Capitolo Secondo: Ambizione (2)

The trip back to the headquarters was uneventful, but I hadn’t expected much to happen with the boy that was supposed to be this timeline’s Funny Valentine to speak up any further once I was done helping his ‘curious friend’.

Zephy, the curious animal that at the touch felt so soft and… so abstract, quietly accepted the careful hold of the young blond, almost taking it as a means to have a protective position from where he could assist the young teen if he needed. I spared just a couple of glances, my mind offering me no idea what I was looking at.

Instead I waited for our arrival back to the safe hideout, with my hopes of some more info being given by the time we were there quite high. I could tell that there was a big story behind, something that had to do with this ‘Senator Phillips’.

As much as I found the whole idea ironic since DIO killed with ease a possible descendant of this guy, I was wary of the current predicament that I was meant to go through now that I was protecting Bloody. I was playing in the man’s own turf, and I could tell that his goons were going to return in bigger numbers. Sadly for them, I wasn’t allowing this threat to go by without proper precautions.

Once I opened the door to the manor and allowed the two guests inside, I led them around the place as I tried to find out where Speedwagon had gone to. I found him reading by the small library on the ground floor. Sitting on one of the couches available in the middle area, he greeted me by lifting the glass of whiskey that he had poured himself during his quiet read.

“Dio, I’m glad to see you’re back this early and…” He paused, taking notice in the middle of that sentence that I wasn’t alone. “I might be a little too drunk.”

I sighed. “Not enough to mistake our new guests as hallucinations, I hope.”

The man almost seemed relieved at that rebuttal, but he spent a few moments in pure silence as he contemplated the two distinct individuals. He seemed mostly interested by the creature currently clutched by the young Valentine, and I couldn’t lament his fascination over the peculiar critter.

Offering a seat to Bloody, I decided to pick some water before commencing a proper conversation with them both. Knowing how tense the boy was, I really didn’t need to press him now that he was still shaken by recent events.

“If you need anything else, feel free to ask, young Valentine. Same for you, Zephy,” I calmly announced as I allowed the younger blond to take hold of the glass filled with water. “I consider you both my good guests, and I shall make the appropriate courtesy of treating you as such.”

“I’m fine for now. Thank you for your hospitality, Dio.”

I nodded, turning to the boy and… noticing a confused look on his face.

“Something that unnerves you, young Valentine?” I inquired calmly, getting a quick nod from the teen.

“Mr. Brando, sir- I don’t wish to warrant anything except honest answers out of this but… why are you doing all of this for us?”

I nodded, understanding the logic behind such suspicion. It was just too proper in a world like this one that everyone had to be troubled by the chances of kindness being just a fake cover for something more sinister and nefarious.

“I’m a man of mercy and politeness. While your skepticism is duly noted, I’m quite confident in saying that I have no other intentions over you or Zephy except being a good Samaritan.”

“And I can tell that he is meaning these words.”

Blue eyes looked down on the white-furred creature.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive about this. Let’s just say that I had the chance to check something about our kind helper, and now I know he is trustworthy.”

…

“May I inquire what you exactly do?” I asked, feeling rather unnerved by what kind of stuff might have happened while I was healing him.

He nodded, almost smiling at the question. “I have a… gift. One that allows me to discern if someone is pure-hearted or not. You are perhaps a rarity among many, but still far from having the purest of intentions.”

Blinking, I had to concede to this point. “I might be quite greedy in minor circumstances.”

“And stingy,” Speedwagon flatly added, only for me to look at him rather intensely.

“You still owe me 10£, Robert,” I pointed out and he sighed theatrically.

“See!”

I allowed a small smile before turning back on the duo.

“Still, while I have already agreed to house you for the time being, I wish to understand why you two are being currently hunted down by the men of this Senator. This Edward Phillips.”

The critter seemed ready to speak up, but it was his ‘charge’ to take hold of this very burden as Bloody spoke up first.

“There is a proper justification of this, but it might require a backstory since… I don’t wish to leave nothing hidden and reveal the truth at once.”

