Crashing Waves

Chapter Two

[1529 words]

Sun streamed through the windows as I stood against the wall, dressed in my school uniform and signature hat. I began heading toward the room where Kakyoin stayed the night before, wanting to make sure he was recovering okay. I'd feel bad if I'd just saved his life for him to go and die because I did something wrong.

"Kakyoin." I said his name, not really expecting a response as I opened the door. He was still sleeping on the floor, his lavender eyes closed peacefully and his soft features relaxed. He was probably fine; if something happened today, the old man and Avdol would be here. The slight look of concern slipped from my face as I began to leave for school.

"Something's wrong." This wasn't how my mornings usually played out. My mom always came running after me to give me a goodbye kiss. Where was she? This wasn't normal.

I'll go check on her before I leave, make sure she's okay. Not sure where she'd be, I began searching around the house, cursing her for buying such a large house in the first place. Makes finding people a real pain.

"Mrs. Kujo!" Avdol's rough voice could be easily heard from a nearby room - the kitchen. The look of concern back on my face, I sped up my pace, my heels clicking loudly on the floor. What had happened to her? I wasn't ready for what I saw when I hurried through the door.

"Holly!!" My grandfather's voice boomed from the dark kitchen. My mom was on her stomach, her back bare as Avdol knelt over her. I froze, a dark look plastered on my face as the old man suddenly grabbed my collar, pushing me against the wall. "Holly, you sweet girl... This is the one thing I feared more than anything! My daughter has a stand!" His arm was shaking slightly as I paused at that statement. A stand? Then why was she passed out on the floor, drenched in sweat?

"Mr. Joestar, a stand is controlled through a person's own mentality. Mrs. Kujo is a kind-hearted, gentle woman. She can't control her own stand!" Avdol's voice was pained as he spat out those words. I couldn't hold my anger and concern back anymore. Gripping the old man's wrist tightly, darkness covered both of my eyes as I spoke as calmly as I could, emotion still seeping through my words.

"How do we stop it?" Joseph loosened his grip on my collar, and I let go of his wrist slowly as Avdol began to speak again.

"Dio. He's the reason you and Joseph awakened to your stands; surely he is the reason Holly awakened to her own stand. We must stop him." Joseph's expression darkened at the sound of Dio's name.

"But where is he? I can't determine that from my Hermit Purple's spirit photos. There's nothing but darkness behind him in every one of them." I perked up slightly at that.

"You should've told me that sooner, old man." I had an idea. I gestured for Avdol to hand me one of Joseph's photos of Dio that he'd procured from his pocket while speaking about Dio. "Star Platinum is quick and precise enough to stop a bullet from hitting me. Let's have him sketch out what he sees in that darkness." I picked up a pencil and pad of paper, summoned Star Platinum, and handed the materials to him.

"Ora!" He looked intensely at the image for a moment, a sparkle in his eyes. He'd found something. Star began to sketch furiously on the pad in his hand, leaving us all waiting no more than a few seconds to see what he'd found.

"Star Platinum could spot a fly out of all of that?" Joseph exclaimed in shock. "But what good does a fly do us?" I pulled back Star Platinum, silently thanking him for his talents being so useful.

"Hold on, Mr. Joestar! I've seen that variant of fly before; do you have an encyclopedia?" Joseph nodded, directing him to the library. Avdol nodded before flying out of the room, notepad in hand.

"Holly..." Joseph's attention return to his daughter who was still sweating on the floor, her stand crawling along her back. My mother's stand would be quite beautiful if it weren't trying to kill her. It was a bunch of vines with thorns and roses, sprawled along her back. They reminded me of the old man's Hermit Purple, without a doubt. That shouldn't be a surprise; she is his daughter, after all.

"Yes, we need trained medical staff immediately." I noticed that he was on the phone with someone as I picked up my mother and began carrying her out of the kitchen.

This morning definitely wasn't normal.

---

I slowly sat up, squinting from the sun's bright rays coming from the half-opened door. I felt significantly better than the previous day and began to stand up, keeping mindful of my balance in fear that I might fall after resting for so long. I hadn't expected that the first thing I'd hear as I stood up is Jotaro's deep voice, shouting at someone from a nearby room.

"Don't move! Just stay in bed." I was shocked to hear the concern in his tone; what had happened for him to be shouting at someone like that? More importantly, who was he shouting at? I hurried a bit to join the others, a little fearful.

"I... just meant you should stay put, at least until your fever breaks. Now be quiet and get better," I heard Jotaro say quietly as I reached the door. I waited outside for a moment, wanting to hear what was going on.

"Oh, alright. I could really get used to being sick like this, everyone's so nice to me..." Her voice trailed off, and I heard a thump. What happened?

"Holly!" Mr. Joestar shouted this time. "Holly..." he repeated, in a softer, calmer tone before Avdol rushed into the room through the opposite doors.

"Mr. Joestar, I've found it! I know where that fly is from; I know where Dio is. It's this one! We've narrowed it down to the Azwan region of Egypt." Why was Avdol bringing up Dio's name now? But Egypt - well, it made sense. My family and I were on vacation there three months ago, around the time that I'd had the flesh bud implanted by Dio. But what did they want with that monster?

"Then we're going to Egypt! We have to save Holly!" Mr. Joestar proclaimed loudly as I began walking around to meet them. Mrs. Kujo was in danger. That explained everything. So the thing I saw as I glanced in the door earlier, those vines and roses from her back, was her stand. Was she unable to control it? That had to be why she was in danger. I had no idea that someone's own stand could kill them. It made sense though; Dio told me once before that Jotaro and Mr. Joestar's stands appeared at the same time that his own stand emerged. It was only logical that Mrs. Kujo had a stand of her own as well. Something inside of me snapped after realizing all of that.

"I'm going with you." I spoke boldly to the others who were unaware of my presence as I slid the door shut behind me. "I heard what you were all saying about Mrs. Kujo. I saw the state that she's in. I have my own desire to defeat Dio after having him in my head for three months." Joseph and Avdol looked at one another. Jotaro raised his voice first.

"Why?" I assumed he was talking about my decision to save his mother. I paused for a moment before answering.

"To be completely honest, I don't know myself." Maybe it was my own way of thanking Jotaro for saving my life and atoning for trying to kill him? I truly didn't know. "Mrs. Kujo is such a gentle and kind person who makes everyone around her at peace, and she helped me as I recovered. This may sound strange, but if I ever fall in love, I'd like it to be with someone like her." Jotaro shifted a bit at that last statement, and it hit me how odd it must have sounded. I knew I couldn't say anything to fix the situation, so I just let it rest, a slight blush creeping onto my cheeks.

"Kakyoin, we'd be happy to have another stand user as competent as you on our side!" Mr. Joestar harshly slung his arm around my shoulders, and I smiled at the group. "I'll be sure to have Jotaro slug you if Dio's somehow still got a hold on you, so don't be concerned about that." I shuddered a little at that thought, having been beaten up by Jotaro once already. The other two nodded in consent. "Now, everyone, we're headed to Egypt!" Everyone nodded, walking towards the car Mr. Joestar had waiting for us.

My decision I'd been so unsure about the previous day had been made for me by my big heart and will to protect.