Omake 18: The Gate and The Key (1)

Boston was an interesting crossroad that led to many different options. Either you go south and trail down to the modern cities of the east coast, or you actually explore the chance of studying the mysterious secrets that waited right on the opposite side.

Alone and mostly unnerved as I decided to take this little trip on my own, I was still unsure how much interest I really needed to put in rumors but… I knew that this place was meant to channel all kinds of supernatural events of this era.

Salem was the city that was known to have been the location of horrible affairs back during the early years of the Thirteen Colonies. People were killed by zealous puritans that still believed in witches and warlocks, all for the sake of eliminating rivals, individuals they were jealous of, or even disposing of people from different races.

The case I was mostly interested in was the one that actually saw me taking this sudden trip. Abigail Williams was the principal element that led to major controversies over the superstitious personality of the old leadership in Massachusetts, with the killing of an innocent child to compensate for a lack of understanding over illnesses that were known to influence people to behave incoherently or even say things that they weren’t used to.

The trials were the example of true incompetence as religion shattered any semblance of legal understanding of these claims, endlessly bringing innocents to death’s door for the sake of satisfying an extremist view of God’s teachings.

But what brought me here wasn’t history itself, rather I was intrigued by a couple of rumors that had been spreading around for about a couple months now and… that had reached my ears with enough substance to make me fascinated over the chances of a particular individual to be there.

Leaving the carriage I had paid to take me to the city, I didn’t waste time to pull to me the bag filled with the equipment needed to scan for any supernatural entities lingering on the cursed grounds. A blonde child had been sighted in the area where the Williams household once existed, and I knew that this was just a hint to something interesting and… bad.

I wasn’t going to believe it until I was there myself to verify these rumors, but if this was indeed a manifestation of the ‘naughty girl’ and the Outer God, then I was going to have a tough time suppressing the entity on my own. Not that there was anyone else that could have handled the task, but I wasn’t completely sure of my skills enough to seal away the lovecraftian monster alone.

With no carriages willing to take anyone near these frightening territories, I was left at my own devices as I made by way there by foot. The place was distant, but I hardly got tired by going through that kind of distance through a calm stroll in the woods. Animals knew to not mess with me, especially with Hamon creating a slight hint of danger to their instincts that overrode any attempt to attack me in hunger or maliciousness.

It was about the time I got close enough for my eyes to see the area I was supposed to scan that I finally felt something unpleasant. A single twist by my chest, a familiar pull that intensified the more steps I took towards my destination.

My worries were soon confirmed by this very emotion. Abby had to be there and… with her, the Outer God that used her as its Avatar. It would explain the pull and why I was affected this much by it since the deity was known to be tied to Space and Time itself.

I had faced many opponents that could hardly be considered ‘easy bosses’ to fight on my own, coming close to die more than once for the sake to either solve a crisis, save someone, or even just defending myself. But facing a deity that was known to be Chtulhu’s grandpa? That was bound to become problematic. Especially when its avatar was a little girl.

Eventually I arrived at a stopping point where the pressure was enough to make me materialize my stand out of instinct. I was being watched by this point, but I couldn’t exactly pinpoint where my peeping tom was looking at me from.

It took just a couple of minutes for footsteps to be caught breaking through the silence surrounding me and I turned to stare at the direction where those were coming from. A girl, she was a young blonde with blue eyes and… a curious purple dress. Its sleeves were longer than the child’s arms as those held a normal teddy bear, and she was also wearing multiple yellow and violet bows on her hair, just below her simple hat.

“Who are you?” Abigail Williams asked blankly, her eyes stopping at my orange orbs. I blinked, turning to face her completely.

“I’m Dio Joestar, and I came here to seek answers to my questions.”

The blonde stared in complete silence for a while and then… she blinked.

“This isn’t a place of words. This is a resting ground.”

“Of those that have perished through injustice,” I pointed out.

“God has already judged their souls. This claim has long been resolved.”

“Not to official sources,” I lamented quietly. “But through a deity that has no right to judge any souls.”

…

“You don’t believe in God?” Abby asked with a perplexed tone, drawing a frown out of me at the sudden query.

She is trying to judge me. How foolish!

“I believe in the Heavens as the only great destiny for anyone to pursue,” I replied without hesitation. “I will never allow a deity that isn’t of this domain to come and try to replace this vision of mine.”

Her eyes widened and… I saw something form by her forehead. A keyhole- I braced myself as I prepared to act the moment the entity showed just a sign of interest within this encounter.

“You depict God himself as a deity devoid of authority? Are you… naughty?”

“I’m only committed to a sense of justice that doesn’t belong to a deity that isn’t part of our original world,” I rebuffed dryly. “Why should I, Dio, submit my will or the will of others to Sut-Typhon of all Gods from the Outer Reality?”

The mention of the name, it got a surprised look out of Abigail and… then I saw it. A single purple eye peering through the opening within the girl’s head and… the Outer Reality. A chill went down my spine, but I didn’t allow it to settle as I swiftly rushed toward her, my Stand already acting as I enabled its first power on the exposed entity.

“｢ACT 2｣!”

The shout triggered the Time-Freeze over the God, its eye widening before stopping in that shaken form as I continued to run towards the confused girl. Abby’s body went stiff as she realized her ‘God’ wasn’t moving to stop me, her legs trembling as I was over her and… slammed a pair of bandaids over the keyhole on her forehead, applying a surplus of Hamon to try and cut off the entity away from her mind.

Her eyes widened, and I saw the blue clash with some purple as the entity tried to keep hold of its avatar. I kept her hugged close, pushing as much Hamon I could to cleanse her body and… she lessened her tension. A sob cracked the lack of a major reaction, with her trembling arm wrapping carefully around my neck.

“I-I’m not a good girl. L-Let go- I’m bad- I’m not good.”

“You’re not bad, Abigail,” I muttered calmly. “I heard of your tale, the truth about it, and I judge you in my objective opinion as a victim. The victim of a system I’ve pledged to fight to protect those poor unfortunate like yours.”

I squeezed her closer, allowing her to cry some more onto my chest and let all the sorrow out.

“From now on… I will take responsibility in not allowing you to suffer ever again. It’s a pledge of justice and… correctness to those I fight for.”

I lifted her up, and she quietly wrapped her legs around my waist.

Once we were back in town, many would look in our direction, surprised by the fact I was back with someone with me. Still, none complained as, from a closer look, it just looked like a big brother holding his little sister like this since she had fallen asleep. A suave smile rested on Abby’s smile and she remained asleep through the train trip back to Boston.

Now I had to explain to Robert how from a supernatural case I had planned to investigate, I returned with a girl with a strange bandaid on her head and… a clear attachment to me as she started to cling around the very moment she woke up.