KISMET ─ vento aureo.

▹ SEVENTEEN ;

☆ ⁺ « 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐀𝐓

★˚⋆ JOJO'S FACE HAD STARTED TWITCHING. You eyed him from the corner of your eye, wondering if it was a nervous tic or something. Not that you would blame him.

"You okay?"

"Fine. Just a little—" JoJo angled his face away from you. After a moment, he turned back, nervous, but no longer twitching. His pensiveness reminded you of your engineer. If JoJo had been blonde, he might have passed for a younger Fugo.

You weren't sure where you and JoJo were headed, exactly. Whoever the Stand user or users were, they might have been in the bar with your crew as you listened to Pericolo. They would have booked it out of there after grabbing Trish and Fugo, but if Narancia still couldn't speak straight, they couldn't have gone far.

"I don't think I was right about the water," JoJo said. His voice trembled, as though he was afraid of admitting it to you. You knew sometimes you came off as brash, but you were willing to rethink your approach if JoJo was constantly skittish around you.

"Why do you figure?"

"If Narancia was attacked by water, then Fugo would have come under the same attack when the water spilled. He wouldn't have disappeared. I think the water might have to do with the other Stand."

"Like what, exactly? The water couldn't have done anything unless it teleported them somehow..." you trailed off. Teleporting through water. Or maybe even teleporting through liquids. There was no shortage of liquids in bars.

It was a terrifying thought. The Stand could be stowed away in any pool of liquid right now, waiting for its chance. You wondered if Narancia hadn't seen it in the bar and knocked your drink over because of it.

But how could it do something like that? So quickly that you hadn't seen Trish disappear or even catch Fugo?

You brought Coco Jumbo off mute. "Coco? We're in some shit," you said into your holopad.

[ I'M AWARE OF THAT. I'M ATTEMPTING TO HELP YOUR PILOT AND GUNMAN AS WE SPEAK. ]

"Can you tell me anything about this Stand? Is it actually teleporting or it some kind of—"

[ THE ROOKIE IS 100% CORRECT. TRISH AND FUGO WERE TELEPORTED THROUGH WATER. ]

Well. There you go.

"What do we do about it?" JoJo asked. "If we're not careful, all of us could get caught up by that Stand."

[ I'M CRUNCHING VARIABLES RIGHT NOW, BUT KEEP WALKING. THERE SHOULD BE AN EXPOSED CANAL UP AHEAD. ]

"The hell? Shouldn't we be staying away from water?" you said.

[ YOU'RE ATTACKING THESE SUCKERS ON TWO FRONTS RIGHT NOW. YOU AND JOJO HAVE THE STAND, AND MISTA AND NARANCIA ARE AFTER THE USER. DAMAGE TO THE STAND EXTENDS TO THE USER. IF YOU CAN WEAKEN THEM THAT WAY, ALL THE BETTER. ]

You and JoJo arrived at the canal Coco had been referring to. You were by no means an expert, but the streams of water didn't seem to hold any architectural significance besides making the colony look more confusing than it already was. Laius might have been going for "bohemian, alien-land gamble house."

[ JOJO, YOU'RE GONNA BE BAIT. ACT STUPID AND JUMP INTO THE CANAL. ONCE THE STAND SHOWS UP, THE CAP WILL START BLASTING. ]

To his credit, JoJo didn't immediately react to the statement. The immediate acceptance was a little off-putting. You were starting to realize that although JoJo was reserved, his mind was constantly simmering beneath the surface. It made you wonder just what exactly his life before the Eos crash had been like. Most people didn't pay attention to small details unless something in their life warranted it.