Bloody Golden Butterfly [JJBA Fanfiction] (Giorno x Jolyne)

39. Shadow Moses

Jolyne lost count of how many times she'd yawned while standing there on the harbor under the morning sun. It must have been a considerable amount because her dad and Giorno would shoot her concerned looks from time to time. She waved them off, having no intention of explaining to them that her sleep-deprived body was functioning entirely on too much coffee and weeks' worth of pent up rage and frustration. Wet dreams and bloody kisses didn't exactly seem like good topics for starter conversations so early in the morning either.

Trying to expel Donatello's cursed blood from her body with her Hamon had failed, so since that night, she was left to endure those damned dreams. Only an hour or so after hitting the sack, she would wake up disturbed and covered in cold sweat, feeling the intense urge to cleanse herself in gallons of ice cold holy water.

Bruno's sparring sessions helped exhaust her enough that some nights, she would immediately fall into a dreamless sleep after one of their sessions. However, other nights, the dreams still crept up on her, and she would wake up a while later, her body hot and drenched in sweat. On those nights, she tried using some of the mediation techniques she had learned from Lisa Lisa that were meant to conserve energy and provided the same restorative benefits as sleep. She would do this on her bed for the remainder of the night until it was dawn and time to get up for training. It was effective for the most part but still couldn't substitute for actual sleep. It didn't do anything for the intrusive thoughts or the slight feelings of excitement either.

Jolyne was ready to get rid of Donatello from her life once and for all. She hated him, plain and simple. He had caused her family immense grief, leading them to a long separation, and he was all too proud to announce his sinister intentions for her. Thinking about what he had said back in his cell about how hard his life had been, she was even more certain that any empathy would be wasted on a self-pitying asshole like him who blamed the world for his misfortunes.

These past few days, knowing that he was on the same island as her had made her constantly on edge and filled her stomach with butterflies. She would feel better once it was Giorno's problem. And maybe when they finished interrogating him, they could get rid of him for complete good. It was a strangely dark thought, and perhaps a few months ago, she would have found the idea of a life being ended quite upsetting, but too much had changed since then and so did her outlook on life.

"Is Bucciarati already at his post?" her dad suddenly asked her.

"Yeah, he came as soon as he could. It's weird, but..." She stopped talking when she saw Weather Report staring at the horizon instead of the main building like the others. "Hey, is something wrong?"

Weather Report shrugged, continuing to keep his eyes fixed straight ahead. Jolyne tried following his gaze but could not find anything out of the ordinary, just clear blue skies. Perhaps he was sensing something she was not with his stand ability.

A movement suddenly caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Seeing three people emerge from the main building, everyone became extra alert.

Donatello, flanked by two uniformed senior Hamon disciples on either side, stood out like a sore thumb in his white suit and red leather jacket as he limped out of the building. The platinum chain jewelry around his neck glinted in the sun, similar to the silver chains imbued with Hamon that wrapped around his torso and bound his arms at the back. Despite the sorry state he was in from his time in the dingy cell, his blonde hair disheveled and his clothes looking wrinkled and stained, he couldn't seem to stop smiling.

Jolyne took a deep breath, breaking away her gaze for a moment.

She was not afraid. She could do it. Whatever she had witnessed and endured in her dreams, none of it was reality. No one was privy to the contents but her.