Rather forceful and kind of silly, but I could understand when people just wanted to be as transparent as possible. Instead of just asking a more direct question, I allowed the boy to go through with this request. I really wanted to know some more about these two from the fellow blond’s perspective instead of learning things through sudden revelations.

“My name is Bloody Valentine and… my family is one filled with disgrace,” He started to reintroduce himself, this time adding a particular detail that had me frowning from the very beginning. Disgrace? I knew that Funny Valentine had to have been an amoral patriot, but for him to be classified as a ‘disgrace’ felt just awkward. Still, I allowed the boy to continue from that. “My father was once the heir to an influential politician that came close on multiple occasions on being elected as the president of the nation.”

“That sounds an incredible feat, despite the fact he never became one,” Robert commented, gaining a slow nod from Bloody.

“That was something that kept on fueling my grandfather to keep his pursuit of that seat of power. He had a brilliant dream that stemmed from the need of giving luster to the United States by turning it into a great power on par with Germany and Great Britain,” The boy continued with his explanation. “One that was tarnished when my own father decided to stray away from it for love. My grandfather wished for him to marry the daughter of a wealthy senator, Edward Phillips, and when my father decided to pick someone of lesser status, this got him banished from the main family as well several threats from the senator himself.”

“So this man hates you for being the prime result of a betrayal of interests?” I inquired carefully, knowing how this question would have appeared as insensible.

“Yes. When grandfather learned of my birth, he denounced any effort to name me after his likeness. He deemed me unfit for such a position and gave me the name of ‘Bloody’.”

“If your father was banished, then why did he allow him to name you with that?” Robert questioned, voicing the very confusion I too was feeling.

“...My parents were killed mere hours after I was born. It was a hit job from Phillips and… grandfather decided to claim me, saying that if he hadn’t, his reputation would’ve suffered even more if he hadn’t,” The teen answered somberly. “While I wasn’t neglected, my very existence would be a constant reason for resentment from my grandfather. He is not a bad person, but he considers me the reason why the family failed to see ascendancy to the presidency.”

“He sounds rather terrible. It’s not about being a good person or not, but that still his behavior is rather unacceptable.”

“He didn’t abuse me-”

“It doesn’t mean it makes things better for him in my humble opinion,” I sternly interjected, getting an unwanted flinch out of him. “Understand that just because someone doesn’t physically hurt you, it doesn’t translate on it being a normal thing for anyone to endure. And I can already tell that his attempt to undermine your existence through scorn and dismay is nothing more than a foolish antic that can’t be condoned.”

…

“Why?”

I blinked, frowning at the sudden rebuttal.

“What?”

“Why do you care about this? What do you gain out of this?”

…

“Do you understand what you’re asking me? What gain can I make out of genuine compassion and sympathy?” I rebutted blankly, holding back some irritation about these very queries. “As I’ve said before, I don’t gain anything from helping you two… except the fact I’m doing this because I know it’s the right thing to do. I, Dio, believe that in the future a world will exist where distrust will become a distant memory of a troublesome past. I wish to bring faith in people, I want to offer them a chance at life.”

“And you believe I have one, Dio?”

…

“Yes,” I admitted without hesitation. “You, Bloody Valentine, will become someone worthy of personal pride and admiration. You shall not be a follower but a leader.”

One that will be far greater from this universe’s version of Funny Valentine at least. Who knows, maybe I will end up making him a president with due time and attention…

“You sound like you mean it.”

“Because he means this promise, Bloody.”

I stared at Zephy, now starting to get really uneasy about this comment of his. I had to know how he knew so much about my mind if what it took was a mere touch as I healed him with my Hamon… and how I didn’t feel anything that could suggest such a bizarre predicament.

“What about you, Zephy? How did you end up becoming a companion to Bloody?”

The animal gave me a calm nod, almost expecting me to go through with that. Seriously, how he was pulling this?!

“My owner- my warden… She is someone that can be considered a guardian of sorts. She wasn’t directly tied to Bloody but she ended up finding him in need of help as a group of men were trying to kidnap him,” The critter explained. “We were on our way back to our home when we stepped in to protect the boy. We succeeded at first, but a couple of hours later they came back prepared for us. Ka- My warden fought bravely, but after years of limited action, she ended up overwhelmed by the large number of opponents and by the fact they had engaged some of our old enemies in this very instance. She was captured, but before being taken away she left me with her greatest treasure, something that made her safety paramount for our enemy as much as it is for me, for I’m the Spirit Guardian of such a gift.”

