Guilty Conscience ~ Abbacchio/Fem Reader

Chapter 31: Free Falling

The realization that the five mafioso were under attack seemed to occur to all of them simultaneously. They each stood taller, straightening their backs and tightening their white-knuckled fists even harder. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. And it was coming for all of them.

Y/N scanned the buildings at the water's edge for any sign of the enemy as Mista flipped more bullets into his gun and Giorno rolled up the sleeves of his suit. But as she moved her eyes from shadow to shadow, nothing stood out to her as a threat. Not a single shop door or apartment window had someone hidden behind it — at least, none that she could make out in the dark.

"Shit," Abbacchio cursed, breaking the silence that Y/N didn't even realize had settled over the group. "What the hell is this!"

Y/N's gaze shot to the ground where Abbacchio had been pointing. He jumped back a few steps, but not before cursing again and grabbing ahold of the Gunslinger's arm. The Brute stumbled as he tried to regain his balance with the unwilling help of Mista, but pulling on the Gunslinger seemed to only make things worse, as they both began to topple from side to side. And it was then, when Mista's boot stomped down on the wet ground, sending speckles of mud all over her jacket, that Y/N saw it. Their shoes — Abbacchio's and Mista's alike — were mud-covered, and sinking into the cobblestone walkway of the port. And not only were the two men sinking into the ground, they were sinking rapidly.

"Dammit," Bucciarati shouted as he saw the state of his loafers. "We're under attack!"

All five of the mobsters sank into what was once solid ground. Y/N clutched the turtle in her hands closer to her chest as she tried to pull her boot free from the muddied stone. But the earth kept its steady pace as it worked at swallowing the group whole.

"What the hell is this!" She demanded to no one in particular. "We have to get up and out of here!" With all of the tugging and pulling she'd been doing, the loose hairs that fell around her face began sticking to her cheeks and neck. She was a sweat covered mess! But before she could shout another profanity at the state of her new designer boots, Giorno screamed.

"Golden Experience!" He belted. His cry sent goosebumps over Y/N's arms; of the Stand users she knew — being those in the Bodyguard Squad — she didn't know of any that called upon their Stands quite like Giorno. A few hours ago, upon regrouping in the turtle after the 'little heart to heart'  she and Abbacchio had as Narancia called it, Giorno explained to Y/N the capabilities of his Stand. He's so young, she thought as she watched him explain what Golden Experience was capable of. A kid his age with the ability to give things life, that almost seems unnatural, even for a Stand user.

Giorno's cry was met with a flash of golden light and a tremble in the ground. Y/N clung to the turtle as she watched the boy make contact with a single pebble he'd picked up from the ground only moments ago. And just like that, out of the thin air came the twisting branches of an elder oak. Leaves, fresh and breathing with life, sprung from the winding branches as if by magic. The green foliage shivered in the cool night air, unfamiliar with the taste of life that Giorno had given to the measly pebble. A thick trunk of bark and leaves swept Y/N off of her feet and into the air much faster than she could anticipate, resulting in her head smashing against the tree's sturdy body.

'Y/N!" Abbacchio cried out, seeing her face smash into the winding tree trunk. Freeing his shoes from the quicksand at his feet, the Brute lunged toward the spiral of branches that hoisted Y/N into the air and landed against the bark with a soft thud. Y/N grabbed ahold of Abbacchio's outstretched hand as he hoisted the rest of his body into the still-growing tree, and the second he was on his feet, he asked, "You're okay?"