In Bocca Al Lupo

34- Ghost Stories

"Now I understand Diavolo," Polnareff seemed to have realized something, "Bucciarati, he has two personalities! That's the only answer I can think of! His single body holds two personalities! That's the answer to why he was able to skip time like that!"

"You got that from me having my sneeze skipped?" Genuinely confused, I hoped that Polnareff would elaborate as to how the fuck he figured that one out.

Polnareff ignored my question entirely, going on to explain split personalities and how they worked. A bit confused but unwilling to interrupt, I just waited for him to get to the point of what he was trying to say, "Requiem's ability ripped his souls from his body. One of them switched places with Bucciarati, but... maybe by coincidence, and maybe not, the other entered someone else's body! That's Diavolo! King Crimson was able to skip time from their body!"

Questioning if I was being possessed because he skipped time while I tried to sneeze, I backed away from Narancia and Abbacchio to try and see if I could try and prove that it wasn't me. The two boys glanced at each other before backing up a little bit, just out of immediate mauling range.

For whatever reason, Trish, Mista, and Giorno tried to say the same thing at once, creating a grating and moderately annoying interruption. Polnareff once again ignored it to continue with his theorizing, "The people outside are also starting to wake up... which means we can't tell where he's moving. But, he will soon be back, and this time he will attack!"

"He may already be long gone," Bucciarati countered, "For whatever reason, he wasn't able to attack us. But Diavolo is still hunting for the Arrow!"

Polnareff craned his hand to look at Bucciarati, "You'll have to stick with the plan... you must obtain the power of the Arrow! Either way... in order to defeat King Crimson, you have to track down the Arrow before he does, and somehow manage to take it!"

Seeing that now we could finally stop standing around like idiots, I peeked out towards where I had last seen it. People began to wake up in its tracks, confusion spreading as their souls had swapped with nearby lifeforms. Glancing back at everyone, I hoped to stop anymore long winded explanations before they could start, "Hey, so Chariot's heading towards the left. People are waking up wherever it walks though, so we should probably make haste."

Bucciarati breathed a sigh before making his way over to me, "I agree. We need to catch up to Chariot before it can get away, or before Diavolo can catch up to it."

"Bucciarati," Trish started, seeming hesitant to leave, "If we're chasing it, then what about your body?! What will we do with it?!"

Subtly, Bucciarati's gaze shifted down to the ground, long pink locks of hair draping over his shoulders and back, a slight tremble wracking his body. Before I could do anything to try and comfort him, Mista informed Trish, "I didn't hit any of his vitals. But, he won't be getting up anymore. I made sure of that..."

That was all it took for the others to be okay with leaving, all of sprinting down the sidewalk to try and catch up with Requiem. Peeved about how hard running was in Abbacchio's body, I grumbled and struggled to keep up with Bucciarati at the front. For somebody who was so buff with such long legs, he sure was about as slow as a one legged turtle.

Looking a bit distracted, Trish came up on my left, prompting me to notice and ask, "Hey, you good?"

"H-huh?" Trish jumped a bit, pace faltering as she whipped her head to see it was me, "Oh... yeah, I'm fine. I just thought... no, it was probably just a bird."

"Ah. Don't worry, this'll be over soon," I attempted to comfort her, not really knowing what else to say.

From behind me, one of the civilians affected by Chariot was beginning to raise hell. Looking over to the side to see what the hell was going on, I watched the cop put a pair of handcuffs on a screaming lady, with a small little baby reaching out to her. Peeved by the whole thing, I glared at the cop, but ultimately ignored the whole thing in favor of chasing Chariot.