Jojo's : A Bizarre Journey

*Knock knock*

"Uaghhh...?"

I groan in answer to the knock.

My body is sweaty and a piece of paper is in my face.

I throw it to the side and attempt to move my body.

It barely succeeds and I drag myself to answer the door.

I open a small gap.

"Yes...?"

"Dinner time"

Maria answers.

"I'll be there"

She bows and leaves wordlessly.

I go back to my bed, closing the door with my feet.

"Oof..." I breathe out and lie down for a bit.

I feel tired but refreshed at the same time.

It's basically the average nap experience.

"Haah..."

George wanted to talk with me, so let's go to eat.

Hopefully, he'll be there.

Before that, though.

I grab the piece of paper that I threw to the side when I woke up.

"What is this...?"

Still tired, I squint my eyes to read in the darkness of my room.

"Got bored, trained, and then left."

Signed by a little name, Jack.

I guess I should've told him goodbye or something...

Meh, he's not the type to hold it over me.

Anyway, Dinner right?

I do wonder what George wanting to talk to me is all about.

Hopefully, nothing wrong or annoying comes out of his mouth.

...

..

...

"You will travel with me to Egipt"

"I'm sorry?"

"Do not be"

What are you even talking about?

After eating dinner, he brings it up like that?

Jojo isn't here, I don't know why, but he's just not here.

Even if I don't know why, this isn't an uncommon occurrence.

Most days I eat alone, as George is invested in his office and Jojo eats early and sleeps early.

This is one of the rare moments where I'm able to eat with my father.

I'm not so sentimental, but still, it's a bigger-than-average thing, not huge.

The point is that I should start fearing these moments, as he's going to give me an announcement every single one of them.

"Can you elaborate on this?"

"As someone who will inherit all of the business of the Joestars, you will not only inherit my position, responsibilities, and authorities, but you will also inherit the will to eventually pass on your position..."

Isn't that part of the responsibilities?

You know, the responsibility of continuing the family business?

"...but you won't be able to do that without alerting your peers, even I am facing difficulties announcing you as my heir..."

You are?

"...this and many other reasons are why I'm making you get familiarized with my line of work early, but most importantly, the people that you will be working with"

I see...

So basically a tea party?

Do you want me to go to another whole continent just for a tea party?

Are you for real?

"I see your skepticism in going there"

Can you blame me?

"...for how long would I be there?"

"One month"

"..."

A whole month!

Do you have any idea how much could I do in a month?

That's 30-item tickets(max, but still)!

And actually, I don't know what else could I do in a month.

Sparring with Jack is out of the question, as powering up could kill him, and fighting him on base is a cakewalk for him.

The only thing worth doing in England for a month is contacting the princess and I'm not sure about doing that.

What if she makes me do her bidding for a while ¨to prove how capable am I¨?

Well, there's also notifying the Billiards about their status.

But that can be done in an hour max.

What about Jack though?

I don't intend to be his nanny or anything, but if he needs human blood what is he going to do?

Eat someone?

...

Wait, he'll do that.

Like, knowing him he'll just go in the night to kill some random drunkard in the backstreets.

He could even freeze the body to get rid of any evidence.

That wouldn't be so far off.

I'll tell him to do that before I leave.

"...Alright, when do we leave?"

"After a week the boat will arrive at the port of Liverpool, and we shall be there a day before, so in six days."

"Ok"

He stands up to leave.

"By the way, Maria told me something..."

She did?

"...What was it?"

"Nothing special, but I got an idea after hearing it"

I'm having a weird feeling here.

Like he knows something that I don't.

"She told me about your friends..."

Alright...?

"And I thought that you might feel lonely in another country, so I talked with one of my friends, who soon had an amazing idea..."

Wait, is he saying...?

"So, apparently, Miss Apolonia is going to egipt too."

Uh-huh.

"...Ok?"

"Lift your spirits as you won't be alone, of course, for the time being".

Oh, he's mocking me.

In a ¨My little boy has a crush on someone¨ way.

By the way, the last part was a mocking of how she's going to accompany me for a short moment while we are in Egypt, and that short moment being completely in obligation.

In a simpler way of speaking, I shouldn't even try to crush on her because she's going to be close to me because I'm the only one she knows there.

You might think that I'm looking too deep into his words, but no, this is just his way of being a silly dad.

Mocking me, the Joestar way.

Although Jojo wouldn't do that.

"Thanks for your meddling, I'll be sure to be as nice as possible to Apolonia"

Of course, I need to retort back.

I don't think I even need to explain what my words mean right?

I will, just in case.

The first part is how I'm not bothered by what he's implying.

The second is how I'll be nice after you bother her so much.

"We'll see about that"

That old man is sure a bother...

...

..

...

"Ughh..."

Once again, I groan as the sun hits my face through the window.

It's a new day.

Finally, so many things happened yesterday...

Can't we just get a time skip from here until the moment I leave for Egypt?