“You were going to say her name. Why do you refuse to give out that information?” I pressed calmly, finally getting Zephy to look nervous at that query.

“We’ve traveled around the world for a long time. Names are powerful, and I know you’ve hidden yours in an effort to hide away from any possible threats.”

“But you’re not among enemies right now. And I can assure you nobody is eavesdropping.”

…

“I suppose you’re raising a fair point. My apologies then, I was still taken by a mentality I had to grow accustomed to for many years now.”

I nodded. “You’re forgiven. I can relate with that kind of problem.”

“I’m glad to hear that. And since you’ve asked this in particular, my owner’s name is… Kate.”

…

“Kate?”

“Yes.”

“Nothing else like a surname or-”

“Her full name is Katherine.”

…

Still no surname. Despite my confusion at this, the animal seemed to have other things in mind as he continued with his intervention.

“She is the current holder of a tool that has been under her family for centuries now. A blessed object given to Man by the Gods themselves. A tool of justice and duty.”

Just as he said that, his form started to glow and… a small sphere left his chest and floated up above for everyone to see. I was confused by the development, but continued to stare at it as the strange light soon morphed its frame to something else. And my jaws dropped as I realized what kind of shape the orb was now taking.

It was a slim frame that was slightly curved. A blade- a sword. The weapon was crafted rather finely, and while it was sheathed in that fine light-brown wood which its hilt was produced with too, I could tell that the man behind this object was quite a master. Still, I felt confused by the fact that the blade itself was a Japanese one. A katana.

And the owner has a Western name. I’m… confused.

“The Shin-Aki, also known as the Sword of Eternal Light, is the truest embodiment of Light itself. A shining beacon of truth that many have only heard legends about,” Zephy continued with a nod. “The reason why I’m allowing you to hold it now is that I know you will not try to use it.”

I frowned. “Can you read my mind? At this point I can only say it’s the only viable option.”

The critter sighed, but shook his head to decline that possibility. Still, I decided to test what he was trying to say when he mentioned that I wouldn’t have ‘used it’. I carefully opened my palms, allowing for the sheathed blade to safely land in my hold and, as it did, I felt my entire body tense up in pure shock. There were not enough words to describe the sheer absurdity behind this kind of sensation as I grasped at the sword.

It was still sheathed, yet now I could tell its beauty was just a fake mask of the massive insanity held inside of it. A massive amount of power was currently held within the blade, and now I knew why Zephy had been so certain I wouldn’t have unraveled that impressive sword.

Awe and surprise filled my mind as I admired the tool closely, only for a single hint of… hamon to leave through the small opening created by the sheath and hilt. At least, that was what I could consider hamon since it felt close to it. I was perplexed by this, but I decided against lingering too much about it and I knew the critter wanted the blade back as the object started to glow again. Soon it was back in its orb form and softly floated mid-air until it reached back the talking animal.

“It would seem I was correct.”

I didn’t reply to that, feeling like I had lost somehow by expecting something different out of that interaction. Just as this strange exchange concluded, our attention was stolen by loud noises coming from the nearby streets. A large mob had formed by the side of the building where the main entrance was located and… I recognized a single individual leading the whole circus.

“Who are these people?” Robert asked, looking as worried as guarded as one would be at this sudden intrusion.

“Th-They are back,” Bloody commented, looking nervous despite Zephy’s efforts to calm him by nuzzling on his chin.

I found myself sighing, walking up to the entrance of the library only to be stopped by Speedwagon.

“Dio, I know you’re strong but… I don’t think this is a wise move, to try and attack alone.”

I glanced up at the fellow blond and offered him a calm look. “If I acted ‘alone’, then yes, you would be right.”

It’s been a while since I had a legitimate reason to use my Stand beyond some simple tricking or threatening… so maybe it was about time I tested my prowess on the field instead of trusting my training sessions for once.

