Omake 5: Maria the Ripper (2)

Original Idea from: KingAllen (FFN)

Managing to convince George to actually accept ‘Maria’ in her home ended up being quite the frustrating and complicated predicament to go through.

The man was skeptical, and for good reasons as there was just a sense of maliciousness that Jack was unconsciously releasing with her simple stare.

The mix of unnatural silver-hair and ominous green eyes was enough to put everyone in a state of unease, even JoJo failing to hold within his mind the fact that he was scared by the little girl.

Still, despite the dread originating by the mere stare at the ‘orphan’, the lack of aggressiveness and outright maliciousness from Jack was enough to fuel my argument that she was just a misunderstood child that was abandoned without logical purpose.

In the end, after spending some grueling words over the matter, I got George to see my point as leaving the discovered orphan there without proper guidance might end up creating a new tragedy.

A tragedy he would be indirect responsible for refusing to take her in his humble abode as an extra mouth to feed wouldn’t be too much of a drain on his finances.

Jonathan would eventually pipe in by inquiring more about the child, and Jack would offer some curt responses as I had asked her to.

With her cloak hiding both her scandalous clothes and blades, the only thing that could seriously put a wrench in my plans was the possibility of the girl actually blurting out anything that might incriminate her and spark any sort of suspect from the two Joestar.

I was playing a dangerous game by keeping Jack close to me, to let her live despite the horrible nature of her existence.

The little Wraith seemed to be blissfully unaware of my dreadful thoughts as she kept her arms wrapped around my waist, or at least she was trying her best to keep latched onto me with how short her arms were.

With her eyes half-closed in a dazed state, she enjoyed the mixed warmth coming from my proximity and from the inside of the carriage leading us back to the Joestar Mansion.

Mary was going to be a Ward to George Joestar I, but her prime guardian was supposedly going to be me.

It was a test, albeit an irritating one by the way it was presented to me as. I was meant to keep a close watch over her, to see to her basic needs fulfilled, and to make sure she was properly educated the best way possible.

And it just sounded as if I had been given the responsibility of cleaning up after a mutt than taking care of a sentient human being.

It was a subject worth of some anger, but I decided to rein in my furious state by distractedly relax in this hug that lasted up until we were back ‘home’.

From there, before returning to my room, I had to take a couple of detours to prepare Jack for her new life there.

Starting from a quick bath to make sure that all the grime and dirt that had been present on her skin was removed, to get some proper clothes for her to wear for the time being.

The girl was a little reluctant to let go of her skimpy clothes, but she was easy to convince when I mentioned that those weren’t going to be thrown away, only that those were to be put aside for the time being because they were uncomfortable for her to wear.

She accepted with some hesitation, yet her eyes glowed happily when I presented her with a petite white dress with a little red ribbon.

It was similar to the one she was given by her Master back in Apocrypha, the design having just the minor difference that it wasn’t sleeveless, keeping it to a simple half-sleeved point that was meant to hide the tattoo-like insignia that was in her right arm.

Happily trying it out, the girl let out an unrestrained and joyous giggle, the raw state of genuine happiness surprising me in a moment of stunned silence.

She gave a twirl, looking as the skirt lifted a little at the rotation, causing another round of giggles to leave her lips.

“This is so nice, we like it!” Jack stated with a grand note of amusement, her vibrant green eyes returning to me. “Thank you, brother!”

I was caught in a frown at that last word, surprised that I hadn’t been labeled as either ‘Mommy’ or ‘Daddy’, taking under consideration the fact that I wasn’t aware that Jack could stray away from those two terms when addressing people.

It was so surprising, yet so endearing, and I gifted her with a headpat that would then offer me more of her giggles.

Dinner was somewhat a quiet affair, with both the Joestars preferring to keep silence as they watched as I tried to moderate the girl’s interest over the food in her plate.

Her stomach was rumbling with desire, and there was no denying in seeing that this was her first time eating something so delicious and that wasn’t as dangerous as the things she would find by the streets.

Her manners were lacking since she had never needed to have some class within her craving for food, thus I had to be there to constantly chide her about the way some of the food was supposed to be eaten.

Teaching her about cutlery in that first predicament gave off some mixed results, with her mind quickly accepting knives as important tools to properly divide large object in tiny bits for her to enjoy individually, but outright failing to understand the true need of using the fork to pick up the cut parts.

The disastrous event didn’t lack some chuckles coming from both George and Jonathan, both finding the scene of my panicked self to be worth of some amused thoughts.

But for me? I found it to be quite the straining experience to go by.

Jack was stubborn, almost as much as I was, and thus headbutting over this matter caused no little friction early on.

By the time we were done with the food, I found out that the servants had prepared a new room for Jack to make hers to use.

The mansion had plenty of unused rooms for people to take, and Jack had hers just around the corner by the corridor where mine was.

The mere news caused the girl to tense up a little as she realized that she would have to sleep alone and without supervision, but instead of saying anything about this, she decided to let her little irritation still present from the conclusion of dinner keep her quiet.

I decided to not press her on the matter, deciding to just wait and see where things would evolve from there.

Once Jojo and I had gone to our respective rooms, I wasted an hour reading some more the book about Hamon that I had yet to read from.

The subject was interesting, but the lack of practical exercise rendered it just a feeble understanding of the subject, which my grasp over it wasn’t even good enough to allow to have some proper usage of the techniques that were listed on it.

Soon after, I was resting softly and without any major distractions creating me any sort of nightmares.

It was a blissful sleep that was contended among numerous pleasant dreams, something that was rare considering the lack of positive novelties that would give me reason to make actual dreams and not think about Part 3.

Yet this little slumber proved to be temporary if not… partial.

I felt my bed’s cover shuffling quietly as a small, but warm object snuggled its way right onto my chest, and then started to snore quietly there.

It was a cute snoring, so soft and yet still present enough for me to open my eyes and stare down.

Jack was donning her new sleepwear, a particularly conservative dark-blue nightgown, with her head resting right over my chest, eyes closed in a state of what looked to be calm happiness.

And to think that she had tried to appear annoyed at me.

I almost snorted at the idea.

I, Dio, was sure going to make sure that this little girl was protected as if she was part of my real family, and groomed to become a proper ally to my mission of absolute justice.

But for now, the only thing I had in my mind was… how did Jack came to be?

She was a Wraith, there was no doubt about this classification as she did address herself as a plurality with a feminine majority.

A union of various unborn children’s souls that was now lying there and away from its original purpose.

Speaking of which, it was odd that she didn’t refuse to stray away from her original task, knowing that her existence was tied to this saddening purpose.

...And that is why I, Dio, was confused as to why she had yet to show any sign of disappearing, almost declining the nature of what a Wraith was.

I needed to do more checking over the existence of Clocktower, to verify if somehow there was much more about the Nasuverse than just Jack.

But just as Dio lost more time trying to ponder over the true nature and purpose of the child now there in his proximity, Jack’s mind was lost in the unconscious but determined thought of one thing.

Always stay close to brother. Never leave his side.