Obviously not, as something bad is going to happen today.

I get up from the comforts of my bed and quickly do the usual morning routine before I have to go to school.

Apparently, yesterday rained, so I should go in the carriage.

I don't mind, it's not like I have anything to do.

...

...

Sooner than I would've liked we got there.

I don't hate school, but it's rather boring.

I just listen to things I already know and get tested about it.

After that, I have extra lessons now and then.

Not recently, as George is the one who acts as the teacher there, but still.

In short answer, school is rather boring. And that's fine, after all, if school comes with surprises, I would probably dread it.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Well, it's rather simple.

It's all based on my current predicament.

I'm sitting at a normal table that you could find in every coffee shop of every school.

It is at times like this that I remember how big money is.

But what is the issue with sitting here?

Well, it's the people that surround me.

Sitting in front of me, holding his hand with the other, elbows on the table, is the same boy who came to my house yesterday.

Looking at me straight in the eye.

Sitting to my left is Jack, who, while seemingly unbothered by him, is ready for action at any moment.

He's looking slightly down, making sure his hood shields him from any piece of sunlight.

And finally, sitting to my right is Apolonia, who seems to feel the tension between the three of us.

Once again, you might ask ¨Why is he here?¨, I would love to answer that question, but unfortunately, I can't.

I know someone who can, though.

"Why are you here?" I ask him directly.

"Am I not allowed to sit here?... That is what I would like to say, but there's a real motive why I need to talk to you two"

"Which is?"

"Obviously about our mission to Egypt"

No way, how does he know about that?

"How do you know about that?" Once again, I ask him directly.

"We know many things..."

"She told you to say that right?"

"She did, but anyways, it's rather obvious that Mr Joestar would want to send someone to learn and familiarize himself with his future business peers"

"I guess so, but anyways, what is this about a mission?"

"Before that, we need to address the two extra people at our table"

He's right. Jack seems like he's trying too hard to understand, while Apolonia just seems a little bewildered about this.

"You're going to Egypt too?"

"Yeah, basically for the reasons Aethelbert just said, which are probably the same as yours"

"Yes, something like that..."

"Wait, why is everyone going to Egypt except me?" Jack interrupted.

"Aethelbert and I have a mission, while Apolonia will go for business"

Aethelbert seems to have taken a hit when I said that, but I'll ignore it.

"Oh yeah, her dad was a big shot..."

"Uh-huh, don't go killing innocents while I'm not here by the way"

"Sure"

"Hey"

Aethelbert grabbed my shoulders, no fighting will, just a bit... Annoyed? Exasperated? I can't grasp his emotion here.

"Call me Ethel"

"With pleasure"

Aethelbert is such a mouthful, and it sounds unrealistic, like something you may see in a fantasy novel.

Thankfully, he knows that too.

"Now that I think about it, What is this about a mission?"

Apolonia asked.

"Don't worry too much about it"

"No, I think I will until you explain to me what is all of this about"

I look to Ethel, but he looks away.

Traitor.

"Alright, It all started yesterday, when Jack and I left your house..."

...

..

...

"What the FUCK is wrong with you!?"

"A lot of things, but do you mind being more specific?"

Although she screamed, she did it softly enough so one turned their heads to look at us.

"Yes, I do mind being specific"

She said ¨do¨ with a weird focus someone does when they are angry.

"Okay, any questions?"

"...You met the princess".

That's not a question.

"Yes, I did"

"...So how was she?"

That has many layers.

"Don't be worried, she doesn't appear too competent but she will not put the safety of your family in jeopardy"

"That's not what I... Whatever. Just..." She took a sharp inhale "Keep on talking, Ethel"

"Sure"

He takes a piece of folded paper from his uniform.

"Aroa, both you and I have a mission that involves-"

"What about me?"

"Huh?"

Apolonia interrupted Ethel as he spoke.

"What about me, don't I have something to do?"

"...You're not part of our group"

"Still, I'm here, I'm going to Egypt, and the lives of my family are dependant on the success of whatever the princess wants."

"So, I will participate."

"...I'll consider you a helper"

"Very well"

He sighs and turns back to me while unfolding the paper.

"Our mission is as it follows..."

...

..

...

Not much happened after that.

I made sure to tell Jack what to do when he was hungry.

Apolonia said that she would notify her family of the situation.

Ethel said that he'll be there a day before we get there to examine the situation.

And told me to be prepared for anything that might happen.

Which is why I'm putting the Artic Uniform, the needles, and the scarf inside my baggage.

Who knows if something is going to happen in Egypt?

Hopefully not, but better to be ready than sorry.

If something happens, then it would be good if it's just related to Vampires, not stands.

But then again, Egypt was where part 3 happened, and where the stand arrows were made.

I don't have too much hope.

But what I have are ways to be ready for combat.

You might call me foolish.

But if this is foolish, then let me be the jester.

I'm so cool, right?

...

Through silly thoughts and preparation, the week passed quickly.