So I left the room and made my way to the entrance, right where the core of this furious crowd had rallied by. And I wasn’t planning to allow anyone to harass us for long...

------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d------

I stared really hard at the smug-looking guy that I could recognize being the leading goon of the trio that had tried to kidnap Bloody and Zephy.

From the way he was strutting back and forth between the ranks of well-dressed criminals backing him up, I could tell that he expected that to be enough to handle me on my own. A wrong assumption, and one I was planning to correct the moment he decided to attack me.

“Look who’s there. The little fool that thought he could just waltz in and attack us without any apparent reason.”

“I doubt you would call preventing a suspicious attempt at kidnapping nothing if you were within the offended party,” I returned with a flat tone. “But seriously, I thought you would’ve been smart enough to not draw more attention to yourselves.”

“As if we give a dime about attention, you stupid Brit,” Another goon answered, tightening his hold over the metal tube he was currently holding a weapon. “You trifled with us, and we shall make sure you pay accordingly to this attempt to disrespect us."

…

“I believe you mistook my warning for a feeble request. I decided to spare you the first time around, but I feel less compelled to do so now that you’re all here and… without guns.”

One would’ve expected for the criminal morons to be smart enough and arm themselves for this kind of fight. They didn’t get the memo that physical approaches were hardly going to yield any results against me. But it was right as I pointed this out, that I realized the real reason why they weren’t armed to the teeth was because a couple of cops had already set up some blocks on the streets nearby.

I was confused why they hadn’t charged at the group, but I could tell that they were waiting for reinforcements. The group was far from easy to manage for their current numbers, and I knew I wasn’t going to receive much support considering that they weren’t rushing in with their guns since none of the attackers had any weapon worthy of that deadly usage.

I sighed once again, this time my eyes boring dully on the still-confident idiot leading the rest of the moronic cadre.

“How about you just leave? I don’t wish to leave blood stains for the police to be forced to clean up once I’m done with you.”

“Still cocky as before? We shall teach you a lesson, you foreign dog!”

Two men approached first as soon as I said those words. Both seemed ready to attack at the same time and yet they were too slow to intercept my attacks and stop me from retaliating quite brutally. Sweeping the closest of the two fools with a quick kick, I dodged the next one’s punch before I slammed a punch on the back of his head. The hit had the prick instantly go unconscious, landing on the currently downed companion and temporarily holding him back as I focused on the rest.

Instead of keeping on going against me in groups, I was soon rushed by the whole small army. What followed next was something many locals in the city were going to remember as the inglorious beating. Twenty men would attack a single individual, which was me, and end up getting pulverized in a mix of my personal attacks and ｢ACT 2｣’s own brand of punches and kicks that would result in an absurd victory on my part.

Once I was done easing my own guard, I advanced toward the ringleader with a serious look. The guy, who once regarded him with smugness and pride, was now groveling like a pathetic worm. Lifting him up from the ground was easy, and soon he was looking at me with clear terror.

“You will tell me where your boss lives. Now.”

“I-I’m sorry-”

“That’s now that I was asking about, wasn’t it?” I pointed out quietly. “Where does Senator Phillips live?”

“H-He-” The thug paused, failing to formulate coherent words in that predicament. “H-he lives in New York. He owns the Romero Tower and- Please don’t kill me...”

…

I dropped him on the floor. “Tell your boss that he ended up scorning the wrong person. And that he will need to not worry since I’m personally going to visit him quite soon.”

“Y-yes,” The goon replied, still trembling. “Too kind- you’re so kind.”

He scampered without saying much more about this with the rest of the gang soon following his example shortly after. As I turned to the entrance, I found both Speedwagon and Bloody standing by the doorstep as I walked up to them.

“Robert, I believe I will have to take a quick trip to New York to fix this situation. It will not take me too long,” Hopefully. “At this stage, I don’t think this matter can be shrugged off until the main issue is solved.”

“And I can tell you want me to stay behind, right?” He asked, sounding rather annoyed by this. As much as I wanted to say he wasn’t up to the task, I knew he had a point in actually joining this fight since these weren’t supernatural monsters and he could actually do something about it for once. I was unhappy about this situation myself, but I didn’t have much of a choice about it.

