkness against us."

Messina gave a shrug of reluctant approval. Lisa Lisa was nodding. "Alright. Caesar, you and - "

"Wait." Joseph could feel three pairs of eyes come to rest on him: one habitually skeptical, one curious, one uncomfortably keen. He pushed on anyway. "This doesn't feel right. Kars has survived like this for thousands of years. She couldn't have made it that long if she were completely defenseless during the day."

Lisa Lisa eyed him coolly, her voice even. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying this feels like a trap. Rushing into a confrontation on her turf when we don't even know what the hell she has waiting up there - it's a suicide mission. We might as well deliver the Stone to her doorstep in a little gift bag."

Caesar's oddly pointed gaze hadn't left him since he had spoken. Now his mouth curved up strangely, a half smile that didn't match the rest of his face. "What, are you scared?"

"Of a brutal and pointless death? Yes, actually, but that's not the point. I just think it's smarter to wait for them to come to us - "

"So you are scared." It almost sounded like a challenge, like a joke, but there was an undercurrent to his voice that didn't sound joking at all.

Joseph knew he should hold his gaze and keep calm, but talking people down had never been one of his strong points, and he wasn't in the mood for whatever the hell this was. He could hear the irritation creeping into his voice as he replied. "What I am is thinking straight. Which makes one of us."