“Until the proper group meant to house the mansion has arrived, you will stay there to garrison the place. I believe they will try to attack here once again while I’m gone, and you might need some extra support to fend them off,” I replied with a sigh. “And since the police are already there, it shouldn’t be difficult to ask their assistance in setting up a temporary garrison in the area to prevent any funny business from actually happening.”

The man gave me a reluctant nod, and I couldn’t do much about it considering the circumstance. Not only I had to get this prick dealt with, but also free ‘Kate’ from her imprisonment and deal with these old enemies behind her capture in the first place. I hadn’t expected so much action on this first day in the states, but now I knew I couldn’t exactly pull out from the mess I had unwittingly tripped into.

I can already hear George’s quiet chuckling at the fact he was right in saying that I was going to find trouble the moment I stepped away from his watchful eyes.

Couldn’t do much about it, but that didn’t mean I was exactly happy and fine about it.

“So we are… leaving now?” Bloody asked confused, almost surprised that we were leaving this soon instead of waiting and resting for a moment.

“Considering how pressing the matter is, I believe it would be best if we already took the first train directed to New York. The faster Senator Phillips is dealt with, the quicker we will be able to free… Kate.”

Zephy nodded at this last detail, and I knew the teen was mostly perplexed than reluctant of this decision. I could tell it had to sound outright bizarre that someone that had just battled a non-negligible amount of strong-looking men without being injured even once was now thinking of skipping some time to recover all for the sake of finding a fast closure to this predicament.

After picking up the proper things I needed for this journey, I took out one of the three maps I had decided to bring with myself. The paper was particularly detailed, and I quickly led the small group right to the nearest training station. The clerk was a little hesitant to take Bloody’s ticket, but he seemed to surrender to his concerns when I brought up the fact the kid was actually my young cousin.

The fellow blond decided to go through with this act, just for the sake of avoiding causing any extra issues for the three of us as we were finally allowed to board the first train directed to Manhattan. I gave the seat close to the window to the boy, and soon we were both sitting beside each other as we waited for the train to start moving.

While I had thought the teen had no plans to speak up in these precise moments, his mind still wrapped around what had happened a little less than an hour earlier. I was busy with my own thoughts when Bloody gave a quick tug at my sleeve, catching my attention instantly.

“Yes?”

He looked curious and… nervous. “Dio, I… I don’t wish to sound nosy but… there is something I wish to ask you.”

After frowning at him for a while at that strange request, I ultimately decided to concede to him this, whatever he was planning to ask me. I sighed, nodding as to gesture him to go ahead with this and… I was surprised by the question he would ask about.

“I saw… something fighting alongside you- A spirit. I remember seeing something similar when you first helped us but… but it wasn’t as evident as before that point.”

I did a masterful work in hiding away a bit of shock at the fact that for some reason Bloody could actually see Stands. The original Funny Valentine managed to get D4C by entering in contact with the Saint’s corpse but… in the original timeline it was never said that the man obtained one this quickly.

Once again, I was impressed by how much there was that I had yet to learn about the boy and… how the first timeline’s counterparts to Part 7 actually ended up developing their own abilities and lives. Still, I had a question to answer to, and no issue in giving a proper answer out of it.

After calmly explaining the boy what a Stand was and what mine could do, he asked if he knew why he too could see them. And since I knew it wasn’t through the Devil’s Palm since it didn’t exist in this world or the Arrows since those were still buried somewhere in Egypt, I was quite perplexed how the young man managed to attain this capacity through personal experiences.

I merely replied with a genuine answer, and I told him I really wasn’t sure how he did it. Zephy’s confirmations about my truthfulness proved to be as irking as helpful since the boy had some strong sense of loyalty to the critter and was willing to listen up to his words as the absolute truth.

And so, as the train started to move, I was left to my thoughts about this mysterious Kate and what kind of person she was considering the mythical sword she owned. I found myself falling asleep during the trip, eyes closing as I allowed dreams to endear my rest and…

I soon dreamed of twelve curious symbols floating and rotating in a circular manner, in the middle of their circle… an orb similar to Earth itself.